Some Info

1. LEVEL

For good walker. 5 to 7 hours of walking a day, +/- 900 m of altitude difference on average per day. Accessible to children who are good walkers and motivated from the age of 12 (with their parents). Being able to easily walk 12 km (in plain) in 2 hours maximum. If this is not the case, within three weeks before departure we advise you to undertake a little training (2 to 3 times a week): 4 to 5 km of jogging or 2 to 3 hours hiking or biking. Your physical preparation will facilitate your stay and allow you to appreciate it even more.

2. LUGGAGE TRANSFER

You only carry a backpack for the day with the necessary for your hike and the picnic lunch. Your luggage will be transferred by vehicle until the morning of day 7 and kept at the place of dispersion at the parking lot of the Bellevue cable car in Les Houches (shower possible). Max 10 kg per luggage per person.

3. ACCOMMODATION

“Classic” ~ 8 nights in dormitory or mulitple room in a gite and refuge or hotel. All accommodation is equipped with hot showers. 

“Comfort” ~ 6 nights in a refuge, gite or hotel in a 2-person room; 1 night in a gite in a 6-person room (shared bathroom); 1 night in a refuge in a 4-person dormitory. Reservation by two people.

For the comfort version, sheets are provided in each establishment, towels every evening except at the Mottets refuge.

Day 1

Chamonix – Balcony of Mont Blanc – Le Tour / France (LD – O/N Cottage) [5.5 hrs, +450m, -950m]
[Stage: Chamonix, Planpraz, Lake Cornu]
Meet Saturday at 09:30am at Flégère cable car station (les Praz de Chamonix).  
Climb by the Flégère cable car to the balconies of Mont Blanc to reach Lac Blanc at 2300m. Descent to the Col des Montets and to the Aiguilles Rouges reserve house, then towards Montroc and the village of Le Tour. Night in a stopover lodge

Day 2

Col de la Balme – Trient / Switzerland (LD O/N Gite/refuge) [5 hrs, +840m, -920m]
[Stage: Balcony of the Posettes]
Ascend the balcony of the Posettes, until the Col de Balme (2200 m), Franco-Swiss border. View of the nearby glaciers of Argentière, Le Tour and the north of the Mont-Blanc massif. Descend in the Swiss pastures to the village of Trient.

Day 4

Val Ferret Switzerland – La Fouly / Switzerland (BLD O/N Cottage) [5.5 hrs, +600m, -500m]
Cross the Val Ferret in Switzerland, dotted with small typical villages. Each village has its own undeniable charm with its traditional chalets and barns. Possible visit of a mill dating from the 16th century. Along the walk, the spectacle of the glaciers – Saleina and A Neuve can always be viewed.

Day 5

Grand Col Ferret and Val Ferret Italian / Italy (BLD O/N Gite) [6 hrs, +950m, -900m]
[Stage: Bar Meadow Glacier]
The discovery of the Val Ferret continues until the Grand Col Ferret (2537m), going up the pastures of La Léchère to La Peul through the herds of magnificent little black cows – the cows of Hérens. Descend into the Italian Val Ferret, at the foot of the Pré de Bar glacier and Mont Dolent, meeting point between France, Switzerland and Italy. Possible small bus transfer to reach the gite.

Day 7

Col de la Seigne – Le Mottets / France (BLD O/N Alpine refuge)
[Stage: Col de Chécroui, Mont Fortin]

Climb the glacier lake Miage then to the Seigne Pass – Franco-Italian border. Detour possible by the large south balcony of Mont Blanc through the Col de Chécroui and Mont Fortin, revealing the unreal Himalayan profile of the southern face of the Mont Blanc.
[Main Route: 6 hrs, +850m, -650m]
[By Col de Chécroui: 8 hrs, +450m, -450m]

Day 8

Le Mottets – Les Contamines-Montjoie / France (BLD O/N Hotel) [6 hrs, +850m, -1500m]
[Stage: Col des Fours (2714m), Col du Bonhomme (2300m), Notre Dame de la Gorge]

Continue the trail to the valley of Beaufortain, ascend in pastures, between torrents and waterfalls up to Col des Fours (2714 m), the highest point of the hike. Descend to Notre Dame de la Gorge via the Col du Bonhomme (2300 m), then to the bottom of the valley by the old Roman road. Short transfer to reach the village of Contamines-Montjoie.