How we booked a last minute Tour du Mont Blanc trip
“We’re Michelle and Gautam, Seattle-based partners in both adventure and 50/50 meal sharing. We love the kind of travel that makes your legs sore and your dinner taste better — hiking, biking, skiing, backpacking, we care as much about the food as the route.
We’ve lived out of a van, hiked across the Alps, powder skied in Japan, and taken sabbaticals to see the world on our own terms.”
Michelle and Guatam completed the Tour du Mont Blanc in June 2025 and these are their tips for booking a last minute trip!
“In June, 2025 I was in between jobs with 3 weeks to spare and managed to pull together a last minute Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB) hike for 2 people. I started the TMB on June 15, and booked all of my accommodations the weekend before. I’ll discuss how I was able to do this as well as a few other ideas for last minute hikers.
key factors to booking my last minute trip:
Early season start date. I was hiking before the mad rush of summer hikers, as June can often be too snow covered to complete the TMB. I imagine most people who book 6-9 months in advance don’t plan for a time they may not be able to hike in. I imagine June/September would be easier months for last minute trips.
Most refugios have a 15-30 day window where you can’t get any money back if you cancel. I was booking about 1-2 weeks after several waves of people had cancelled, which freed up a lot of spots (beds/rooms).
I had some flexibility in dates. This allowed me to book around a major date of availability for Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme which is one of the only refuges in that particular area.
The hiking club – cannot recommend this enough for planning. It allowed me to see live availability and my daily mileage
Flexibility to stay in towns – we stayed at hotels in Les Houches, Les Contamines, and Courmayeur. There was a ton of availability in these towns. While we didn’t get to stay in rifugios/refuges on the trail every night, we loved exploring the small towns and it gave us a nice break from group sleeping arrangements.
Flight availability – We traveled from Seattle, WA and managed to find flights to Zurich for $1,100 leaving 3 days from when I booked! I’ve heard of a lot of folks finding cheap flights into Paris as well. Note that flying into Geneva tends to be very expensive.
Here’s how I used the Hiking Club to plan my route:
Start and end location
We wanted to start on the Switzerland side because we were coming from Zurich, and we ended up really enjoying that version of the route. Day 1 and the last day end up being relatively easy and you get to swim in Champex Lac as you finish!
Tip: if you aren’t married to starting in Les Houches and your itinerary doesn’t work, try starting in Champex-lac and see if it changes anything!
Screenshot of my itinerary from The Hiking Club planning app
2. Finding availability for huts and hotels
The hiking club planning app lets you select your refuge/rifugios night by night and view availability (where applicable). We still had to contact Bonatti and Le Flegere (via email) and luckily both were able to accommodate us. I’ve heard many stories of availability changing, so even if it’s fully booked at first, keep trying!
Screenshot of live availability data from The Hiking Club planning app
3. Finalising my itinerary
Below is the itinerary we landed on. We honestly loved this itinerary and felt it had a lot of pros.
“I hope that was helpful. The TMB was truly a highlight for me and probably the best trail I’ve completed. I hope my write up might inspire you to tackle it or even plan a last minute trip.”
To read more blog content by Michelle and Gautam, check out their blog “Summit and Spice” and Instagram account.
