TMB at snail's pace
We, a group of late 50s and early 60s, just completed about 70% of TMB. TMB was on our wishlist, but didn’t dare due to its challenging segments. After reading about some public transportation options to shorten the segment, we decided to take on this challenge before we get any older. It seems there are some purest out there that frown upon taking shortcuts, but I hope they will be happy to share the beauty of TMB with those that are less physically fit. I am sharing our itinerary and experience here in case folks like us want to give it a try.
We skipped first segment and segments through Switzerland to maximize our time to see the landscape that we don't see near where we live. We also didn't want to attempt the variant on the first segment.
We booked on our own, starting Oct of 2025. We did not use baggage service. I created maps for our segments on AllTrails based on the published TMB map on AllTrails. I had offline maps downloaded and was able to follow it without any problem.
Day 1: Train from Chamonix to St Gervais, bus to Les Contamines. Hike to Refugio de la Balme (6.4 mi, 1952 ft ascent) Was an easy warm-up day.
Day 2: Hike to Les Chapieux (7.75mi, 2589 ft ascent, 3260 ft descent), Stayed in Les Chambre du Soleil.
Day 3: Shuttle bus to parking area of Refugio des Mottets. Hike to Cabanu du Combal (9.25 mi, 2415 ft ascent, 2070 ft descent). Stopped at Refugio Elizabetta for lunch and walked around a bit.
Day 4: Quick morning hike to Lago di Miage behind Combal (1 mi). Hike to Dolonne gondola, took gondola to Dolonne and short walk to Courmayeur (7.5 mi, 1722 ft ascent)
Day 5: Hike to Refugio Bertone (3.35 mi, 2465 ft ascent). This was a very short day. We had originally planned on a rest day in Courmayeur, but decided to get the steep ascent out of the way.
Day 6: Hike to Refugio Bonatti via high route variant (7.15 mi, 2244 ascent, ??). We climbed to Tete de la Tronche, down to Col Sapin, and instead of climbing the second hill, we took the path along the valley just before the climb. First climb was steep and coming down was pretty challenging and our group thought that was enough. Haha. The walk along the valley was beautiful though. We were glad that we did the variant, as the traditional route seemed very hot. As for lodging, I would research Hotel Val Ferret or Refugio Elena next time.
Day 7: Hike to Ferret and take bus to La Fouly (12.2 mi, 3274 ft ascent, ~4000 ft descent). Statyed in Gite La Fouly. Bus ride was very short, but everything helps after a long day.
Day 8: Hike to Issert (7.47 mi). Bus to Orsieres and train to Martigny. Easy downhill through trees and small towns.
Day 9: Train to Vallorcine (Mont Blanc Express), then take the gondola. Hike to Refuge du Col de Blame and then back track and hike to Tres le Champ / Montroc (8.7 mi, 1600 ft ascent, 3600 ft descent) Statyed in Gite Le Moulin. This refuge was a bit out of the TMB route. Booked this one because I read the food was good. Food was pretty good, but not sure if it was worth the extra distance and losing private room. You also get a view of Mont Blanc from Auberge la Boerne (the other option) and it had a cute garden.
Day 10: Hike to Refugio La Flegere (7 mi, 3100 ft ascent, ~1800 ft desc) The ladder day! Ladders were more difficult (probably mentally) than anticipated. Especially with big back packs that weighed 25% of my body weight, I was a little freaked out about losing balance and falling all the way down to Chamonix. We had planned on having lunch at Lac Blanc, but when we got to Lac Chesery, we saw a long line of people on another ladder to Lac Blanc and decided to forget it. We were worried what else is there on the other side and didn't want to injure ourselves while hiking tired. We back tracked a little to get to a trail. Descent was still rocky and challenging.
Day 11: Hike to Le Brevent Gondola (4 mi, 1000 ft ascent). We had planned on hiking to Le Brevent and take the gondola down, but it was hot and one of our group members was done. So we took the gondola up and had lunch at the restaurant. It feels a little unfinished for not hiking up there. Maybe we will go back and do Lac Blanc and Le Brevent as a day hike. After taking Le Brevent gondola back down, we took Planpraz gondola to Chamonix, so this was our easiest day.
I feel we could have pushed ourselves more, but our goal wasn't to hike to feel the pain. We were there to enjoy the scenery and each other and we accomplished just that. We met lots of great people as usual. Weather was a bit hotter than we would have liked, but we hardly got rained on and can't complain. It was a glorious trip and I highly recommend it to those who are doubtful. I did train hard before our trip, but I was definitely not in the condition so many others were in. But in the end, I was in good enough shape to enjoy everything I set out to do.
Cheers!