Tour du Mont Blanc – what is the cost, what to bring to TMB?

Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB), a several-day trekking around the Mont Blanc massif. The route leads through 3 countries – Italy, France and Switzerland, has about 170 kilometers, and the sum of elevations reaches 10,000m. I described the whole expedition from August 2020 and the route in this post. There you will find descriptions of individual days, accommodation and prices of campsites.

To write this post I was inspired by the questions, what to take with you? How to prepare for such a 10-day trekking? What tent to take? How heavy was my backpack?

Practical advice

Tour du Mont Blanc is a multi-day trekking. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare for it properly. One of the most important questions to ask yourself is whether we will sleep in a tent. Another option is accommodation in shelters, which are not lacking on the trail. Only their price around 40-60 euros per night per person 😉

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TMB with tent

Overnight under a tent has many advantages, such as, for example, a much lower cost of TMB trekking. However, it is good to take care of proven equipment. I just bought the Naturehike Cloud Up 2 tent in the spring before leaving and it worked great on trekking. Ideal for two people, it will also accommodate backpacks. Only its weight is not the lowest in the world, but for this price there is nothing to complain about 🙂

If we are going to a tent, it is worth thinking about a tourist stove. We will buy gas on the spot, the only thing is to check the type of valve well – I have already bought the wrong one a few times. The worst is when you are somewhere in a remote area and you can not start the stove … By checking the compatibility of the cylinder with the stove, you can save yourself problems 😀 And nothing tastes as good as hot coffee at sunrise overlooking the mountains after a cold night in a tent 😀

Camping on TMB

The camping network on the Tour du Mont Blanc is well organized. On most campsites we will find a place to charge electronics, kettle, bathrooms and wifi. Only on the camping field in the Swiss Le Peuty infrastructure is very poor or when we sleep in the wild such amenities as access to electricity there is no.

Food on TMB

As for the food on the expedition, I adhere to the principle of who likes what. I ate traditional porridge with fruit and nuts for breakfast. During the day, fruits, nuts, fresh baguette with cheese, chocolate. After setting up the tent, a feast in the form of pasta with various vegetables, sometimes a baguette with cheese and some sweets 🙂

The cost of trekking Tour du Mont Blanc

After calculating the total costs, it turned out that it was one of my most budget trips. It is true that the cost of the air ticket was spread over a trip to the Dolomites, but I enter here in the costs. The bus also went one way, because I continued to Turin and camino Primitivo. Below are the cost of travel for one person. I note that the cost of a tent on the campsites was divided in half. Detailed prices of campsites in the post describing the TMB route here. The given cost of trekking in August 2020.

Flight ticket Warsaw Modlin – Bergamo (one-wayticket only, price including checked baggage 20kg)	217 PLN
Bus Bergamo airport – Courmayeur (flixbus, one way)	70 PLN
Camping (8 nights)	368 PLN
Food and other (e.g. gas for the stove)	452 PLN
Amount	1107 PLN

List of things on TMB

My backpack weighed about 12-13 kilograms. Below is a full list of things I took on TMB.

• Tourist equipment
  • backpack 53 liters (1920g)
  • mini backpack 10l (124g)
  • sleeping bag (700g – mine had a comfort temperature of 10 degrees, next time I would take a warmer :))
  • tent (1800g – double tent Cloud Up 2 tent, parts divided into two people about 900g each)
  • trekking poles (450g)
  • self-inflating mat (550g)
  • headlamp (54g)
  • sunglasses (58g)
  • seat (60g – great thing! mega recommend for every trip)
• Cooking
  • thermal bottle 1l (470g)
  • bottle with filter 0,5l (192g)
  • bottle 0,8l (100g)
  • menagerie (240g)
  • plastic bowl
  • burner (85g)
  • gas (I bought gas in Italy after arrival, first on a trip to the Dolomites, then in the town of Argentiere in France)
  • plastic cutlery (11g)
  • knife (75g)
  • plastic cup (88g)
• Clothes
  • rain jacket (500g)
  • down (500g)
  • sandals (460g)
  • mountain boots (1080g)
  • merino blouse long sleeve (125g)
  • T-shirts with short sleeves x3 (203g)
  • fleece (216g)
  • tracksuits (226g)
  • trekking pants (350g)
  • gloves (80g)
  • socks x3
  • panties x3 (77g)
  • sports bra (60g)
  • pajamas (163g)
  • buff x2 (60g)
  • towel (185g)
• Electronics
  • power bank (181g)
  • phone (229g)
  • camera (215g)
  • headphones (100g)
  • charger
  • charging cable x2
• Cosmetics (668g)
  • lipstick with UV filter
  • shampoo in the cube
  • cream with filter 50
  • bar soap
  • antibacterial gel
  • toothbrush
  • mini toothpaste
  • hairbrush
  • mini coconut oil
  • menstrual cup
  • earplugs
  • scissors
  • knee gel
  • deodorant
  • Wipes
  • blindfold
• Other
  • first aid kit (212g)
  • Documents
  • Pens
  • Notes
  • small massage ball for tired feet
  • clothes covers (super useful for organizing the inside of the backpack)

The total weight of the backpack was about 1.5-2 liters of water and food.

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