Getting there and around
The TMB is a loop: you return to where you started, which keeps logistics simple. Les Houches and Chamonix are the easiest gateways, but the tour can also be joined from Italy and Switzerland.
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Reaching the Chamonix valley
By plane
Geneva airport is the closest, a little over an hour’s drive from Chamonix. Shuttles and coaches make the trip several times a day (book ahead in summer). Lyon, Turin and Milan are further alternatives.
By train
From France, take the train to Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet, then the Mont-Blanc Express to Les Houches or Chamonix. From Switzerland, the Mont-Blanc Express leaves Martigny and reaches Chamonix via Vallorcine.
By car
Possible, but you need long-stay parking for one to two weeks: ask the town hall or your first accommodation. The train avoids the hassle.
Transport around the massif
Handy for starting somewhere other than Les Houches, cutting a stage short or retreating in bad weather. Many lines are seasonal: check this year’s timetables before relying on them.
- Les Houches · ChamonixThe Mont-Blanc Express train and buses run along the whole valley, from Servoz to Vallorcine. The guest card given by Chamonix-valley accommodation usually makes them free.
- Les Contamines-MontjoieBus from Saint-Gervais-Le Fayet (SNCF station).
- Les ChapieuxSummer shuttle from Bourg-Saint-Maurice (SNCF station), on some days.
- CourmayeurBuses from Chamonix through the Mont Blanc tunnel, and from Aosta. In summer, shuttles into the Val Veny and the Italian Val Ferret.
- La Fouly · Champex-LacTrain from Martigny to Orsières, then postal bus to La Fouly or Champex.
- Trient · Col de la ForclazPostal bus from Martigny.
Lifts
Several lifts cross the tour: the Mont-Blanc Tramway and the Bellevue gondola (Les Houches), the Dolonne and Chécrouit gondolas (Courmayeur), the La Flégère gondola and the Brévent cable car (Chamonix). They save a climb or a descent, usually from late June to early September.
Want to start elsewhere? Pick your start village in the planner.