Mont Blanc walking holiday
| country: | France, Italy, Switzerland |
| location: | Mont Blanc |
| departures: | 2010: 21 Jun, 28 Jun, 5 Jul, 12 Jul, 19 Jul, 26 Jul, 2 Aug, 9 Aug, 16 Aug, 23 Aug, 30 Aug |
| price: | From £850 (10 days) excluding flights. We can arrange flights from the UK |
| more info: | Price includes: 10 breakfasts, 10 dinners, 10 nights accommodation in mountain refuges/gîte-hostels in dormitories (upgrade to double room available for 7 nights - surcharge applies), baggage transfer by vehicles (max 10kgs), provision of maps - route is way marked |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to Mont Blanc walking holiday
Mont Blanc walking holiday There is something unique about a circumnavigation of the Mont Blanc massif on foot. Perhaps it is feeling of exhilaration of being immersed in some of the most beautiful mountain scenery on earth yet a quaint village is always just hours away. Or perhaps it’s the daytime forays where you and your companions tough it out over a glacial pass to descend to your evening accommodation for a nice quiet ‘local red’ to reflect on the days adventures.
This is trekking at its most civilized! The route is always inspiring, ambling through flowering meadows, dipping into old oak forests and breaking out above the tree line into high alpine pastures which showcase the snowy peaks of the Mont Blanc Massif. The finishing touch.. the opportunity to sample the warm mountain hospitality of the French, Swiss and Italian villages along the way.
Grading
Grade 4, Moderate to challenging: Involves trekking for up to seven hours a day at a steady pace. These treks may spend successive days at altitudes not generally exceeding 5,500m and are usually between 10 and 15 days in duration. You will need a very good level of fitness.
Suggested preparation: 45 minutes of aerobic type exercise, three to five times a week for the three months leading up to your trek. Hill walking with a pack in variable weather conditions is also recommended.
This is trekking at its most civilized! The route is always inspiring, ambling through flowering meadows, dipping into old oak forests and breaking out above the tree line into high alpine pastures which showcase the snowy peaks of the Mont Blanc Massif. The finishing touch.. the opportunity to sample the warm mountain hospitality of the French, Swiss and Italian villages along the way.
Grading
Grade 4, Moderate to challenging: Involves trekking for up to seven hours a day at a steady pace. These treks may spend successive days at altitudes not generally exceeding 5,500m and are usually between 10 and 15 days in duration. You will need a very good level of fitness.
Suggested preparation: 45 minutes of aerobic type exercise, three to five times a week for the three months leading up to your trek. Hill walking with a pack in variable weather conditions is also recommended.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1-3: | Walk from Chamonix Valley across mountain passes and villages, through the 'Bonhomme' mountain passage and over high pastures (where there is an opportunity to buy Beaufort cheese from the Shepherds) to Italy (average 6-8hrs per day) |
| Day 4: | Ascend to Berthone refuge taking in views of the southern face of Mont Blanc enroute (6-8hrs) |
| Day 5: | Continue along the Val Ferret to Elena Refuge (6-7hrs) |
| Day 6-8: | To Switzerland across the Grand Col Ferret (2537m) and to Trient along the "Fenêtre d'Arpette" (2665m) route (5-8hrs per day) |
| Day 9: | Traverse the Balme mountain passage, with excellent views of the Mont Blanc range (6-8hrs) |
| Day 10: | Traverse balcony path to Chamonix, trip concludes Note: Hours indicated do not include rest stops and itinerary will vary according to departure point (subject to change) |
traveller reviews for Mont Blanc walking holiday
5 star - excellent guide and wonderful atmosphere with mule Nikita - guide handled Nikita with care. (more)
highly commended
This tourism business was Highly Commended in our 2006 First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards the largest awards of their kind in the world, and organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Times, World Travel Market and Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society. Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
how this holiday makes a difference
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Environment:
The alpine landscapes you will experience on this Mont Blanc walking holiday are simply stunning so it is essential then, that our small groups of up to hikers minimise our impact on the mountain to ensure that they remain so for future generations. All rubbish will be carried out of the mountains and disposed of sensibly. The mountain huts and their immediate environment are particularly sensitive to degradation and it up to us to ensure that we use the facilities sensibly and leave them as we would expect to find them. The natural landscapes we explore are some of the richest, often most challenging, yet at the same time some of the most fragile environments on earth. With education, experienced leadership and appropriate equipment and techniques, it is possible to travel responsibly through these regions. For us, it is critically important that such wilderness travel experiences do not diminish the natural values of the environment. Our environmental sustainable principles: True sustainability is a guiding aspect in all aspects of our business planning and operations. Specifically our tour operations should be managed in a way where the natural and cultural values of the host region are undiminished in the long-term. Where possible, we engage in partnerships with local environmental groups and/or land managers to actively campaign for conservation or promote environmental protection and/or rehabilitation. Our Responsible Travel Guidebook: Our philosophy since 1975 has been to leave only footprints and take only photographs. To reiterate this, every customer who travels with us receives a copy of our award-winning Responsible Travel guidebook. This detailed book outlines our environmentally sustainable principles, and outlines how each customer can minimize their impact while travelling. Global Warming and Carbon Balancing: The root cause of Global Warming is society's dependence on emission creating fossil fuel. Planting trees is not going to reverse this trend or cancel our carbon emissions very quickly or effectively. We believe the way to reduce these dependencies is to create clean energy production. Therefore, we support renewable energy projects like wind and solar power, and we are aligned with Climate Friendly, the gold standard setter in effective, meaningful action addressing climate change. So, while we believe that tree planting can play a small role in greenhouse gas abatement, we have gone the extra mile in promoting a longer term solution. Is this cheap? No. Is it responsible? Absolutely! Community: Our starting point of Chamonix is heavily geared up for tourism but this does not mean that everyone is a tourist or understands our language. It is up to us to make all reasonable effort to communicate in the local language and to fit in with the local way of life. Our responsible travel principles: Our company aims to maximise the positive benefits of tourism for host communities. This includes training and employment of local staff, using local suppliers and assisting in the development of sustainable local businesses. We actively minimise the negative effects that tourism can have by ensuring that tourism does not divert resources away from local communities or drive up prices on local resources. We provide opportunities for real cultural exchange, where locals and visitors alike can share and learn from each other in an environment of mutual respect. We contribute to the welfare of the host community. This is epitomised in our Community Project Travel program where we organise for our travellers to spend time in disadvantaged villages upgrading basic facilities such as health, education and water access. We strive to educate our travellers about the destination and its local cultures as well as providing guidelines on appropriate behaviour to minimise impact. No local payments policy: Local cash payments are becoming increasingly popular with many operators in the adventure travel industry. This policy seems to benefit the tour operators more than the local economies or the travellers, as it avoids local taxes and transfers the costs and risks of cash handling onto the travellers. In accordance with our Responsible Travel practices, we have chosen a policy of not asking for such payments. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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