Getting to the start
The TMB is a loop, so arriving and going home are the same problem solved once. There is no far end to reach, no return leg to book from somewhere else, and you can join the circuit at any point that has a bus. That makes it much easier logistically than any linear trail, and it is the single fact that shapes every other decision here. Geneva Airport (GVA) is the realistic arrival point for most walkers. The airport has a rail station inside the terminal, so both onward options start from the same hall. Most people take a shared minibus into the Chamonix valley: roughly 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes door to door, pre-booked, and the established operators (Mountain Drop-offs, Alpybus, Peak+/Taxi Mont-Blanc among others) drop at Les Houches, Chamonix, Argentiere, Le Tour and Vallorcine rather than only at the town centre. Shared seats were advertised from about EUR 45 per person one way by Mountain Drop-offs on 2026-07-29, with other operators quoting lower; book ahead in July and August. The public-transport route is cheaper and slower. Train from the airport station into Geneva, then Leman Express and TER services via Annemasse to Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet, then change onto the Mont-Blanc Express (TER Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes), which calls at Servoz, Les Houches, Les Bossons, Chamonix, Argentiere and Vallorcine. Allow the best part of a day with the connections. Les Houches is the conventional starting village and the one with the free long-stay car park. The stored route begins and ends at Les Houches. Because the TMB is a loop, Courmayeur remains a workable alternative joining point, but its position on this geometry is km 65.9 rather than km 0. Arriva Valle d'Aosta line 581 links Courmayeur with Aosta, and a cross-border service runs to Chamonix through the Mont Blanc tunnel. Reaching Courmayeur from Geneva by public transport means going the long way round via Aosta or through the tunnel, so most people arriving at GVA still start from Les Houches or Chamonix and simply walk the loop from there.
Leaving the finish
Same place, same operators, reversed. Because it is a loop you finish where your car, your stored bag and your outbound airport transfer already are, which removes the whole class of problem that linear trails create. The things that catch people out are timing rather than routing. A shared Geneva shuttle for an early flight means a pickup in the dark and must be booked before you set off, not on the last evening. If you have run a day behind, the Chamonix valley train and bus network runs year round and will get you to Saint-Gervais-le-Fayet for onward rail, so being late back into the valley is recoverable in a way that missing a shuttle is not. Build in a night in the valley before the flight if you can; the walk regularly slips a day for weather.
The one-way journey
There is no one-way problem. This is the strongest practical argument for the TMB over a linear route: no car relocation, no leaving a vehicle at one end, no second set of transport bookings. If you drive, the answer at Les Houches is the Parking du Prarion at Chemin du Vernay du Fouilly. It is free, and the Chamonix valley tourist office and Chamonix.net both describe it as the official Tour du Mont-Blanc car park with parking permitted for up to 15 days, which covers a normal 7 to 12 day circuit with slack. It is a few hundred metres from the trailhead and the Bellevue lift. Do not use the Bellevue car park next door for this. It is free but signed for lift users with a 24 hour limit, and it fills early on summer mornings. Chamonix town is the expensive option. The valley's paid car parks (the Grepon park-and-ride, the underground Mont-Blanc, Saint-Michel and Entreves, and the outdoor enclos car parks) publish daily maxima in the EUR 18 to 22.50 range as seen on 2026-07-29, and no long-stay or weekly tariff was found, so eleven days runs well into three figures. ParkTMB is a paid alternative: a booking platform for private, fenced and lit spaces on local properties at Les Houches, Montroc, Le Fayet and Les Contamines, from about EUR 8 a day for 1 to 14 days as seen on 2026-07-29. No equivalent free long-stay arrangement was established for Courmayeur or on the Swiss side. If you are starting from Italy, treat parking as an open question and ask your first night's accommodation.
If you need to leave the trail early
The TMB is unusually forgiving here, because the loop threads four inhabited valleys and every one of them has a road and a bus. Getting off is rarely the problem; getting off on the day you decide to is, because most of the useful services are summer only. The Chamonix valley is the easiest escape on the whole circuit. The Mont-Blanc Express train and the Chamonix Mobilite buses run year round between Servoz, Les Houches, Chamonix, Argentiere, Le Tour and Vallorcine, so anywhere from Les Houches to the Col de Balme you are a descent away from a service that runs whatever the month. Italy: Arriva Valle d'Aosta shuttles run up both side valleys, line 924 into Val Ferret as far as Arp Nouvaz and line 931 into Val Veny to La Visaille, plus 925 to Lavachey. These are the escape route for the two long Italian stages, and Arriva lists them under summer schedules, so outside roughly mid June to late September assume you are walking out. Switzerland: TMR bus 12.272 runs Orsieres to Praz-de-Fort, La Fouly and Ferret, and 12.271 runs Orsieres to Champex-Lac. Orsieres is on the Martigny to Orsieres railway, so from either Swiss stage you can be on a train inside an hour. PostBus 12.213 covers Martigny, Col de la Forclaz, Trient and Le Chatelard year round, which is the escape from the Trient stage. The pinch point is the French south-west corner. Les Chapieux has a seasonal shuttle down to Bourg-Saint-Maurice and a seasonal shuttle up to Ville des Glaciers and Les Mottets, both roughly mid June to mid September; outside that there is nothing, and the crossings either side (Col de la Croix du Bonhomme and Col de la Seigne) are the most committing on the route. Lifts double as the escape route off a bad day and as a legitimate shortcut. The Bellevue cable car at Les Houches, the Flegere gondola down to Les Praz, the Charamillon gondola at Le Tour and the Courmayeur Dolonne and Val Veny lifts all put you in a valley quickly. All of them are seasonal, broadly mid June to mid or late September, and the Skyway Monte Bianco at Courmayeur is the one lift on the circuit that runs outside the walking season.
Useful access hubs
AirportGeneva Airport (Geneve Aeroport)
The arrival point for most walkers, and because the TMB is a loop it is also the departure point. Shared minibus into the Chamonix valley takes roughly 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes door to door and must be booked in advance; operators drop at Les Houches, Chamonix, Argentiere, Le Tour and Vallorcine, not just the town centre. Alternatively rail from the CFF station inside the terminal to Geneva, then Leman Express and TER via Annemasse to Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet, then the Mont-Blanc Express up the valley. A cross-border coach also runs towards Courmayeur for those starting on the Italian side.
Shuttle operators run year round. The rail chain runs year round.RailSaint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet
The interchange between the French main-line network and the metre-gauge Mont-Blanc Express (TER Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes) up the Chamonix valley. Also the valley terminus of the Tramway du Mont-Blanc, and the point where SAT Mont-Blanc line Y84 leaves for Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and Les Contamines-Montjoie. If you are starting at Les Contamines rather than Les Houches, this is your hub.
Mont-Blanc Express and line Y84 both run year round, with separate summer timetables.RailLes Houches (Mont-Blanc Express station)
Station on the Saint-Gervais to Vallorcine line at 980 m, served hourly by TER Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes between Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet and Vallorcine. Chamonix Mobilite buses also stop in the village. The free 15-day Parking du Prarion and the Bellevue cable car are both a short walk away, which is why this is the usual start.
Year round.RailChamonix-Mont-Blanc
The valley's main station and the hub for the Chamonix Mobilite bus network, the cross-tunnel coach to Courmayeur, and airport shuttles. ChamLockers left luggage sits opposite. Most walkers who bail out mid-route end up here.
Year round.RailOrsieres
The Swiss hub for the two Val Ferret stages. Terminus of the standard-gauge Martigny to Orsieres line (infrastructure by TMR, trains by RegionAlps), and the start of TMR bus 12.271 to Champex-Lac and 12.272 to Praz-de-Fort, La Fouly and Ferret. From here it is a short train ride to Martigny and the wider Swiss network.
Rail and both bus lines run year round; check frequency outside summer.RailMartigny
The Swiss main-line junction for the whole eastern half of the loop. TMR's R85 Mont-Blanc Express runs Martigny to Le Chatelard, Vallorcine, Chamonix and Saint-Gervais, so you can reach the Chamonix valley from Switzerland without going back through France by road. PostBus 12.213 runs from here to Col de la Forclaz, Trient and Le Chatelard.
Year round.CoachCourmayeur (Piazzale Monte Bianco bus station)
The Italian hub and the start/finish of the loop as digitised here. Arriva Valle d'Aosta line 581 runs to Aosta for onward rail and coach connections, a cross-border service runs to Chamonix through the Mont Blanc tunnel, and the local 924, 925, 931 and 947 shuttles fan out into Val Ferret, Val Veny and the town. Pre-Saint-Didier is the nearest railhead, with a bus connection into town.
Line 581 and the tunnel coach run year round; the Val Ferret and Val Veny shuttles are listed under summer schedules.RailBourg-Saint-Maurice
The escape hatch for the Les Chapieux stage and the only rail access to the south-west corner of the loop. A seasonal shuttle links it with Les Chapieux; tickets are sold from the driver at Bourg-Saint-Maurice and from the ticket machine at Les Chapieux, so bring cash or buy the night before. Out of season there is no link at all and you would be arranging a taxi.
The Les Chapieux shuttle runs roughly late June to mid September. The railway runs year round. Sources and research notes ยท 41 sources
- peakplus.frluggage transfer: Peak+ coverage list of served villages, direct phone and email, booking portalChecked 29 Jul 2026
- peakplus.frluggage transfer and taxis: Peak+ services, contact details, office hours, year-round operationChecked 29 Jul 2026
- mountaindropoffs.comluggage transfer: 15 kg / 90 cm bag limit, collection from the nominated point, statement that some refuges cannot be served, Transport Besson as the underlying operatorChecked 29 Jul 2026
- mountaindropoffs.comgetting to start and access hubs: shared shuttle price band from about EUR 45 per person, 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes journey, drop points across the valley, direct phoneChecked 29 Jul 2026
- alpybus.comgetting to start: second named shared-shuttle operator with direct phone and emailChecked 29 Jul 2026
- tmbtrailguide.comluggage transfer and stops: the named list of refuges that cannot receive a bag (Croix du Bonhomme, Elisabetta, Combal, Bertone, Bonatti, La Peule, Charamillon, Lac Blanc, Flegere), EUR 30 to 50 per bag per transfer band, 15 kg limit. Third-party guide, lower confidence than an operatorChecked 29 Jul 2026
- chamonix-valley-transfers.co.ukluggage transfer: Chamonix Valley Transfers' own list of served stops including Col de la Forclaz, and their on-demand shuttle reachChecked 29 Jul 2026
- montblancnaturalresort.combus network: Compagnie du Mont-Blanc as operator and the areas and excursion sites coveredChecked 29 Jul 2026
- montblancnaturalresort.compasses: Mont-Blanc MultiPass coverage across France and Italy, summer validity period, day and multi-day price bands, inclusion of valley shuttles and the Mont-Blanc ExpressChecked 29 Jul 2026
- leshouches.montblancnaturalresort.combus network: Bellevue and Prarion lift operating periods and adult ticket price bandChecked 29 Jul 2026
- en.chamonix.combus network: Flegere gondola summer operating period and price bandChecked 29 Jul 2026
- en.chamonix.compasses: what the Carte d'Hote actually covers, free Mont-Blanc Express between Servoz and Vallorcine, reduced rather than free bus tickets, cost if boughtChecked 29 Jul 2026
- en.chamonix.combus network and accessibility: Chamonix Mobilite as valley bus operator, Mont-Blanc Express stops both sides of the border, guest card free train travel, reduced faresChecked 29 Jul 2026
- en.chamonix.comparking: Parking du Prarion free, up to 15 days, official Tour du Mont-Blanc car park, address, phone, open year roundChecked 29 Jul 2026
- en.chamonix.comparking: the valley car park inventory and the Grepon park-and-rideChecked 29 Jul 2026
- chamonix.netparking: second source for the Prarion 15-day allowance, and Chamonix town car park daily maxima and seasonal pricingChecked 29 Jul 2026
- en.chamonix.comparking: Bellevue car park free but reserved for lift users with a 24 hour maximumChecked 29 Jul 2026
- chamlockers.comleft luggage: location opposite Chamonix station, locker sizes, daily and 2 to 12 day price bands, 12 day maximum, opening hours, emailChecked 29 Jul 2026
- parking-tour-du-mont-blanc.comparking: ParkTMB network, the four zones, security model, from EUR 8 a day, booking routeChecked 29 Jul 2026
- parking-tour-du-mont-blanc.comparking: Les Houches spaces, distance to trailhead and bus stop, 1 to 14 day booking, number of spaces, luggage storage rateChecked 29 Jul 2026