How to book your Tour du Mont Blanc accommodation like a pro
Tour du Mont Blanc refuges provide more than just necessary accommodation for hikers, they epitomise the renowned alpine culture by bringing together the mountain sports and farming communities.
While many of the wonderful Tour du Mont Blanc refuges will feature on your ideal self-guided hiking itinerary, what do you do if they have no availability when you go to book your own trip? Of course, you can change your dates or even defer your trip to the following year…but what if your dates are fixed, and you want to go this summer?
Over the last 5 years, I’ve been observing, advising, and booking accommodation on the Tour du Mont Blanc. I’ve developed techniques for designing creative itineraries that are inspiring, achievable and available to book, even weeks out from planned trip dates.
In this blog post, I’m going to share accommodation booking tips for the Tour du Mont Blanc and my top 4 booking tricks for finding accommodation that will keep your trip alive. Here is a summary of what I’ll cover if you want to skip ahead.
Accommodation Booking Tips
The complete list of Tour du Mont Blanc accommodation (not just the refuges)
Best time to start booking your accommodation for the Tour du Mont Blanc
Accommodation Booking Tricks
Accommodation Booking Tips
Rather than give you the general advice to ‘book early’, I’m going to share some specific information about accommodation on the Tour du Mont Blanc to help you prepare for making your own bookings.
The complete list of Tour du Mont Blanc accommodation
It’s essential to know all the accommodation options available along the trail in case your first choice is fully booked. I’ve put 120+ private room, shared room, and campground properties along the Tour du Mont Blanc in the following list. The goal is for it to be the most complete, up-to-date list of Tour du Mont Blanc accommodation which also includes the links and information on how to book each one.
How do you book Tour du Mont Blanc Accommodation?
I’ve been monitoring these 120+ properties along the Tour du Mont Blanc trail. You can book all of them yourself. 80% of them can be booked online, the rest can be booked via email and phone. Of those that can be booked online, there are 3 places you can make these bookings;
1. On the Tour du Mont Blanc Association website
Just over 40% of the properties we monitor are listed on this website
This is the primary place to book these properties
Each property starts loading its availability onto this website from the beginning of October for the next hiking season. The last properties load their availability onto this website in December.
2. Direct on a property website
Another 40% of the properties we monitor have an online booking engine on their website
Most of these properties are located in the big villages (Les Houches, Chamonix, Les Contaminies, Courmayeur and Champex Lac)
While some properties list their availability 12 months in advance, it isn’t until the end of the year that most properties have their next summer availability listed
3. On an accommodation aggregator website, like Booking.com
Just under 24% of the properties we monitor along the trail list rooms on aggregator websites like Booking.com
Most of these properties also have booking engines on their website (included in category 2 above)
Properties on Booking.com usually offer a generous free cancelation condition, which is a great way to ‘hold’ a booking while you check availability for all your other locations.
Listing on these aggregator websites usually increases as the hiking season nears with properties trying to sell surplus rooms they still have available.
Best time to start booking your accommodation for the Tour du Mont Blanc?
To have the pick of accommodation, you need to have your itinerary finalised by the end of September and be ready to pounce on your preferred refuges as they start listing their availability from the beginning of October.
While you should start booking in October, in extreme cases, it may take 6 months to complete your bookings, given some refuges (for example, Col de Balme and Bellachat) only start accepting bookings from March for the summer.
Accommodation Booking Tricks
Not everyone can be prepared to book their Tour du Mont Blanc accommodation 9-12 months out. In fact, our research shows that only about 25% of hikers intending to do the trail in the following season are.
As the hiking season nears, it becomes harder to find properties with availability for a sequence of preferred dates. By January, popular refuges only have a handful of beds available scattered across the entire hiking season…
Before you consider camping or deferring your trip to the following year, I recommend trying my 4 booking tricks to see if you can find enough availability to keep your dream of doing the Tour du Mont Blanc next season alive!
Rifugio Elisabetta: Located at the top of Val Veny in a hot spot area of the trail that books out early
1. Change your start location
Given the Tour du Mont Blanc is a circuit, you’ve got the opportunity to start your hike from different locations. If you start at a different location than your preferred choice, you’ll slide the dates you need to book each property.
In the below map, I’ve highlighted 10 locations that you could start hiking from. The locations highlighted with pink are the easiest to reach from Geneva airport, those in blue take a little longer or require a private transfer, and those along the green lines require a further local bus and hike to reach.
Locations where it is possible to start your hike from: Slide from our Tour du Mont Blanc Planning Workshop
2. Change your hiking direction
Most people hike in a counterclockwise direction, but hiking in reverse order will change your dates for each property you’re trying to book.
In the below example of a July 1st start date, see how reversing your hiking direction for a 10-day itinerary changes the dates you need to find an available property in each location. If you do reverse your hiking direction, be sure to confirm that your itinerary is still achievable, given your elevation gain/loss will flip.
Example of date change if starting in Plan Praz (above Chamonix) instead of Les Houches: Slide from our Tour du Mont Blanc Planning Workshop
3. Use transport in hot spots
There are 4 hot spot areas on the trail that typically book out first. This is because they have a limited number of beds, are necessary stops for other hiking tours in the area, and are popular with local hikers. For most people, it would take them too long to hike over these sections to reach the next accommodation options, and therefore, it can stop trips from going ahead.
For each area, I’m going to share how you can use transport to reach a nearby location with more accommodation and return to continue hiking from the same spot the following day.
1. Valle de Glaicer, France
Most hikers need to stay at either Refuge de la Croix, Les Chapieux or Refuge des Mottets. While Robert Blanc is in the area too, it requires an extra 2.5 hours of hiking to reach from Refuge Mottets which puts it out of reach for most people.
If you can’t find accommodation in this area, you can use public transport (only once a day - same bus that has been running up and down Valle de Glacier all day) or a taxi to reach Bourg Saint-Maurice for the night. The details you need for the local bus are;
Operating: Every day from ~last weekend in June to last weekend in August
Cost: ~6 EUR per adult one way
Only departure: from Les Chapieux for Bourg Saint-Maurice @ 6.10pm
Only return: from Bourg Saint-Maurice to Les Chapieux @ 6.55am
Journey duration: 25 mins
Latest timetable: here
Click to see the available accommodation in Bourg-Saint-Maurice (Bus drops off/picks at the station so choose something near here)
Alternative option to staying in Valle de Glacier: Slide from our Tour du Mont Blanc Planning Workshop
2. Val Veny, Italy
TMB hikers usually plan to stay at either Rifugio Elisabetta or Cabane Combal. The next closest accommodation along the main Tour du Mont Blanc trail in the clockwise direction is about 3 hours away (Refuge Mottets) or 2.5 hours away in the Counter Clockwise direction (Rifugio Maison Ville).
If you can’t find accommodation in this area, your next best option is to hike 45mins down the road from Cabane Combal to La Visaille, where a public transport bus will take you to Courmayeur for the night. The following day, catch the bus back to La Visaille and hike an extra 1 hour and 15mins to rejoin the trail near Cabane Combal and continue with your plan. The details you need for the local bus are;
Line: Orange - Val Veny
Operating: Everyday from the start of June to the end of September
First/last departure La Visaille: Between 7.40am - 8:40am / 7:40pm.
First/last departure Courmayeur: Between 7.15am - 8:15am / 7:15pm.
Frequency: Every 30 mins to 1 hour
Cost: ~6 EUR per adult one way
Journey duration: 20 mins
Check the latest timetable: here
Click to see the available accommodation in Courmayeur. Bus drops off/departs at the bus depot/tourism office, which is also where the Tour du Mont Blanc trail goes past.
Alternative option to staying in Val Veny: Slide from our Tour du Mont Blanc Planning Workshop
3. Val Ferret, Italy
TMB hikers usually need to stay at Rifugio Bonatti, Rifugio Elena, Hotel Lavachey or Chalet Val Ferret. The next closest accommodation along the main Tour du Mont Blanc trail is about 2hrs 15mins away in both the clockwise (Rifugio Bertone) and Counter Clockwise direction (Gite Alpage de la Peule).
If you can’t find accommodation in this area, your next best option is to catch public transport back down then valley to Courmayeur for the night. The following day, catch the bus back to up the valley and continue with your plan. If you plan to end your hiking day at Chalet Val Ferret, the Arp Nouvaz bus stop is right there - no extra hiking required. If you’re planning to end at Rifugio Bonatti, you’ll need to hike about 30mins down to the valley to catch the bus and about 1 hour to hike from the bus stop back up to Rifugio Bonatti the following day. The details you need for the local bus are;
Line: Green - Val Ferret
Operating: Everyday from start of June to end of September
First/last departure from Arp Nouvaz: Between 8.10am - 8:40am / 6:40pm.
First/last departure from Courmayeur: Between 7.30am - 7:50am / 6:00pm.
Frequency: Every 30 mins to 1 hour
Cost: ~6 EUR per adult one way
Journey duration: 30 mins
Check latest timetable: here
Click to see the available accommodation in Courmayeur. Bus drops off/departs at the bus depot/tourism office, which is also where the Tour du Mont Blanc trail goes past.
Alternative option to staying in Val Ferret: Slide from our Tour du Mont Blanc Planning Workshop
4. Vallée du Trient, Switzerland
The 4th area of the trail that TMB hikers can find it hard to find accommodation is Vallée du Trient. There is a hotel at Col de la Forclez, 2 in Trient and a refuge in Le Peuty. Despite there being a lot of beds available, it is a necessary stop for other hikes (like the Walker’s Haute Route) and is popular with local hikers. The next accommodation along the main trail in the clockwise direction is over 4 hours away (Champex d'en Haut) and 2hrs 45mins in the counter-clockwise direction (Refuge Col de Balme).
If you can’t find accommodation in this area, you can use public transport to reach Martigny for the night and return the following day. The details you need for the local bus are;
Operating: Every day of year
First/last departure Trient: Between 6.45am / 6:45pm.
First/last departure Martigny: Between 6.00am / 6:00pm.
Frequency: ~Every 3 hours
Cost: CHF 10.40 per adult one way
Journey duration: 40 mins
Check the latest timetable: bus timetable
Click to see the available accommodation in Martigny (Bus drops off/picks at the station, so choose something near here).
Alternative option to staying in Vallée du Trient: Slide from our Tour du Mont Blanc Planning Workshop
4. Free cancellation while you wait
Most Tour du Mont Blanc refuges will let you join their waitlist if they are showing as fully booked on your preferred dates. You should do it for 2 reasons;
There are always people who need to cancel trips that have booked a long way in advance.
Tour companies put bulk tentative bookings on beds while they try to sell packages in the lead up to the hiking season. Just before the season starts, they confirm to the properties how many beds they are actually going to book and the rest get released back to the market.
Refuge des Mottets: Despite having an 80 bed capacity, when they released their availability for the 2023 season in October 2022, they only list 10 beds available for hikers planning their own trips to book via the Mont Tour du Mont Blanc website.
When I look at accommodation availability during the summer, I see properties showing some beds available on most nights, whereas a few months out, there was nothing available. I’m not sharing this to advocate for waiting until the last minute to make your bookings, but simply saying that beds do come available so the waitlisting system can work.
Given most of the properties you need to be waitlisted for are in those 4 hotspot areas I shared above, I recommend you plan to use those strategies and in the meantime, book accommodation with a generous free cancellation policy while you see if you are offered a bed from the waitlist. If you secure the refuge, you can cancel with no cost - if not, you’ve got an achievable way of overcoming a fully booked area of the trail. Just under 24% of the properties we monitor list rooms on Booking.com, which typically encourages them to offer generous free cancellation terms. You can find these properties on our accommodation map at the beginning of this blog.
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Author: Brendan Jones, Founder, The Hiking Club
A pizza-making, craft beer-loving, peanut butter connoisseur that has been exploring the great outdoors since completing the Duke of Edinburgh Award in high school. I started The Hiking Club to democratise hiking and the benefits that come from spending time in nature.