Tour du Mont Blanc Day 1 La Houches to Les Contamines
On Tour du mont blanc day 1 we got a taxi from Chamonix to Les Houches, which sits at an elevation of 1004m. We started walking at the (Start of the TMB) tourist office and got as far as a road underpass, which our guidebook suggested us to go underneath but some old lady hanging out of a window decided to send us the scenic route. But she neglected to tell us that stage was unbelievably steep and probably put 2 hours on our journey. To be fair to her, we loved this section and it was well worth the pain, as the views were fantastic. As we did get lost on the first stage of the hike and we were getting a tiny bit worried, the guidebook was in the below position until we found the first couple of TMB signposts.
On most stages of the Tour du Mont Blanc, there are generally 2 options, a higher route, and a lower route. The lower route is usually much easier, we accidentally went on the higher route today, which is not walked much. The trail was slightly overgrown but it felt amazing to be walking through the overgrown field trails filled with wildflowers in the meadows.
The trail was breathtaking and it such a shame most of the hiker’s missed these amazing views and climbs.
We eventually came out of the woodland and meadows to be greeted by the base of a ski slope, when we got to the top of the ski slope there was a much-needed coffee shop.
We filled up with water and coffee before we even attempted to climb to the top of Tricot, which sits at an altitude of 2120m. After our coffee, we started back on the trail. Which starts again by cutting through another wood section until we reach a train track, which we coss cautiously. We continued walking through the wood until we meet a glacier river on the side of the mountain. We had to cross the raging icy cold river by a very shaky rope bridge, I didn’t think I’d ever say that sentence in my lifetime.
The trail climbed rapidly after the rope bridge for about an hour to the top of Col de Tricot. This was our first real experience of seeing Mont Blanc and it’s glaciers closely and it did not disappoint, WOW, what a mountain. At the top of the Col, we had some over-friendly sheep, one became very interested in my GoPro and tried to bite it, we laughed at this for days after.
Col du Tricot is the highest point of the day and when we reached the top, the wind became very cold. We didn’t stay here too long and started our decent immediately after the sheep was finished trying to get their free meal.
There was an amazing view of the valley below the Col, the zig-zag trails going down the side of the mountain were in good condition but they were extremely steep. I can only imagine walking up the zig-zag trail side of the mountain would be extremely difficult, physically and mentally. We were very happy to eventually start walking downhill, especially after walking all morning uphill but we didn’t look at our guidebook correctly and assumed that the lower valley in the above picture would be where we would be staying the night, we were wrong!!! In the above picture, you can see another hill parallel to the mountain, the trail climbs this hill and descends into the valley on the opposite side.
The valley is full of old farm buildings with wonderful natural slate stone roofs, which are just not built like this anymore. There were refugees and a coffee shop in this valley, we treated ourselves to some blueberry pie and coffee. At this stage of the hike, the day was starting to get on and we still had 2-3 hours walking before we got to the next refugee. We ate the pie and drank our coffee quickly as we needed to get moving as quickly as we could.
We walked the next hill reasonably quick and walked along the top which had another refugee that was surrounded by cows with the large bells around their neck. We could hear the bells first before we could see all the cows, they were a welcome distraction.
After passing the small refugee we started walking downhill through a wooded area, this then turns into a windy steep road leading down through some alpine homes and some very friendly donkeys.
We then walked into Les Contamines and paid the local tourist office a visit to get a list of all accommodation in the area. The tourist office recommended Camping du Pontet for the nights stay. We then continued along the TMB trail, by following the river towards the hills. The campsite will be on the right-hand side on the other side of the river.
Camping du Pontet is about 10-minute walk out of the town but I suppose that depends on how tired your legs are at this stage. The campsite had a large building with a communal kitchen, a shared toilet, a shower area and two dorm rooms spread over 2 floors.
When we got to the Refugee, we refuelled with some lovely French beer and then went for our showers.
The Refugee was very clean with good size beds and friendly staff. The refugee cost €15 each for the night’s bed and breakfast. It was an additional €15 for a three-course meal in the campsite restaurant and an additional €7.50 for a packed lunch that consisted of a salad roll, an egg, a pack of crisps and a chocolate bar (we recommend getting this packed lunch).
Our first day’s impression of Tour du Mont Blanc
I’m not too sure what I was expecting from this mountainous adventure, as the highest I’d ever hiked in Ireland was just over 1000m high and on our first days hiking in the Alps we doubled this height. We probably weren’t ready for the sheer vertical hill walking but we tried to prepare for it with lots of walking for months beforehand and after the first hour, we found our rhythm fairly quickly.
The cost of food in the coffee shops was slightly more expensive than we had expected, it was a similar price to an Irish city price, the Camino hiking that we previously did probably spoiled us with all the cheap quality food before this.
Walking advice for Day 1 of Tour du Mont Blanc
- Buy a good guide book, there are loads of signs everywhere but a good Tour du Mont Blanc guidebook is always handy for reassurance when you think you might be lost.
- Bring suncream, as the sun gets very hot in summer.
- Bring a Poncho and layers of clothes, the weather can change quickly.
- There are many Refugees to buy coffee and water but bring enough water to last 4-5 hours.
Walking time to Camping du Pontet on Tour du Mont Blanc
- You would want to allow 8 hours including breaks.
- We started walking out of La Houches at 8:20 am and we arrived at the church in Les Contamines at 4:20 pm.
The budget for Tour of Mont Blanc Day 1
- Lunch cost us €18 each for coffee, a sandwich, and a few snacks.
- €15 each for the night’s bed and breakfast in the Refugee
- €15 for a three-course meal in the campsite restaurant and an additional €7.50 for a packed lunch
TMB day 1 Map
Tour du Mont Blanc day 1 PDF Map
Short Instagram Video of Day 1 TMB hike