Tour du Mont Blanc with Kids: Age, Stages and Family-Friendly Huts

The Tour du Mont Blanc works very well as a family trip, from about 10 years old. Three choices decide everything: the age at which you set off, the length of the days and where you sleep at night.

Our advice in short: short stages, nights in a room rather than a large dormitory and, for a first time, one section of the circuit rather than the whole loop.

What age can children do the Tour du Mont Blanc?

Around 10, a child has the stamina to string several days of walking together: that is the age we recommend for the full tour. Before 8, wait, even if your child is sporty.

A few benchmarks to place your child:

• Ages 4 to 7: they cover 1 to 2 km0.6 to 1.2 mi an hour and cannot keep up with adults. The full tour is not for them.
• Ages 8 to 12: stamina improves markedly. Several days of walking become possible if the child is already a little trained.
• Over 12: a teenager recovers well, but often overestimates their abilities and can lack motivation. Let them choose a few stages.
• In every case: allow a child about one and a half times an adult’s time.

If you carry a toddler on your back, altitude calls for real caution: from 2,000 m6,562 ft, watch them constantly, and be extremely careful if they have to sleep above 2,500 m8,202 ft. The full tour is not a project for a baby; one or two days in the valley or on a balcony trail suit far better.

How many days should you allow with children?

With children, allow more than 10 days for the whole loop, splitting the stages. An adult usually does the tour in eight to ten days, at about six hours of walking a day: that is already the maximum we advise for a child, who takes about one and a half times as long.

Start from our 10-day itinerary, whose stages last 5 to 8 hours for an adult, and split them in two wherever a village or a bus allows it. Avoid stringing two big climbs together and keep a spare day in case the weather turns.

To compare formats, see how many days to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc and how difficult the TMB is.

Which stages should you choose for a first family trip?

• Choose the middle of the tour, between Les Chapieux and Champex: four stages of about 5 hours for an adult, the easiest to split in two.
• In Switzerland, take the Col de Bovine rather than the Fenêtre d’Arpette: 5 h 30 instead of 8 hours.
• Do not start with the stage from Les Contamines to Les Chapieux: it is the biggest climb of our itinerary.

Here are the stages of our 10-day itinerary, anticlockwise. Times are for an adult; those in bold exceed 6 hours even for an adult.

Day	Stage	Distance	Ascent	Adult time
1	Les Houches - Les Contamines	17 km10.6 mi	640 m2,100 ft	5 h
2	Les Contamines - Les Chapieux	15.25 km9.5 mi	1,200 m3,937 ft	7 h
3	Les Chapieux - Elisabetta	14 km8.7 mi	730 m2,395 ft	5 h
4	Elisabetta - Courmayeur or Elena hut	15 km9.3 mi	550 m1,804 ft	5 h
5	Courmayeur or Elena - La Fouly	13 km8.1 mi	725 m2,379 ft	5 h
6	La Fouly - Champex	15.5 km9.6 mi	600 m1,969 ft	5 h 30
7	Champex - La Forclaz via the Fenêtre d’Arpette	15 km9.3 mi	1,100 m3,609 ft	8 h
7	Champex - La Forclaz via the Col de Bovine	14 km8.7 mi	760 m2,493 ft	5 h 30
8	La Forclaz - Argentière or Le Tour	15.5 km9.6 mi	1,000 m3,281 ft	6 h 30
9	Argentière or Le Tour - Chamonix	21 km13 mi	900 m2,953 ft	6 h
10	Chamonix - Les Houches	12 km7.5 mi	515 m1,690 ft	6 h

Two lifts ease the start and the end of the tour: the Bellevue cable car, at Les Houches, climbs in 5 minutes onto the trail, and the Charamillon gondola comes back down to Le Tour, about thirty minutes of easy walking from the Balme hut. With a toddler, beware of rapid changes in altitude.

Which huts welcome families?

Our favourites for a family, from the start to the end of the tour: the Auberge de Bionnassay, the Miage hut, La Ferme à Piron, two places in La Fouly and the Bonatti hut. With children, comfort matters less than privacy: a room for four or a small dormitory rather than a big shared room.

• Auberge de Bionnassay: from the restaurant, you can watch the sheepfold with its llama, donkey and hens; half board at 50 EUR$58 for under-12s in a dormitory (2026 fare), and rooms for four.
• Miage hut: three chalets with their own bathrooms, so you have a place of your own in the evening. It is the most comfortable accommodation at the start of the tour, in a valley you can reach over the Col du Tricot, among other routes, with a child fare (50 EUR$58 in a dormitory, 60 EUR$70 in a chalet, 2026 fare).
• La Ferme à Piron, in Les Contamines: a small farm whose four-bed dormitories can be shared as a family.
• Auberge des Glaciers, in La Fouly: a four-bed room with a shower, in an inn that prides itself on its family atmosphere.
• La Fouly Lodge, in the centre of La Fouly: three-bed rooms, all with shower and toilet, to unwind after the Grand Col Ferret.
• Bonatti hut: its location was chosen, among other reasons, so that the walk to it stays within reach of families. It is also, in our view, the finest night of the tour.

Conversely, some huts set a minimum age: the Lac Blanc hut does not accept children under 8, according to its conditions (in French). Check this point at every booking.

Two options make a real difference: a hotel in the stage villages, which gives you a room to yourselves (see where to stay on the TMB), and luggage transport, which leaves the children with just a daypack. If you would rather we book the nights, our 12-day self-guided tour offers private rooms on every night but one (a dormitory at Elisabetta) and luggage transport on most stages:

Camping as a family remains possible, but it weighs down the parents’ packs and the rules change from one country to another: read our article on camping on the TMB before you go. For a first time, alternate camping with nights in huts.

What else should you plan for with children?

• A 10 to 15 minute break every hour, to drink, and a snack at least every two hours.
• If they tire, slow down and check their feet, their water bottle and their hunger. Never force them to finish the stage: it is the surest way to put them off hiking.
• Proper hiking boots, even for the little ones: thick, lugged sole, high ankle.
• A light pack: no more than 10% of their weight, and 1 to 1.5 litres of water a day depending on age.
• A sleeping bag liner for everyone: it is compulsory in every hut. In almost all huts, picnics must be ordered the day before.
• Emergency numbers: 112 in France and Italy, 144 in Switzerland.

For the rest of the equipment, our gear list also applies to children, only lighter, and our article on physical preparation suggests test outings.

Which part of the tour should a family do?

Our favourite section: from Courmayeur to Champex, over three or four days, with a night at the Bonatti hut. Our 10-day itinerary does it in two stages by taking the bus to the head of the Val Ferret; with children, walk it at an easy pace. It is also, in our view, the most beautiful part of the TMB.

Other ways to split the tour, which you can trace on our interactive TMB map:

• The tour over two summers: from Les Houches to Courmayeur one year, from Courmayeur to Les Houches the next.
• Skip a stage by bus, in the Val Veny, the Italian Val Ferret or the Swiss Val Ferret.
• Head home whenever you like: at Les Contamines, Les Chapieux, Courmayeur, Ferret, La Fouly, Orsières or Champex, public transport takes you back towards Chamonix.

In Switzerland, the bus from Ferret to Champex-Lac is a welcome fallback when legs are tired: CHF 6 (7 EUR$8) for a child, CHF 12 (14 EUR$16) for an adult (2026 fare). Timetables and tickets: TMR bus website.