I’ve just got home from an incredible trip to France where my main goal (other than biking the Bourgogne canals and vineyards in Burgundy) was to walk the highlights of the Tour du Mont Blanc … and YES if you are a walker it’s a ‘must do’.

The rounded dome is Mont Blanc standing at 4,808 metres.

There are a couple of ways you can do it.

• You can circumnavigate Mont Blanc walking 170 kilometres. This takes approximately 14 days with 2 rest days, averaging a distance of about 17 km per day.

This is the full walking circuit of Mont Blanc and usually starts in Chamonix in France. The circuit goes through Italy and Switzerland and ends up back in Chamonix.

• Or you can walk the highlights, 80 kilometres. This takes seven days with one rest day, averaging about 15 kilometres a day, walking the most scenic parts of the circuit.

• 

  This map shows the highlights of the Mont Blanc walk where only certain sections of the circuit are walked.

I opted for the highlights and thought it was the best walk I’ve ever done. Over the next week or so I am going to post several blogs about my expedition/adventure covering:

• What’s involved in walking Tour du Mont Blanc? – getting fit and choosing the tour that suits you
• Crossing the Mont Blanc massif from France to Italy in a gondola
• Mer Glacier – inside an ice tunnel

Here’s a little background about Mont Blanc and the walk as I was pretty naïve before headed off on this expedition .

The Tour du Mont Blanc as the French call it is a famous and very popular long-distance walk in Europe. It circumnavigates Mont Blanc and the surrounding mountains and glaciers which are located at the cross roads of France, Italy and also Switzerland.

The terrain encompasses many glaciers, lush valleys, snow peaks and meadows.

Mont Blanc stands at 4,808 metres and is the highest mountain in western Europe, higher than the dramatic Matterhorn at 4,478 metres.

The upper regions are permanently covered in snow and ice hence it’s name. The translation is ‘White Mountain’ but the French refer to her as La Dame blanche (“the White Lady”.)

Watch the space… there is so much good information to come on Tour du Mont Blanc.