Highlights of Mont Blanc

The trip starts today at our Alpine chalet-style hotel in the village of Les Houches in the Chamonix Valley. Our tour leader plans to meet everyone in the hotel reception at 6pm for a welcome meeting. Afterwards, we'll enjoy an included dinner together at the hotel. Our home for the week is Hotel du Bois. With a relaxed atmosphere, an indoor swimming pool, a sauna, and gardens with views across the Mont Blanc range, it is the perfect walkers' base. There's a cosy bar and restaurant serving local specialities and homemade dishes. We don't include an arrival transfer on this tour but it's easy to reach our joining hotel in Les Houches independently. The easiest way to get from the airport to our hotel is via the Mountain Drop Offs shared shuttle bus service, which departs regularly from Geneva Airport throughout the day and takes just over an hour. The shuttle will drop you at the door of the hotel, tickets cost €50 and can be booked online at https://www.mountaindropoffs.com/. If you miss the welcome meeting, our tour leader will inform you of any essential information as soon as you catch up. Please note that the official check-in time at the hotel is from 3 pm, although rooms will be allocated as soon as they are available. If you arrive earlier in the day and would like to explore, the lively centre of Chamonix, with its many shops and pavement cafes, is just 15 minutes away by local bus. ...more ...less

We set out this morning from the hotel on a walk to Chamonix, following the side of the valley along a section of a longer route known as the Petit Balcon Sud. Although this is an easy and relatively low-level hike, there are some excellent views through the trees of the glaciers and ridges that descend from Mont Blanc across the other side of the Chamonix Valley. Reaching the town, we'll take a short break, perhaps enjoying a morning coffee at one of the many pavement cafes, before continuing alongside the River Arve to Paradis du Praz, a beautiful spot among the trees, where we can enjoy our included picnic lunch in a shaded spot. In the afternoon, you have the choice to either continue on the hike or you can sit it out and spend the afternoon as you like, perhaps browsing the shops in Chamonix, relaxing in the garden or taking a dip in the indoor swimming pool, back at our hotel. Our afternoon hiking route climbs up through the woods (an ascent of 300 metres/984 feet) to the pretty mountain cafe of Chalet La Floria with its wonderful flowers and superb views down to the Chamonix Valley below. We then descend back down to the bottom of the valley, eventually returning to Chamonix, with time for a look around the town. Chamonix is a famous mountain resort, popular year-round with outdoor enthusiasts, adventure seekers and nature lovers. Occupying a simply stunning setting below the snow-capped peaks of the Mont Blanc Massif, it has a charming Alpine ambience with an array of shops, restaurants and cafes. A frequent bus service connects Chamonix to Les Houches and it's also possible to make the journey by train. You'll be provided with a public transport travel pass at the start of the week that includes all travel on the local buses and trains within the Chamonix Valley and it's easy to get around. The morning walk covers 12 kilometres/7.5 miles and will take us around three-and-a-half hours to complete on mostly flat ground. Our optional walk in the afternoon covers 5 kilometres/3.1 miles and will take around two-and-a-half hours with a total ascent and descent of 300 metres/984 feet each way.

This morning, we walk from our hotel to the Bellevue cable car which carries us up the side of the valley to an elevation of 1,800 metres/5,906 feet in a matter of minutes. Exiting from the cable car, we are on the Grand Balcon Nord, part of the famous Tour du Mont Blanc trekking route and an amazing spot from which to view Western Europe's highest mountain, Mont Blanc (4,810 metres/15,781 feet), looming high above. This is also the starting point of the main route for climbing Mont Blanc and we may see some mountaineers returning from the summit. We can enjoy views of the Contamines Valley, Mont Joly and towards the Aravais mountain range. From here our hike descends to the Col du Voza (1,653 metres/5,423 feet) and then up to Le Prarion, a small peak at 1,969 metres/6,460 feet with spectacular 360-degree views. We then make our descent through the forest back to Les Houches. For anyone not wishing to make this 1,000-metre/3,281-foot descent, you can save your knees and take the cable car. Today's 13-kilometre/8.1-mile walk is expected to take around four to five hours with a total ascent of 300 metres//984 feet and a descent of 1,150 metres/3,773 feet which can be reduced by 1,000 metres/3,281 feet (and 5.5 kilometres) by taking the cable car back down.

This morning, we travel by train along the length of the Chamonix Valley, passing some beautiful scenery and iconic mountains such as the Les Drus and the Aiguille d'Argentiere. Our hike starts at Montroc where we head to the Col du Montets (1,461 metres/4,793 feet), the gateway to the Aiguilles Rouges Nature Reserve. We can take a look at the visitor centre before setting out to the pretty hamlet of Le Buet (1,300 metres/4,265 feet), a hike of around an hour. From here we take a short walk to the river and then climb up through meadows to Les Cascades du Berard - waterfalls in a lovely setting (1,400 metres/4,593 feet). There's a cafe here for some welcome refreshments and an optional 20-minute round-trip hike to Grotte a Farinet (Cave of the Robin Hood of the Alps). Continuing alongside the river we hike further into the forest of the Berard Valley. A short climb brings us to Les Granges (1,566 metres/5,138 feet), a hamlet with summer houses and a viewpoint of the Mont Blanc range from the east. Descending via a different route, we take the train or a local bus back to Les Houches. Today's 10-kilometre/6-mile walk is expected to take around five hours with a total ascent of 350 metres/984 feet and descent of 400 metres/1,310 feet.

Today has been left free and our tour leader will be able to advise on the many options available. One of the most popular activities is to take a ride up the two spectacular cable cars to the Aiguille du Midi (3,842 metres/12, 605 feet) for arguably the finest view in the Alps. At this height, you are among the great Alpine peaks and glaciers, with unimpeded views on a clear day from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn over 60 kilometres/37.3 miles away. The brave-hearted can experience the thrill of 'Step into the Void', a glass box that allows visitors to stand above a precipitous drop, giving the sensation of floating in mid-air. Another unique excursion is taking the old cog-railway to Montenvers from where you can take a series of steps down to the Mer de Glace and go inside the glacier itself. For those after an even more active day, mountain bike hire is available, there are whitewater rafting trips that can be booked or you could even choose to go on another hike.

We take a bus ride along the Chamonix Valley to Le Tour, a small, pretty village at the head of the valley at 1,462 metres/4,797 feet above sea level. From here we take a gondola lift to Charamillon at 1,850 metres/6,070 feet and then change and take a chair lift up to Les Autannes at 2,195 metres/7,202 feet. We're high above the trees and are in marmot country where you can hear the shrill whistles from enthusiastic young males. We hike to the Col de Balme at 2,190 metres/7,185 feet which marks the border between France and Switzerland and you can literally have one foot in each country! The panoramic views are of the Trient Glacier, the Swiss mountains and the Emosson Dam. Leaving the Col, we make an ascent of the Aiguillettes des Possettes, 2,201 metres/7,251 feet, for even better views before returning to the valley floor via the gondola lift. Today's 8-kilometre/5-mile walk is expected to take around four to five hours with a total ascent of 300 metres/984 feet and descent of up to 500 metres/1,640 feet.

We catch a bus this morning to the village of Les Praz, from where it's a short telecabin ride to the Chalet de la Flegere (1,871 metres/6,139 feet). Our hike takes us along on a section of the famous Tour du Mont Blanc to Lac Blanc (2,352 metres/7,717 feet) for incredible panoramic views of the whole Mont Blanc range. It's approximately two-to two-and-a-half hours to the lake and this spectacular walk is a fitting end to the holiday with magnificent views all around. We descend to Chalet de la Flegere and return to Chamonix via a forest walk. For those with tired legs, you can choose to take the cable car back down to the valley floor. Today's 10-kilometre/6.2-mile walk is expected to take around six hours with a total ascent of 470 metres/1,542 feet and descent of up to 1,300 metres/4,265 feet depending on the route taken.

The trip ends today after breakfast at our hotel in Les Houches. There are no activities planned today, so you're free to depart from Les Houches at any time. If you are departing later in the day luggage storage facilities are available at our hotel. As with your arrival, we don't include a departure transfer on this tour, but you can use the Mountain Drop Offs shuttle to easily reach Geneva Airport. The shuttle runs regularly throughout the day and takes just over an hour to the airport. Tickets cost €50 and can be booked online at https://www.mountaindropoffs.com/.