Tour du Mont Blanc

The tour starts gently: cable car or forest path up to the Bellevue balcony, then the long traverse under the Bionnassay glacier with its hanging footbridge. The pilgrim road through Notre-Dame de la Gorge leads into the valley and finally to Les Contamines, a proper mountain village with a bar terrace worth the day's effort.

The first real pass day. Over the Col du Bonhomme and the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme (2,412 m) with the Refuge de la Balme, then a long high descent into the wild valley of the Chapieux, where the road ends and the valley is only huts, sheep and the noise of the torrent. This is the day the tour puts on its boots: two passes in one morning, and the beaufort herds still grazing the summer grass along the ridge.

A short day over the Col de la Seigne (2,516 m), the border between France and Italy. The track climbs the quiet valley, passes the Ville des Glaciers cheese farm, and the pass opens the first Italian view: the Glacier de Miage pouring its grey moraine towards the Italian valley. Take it slow: the afternoon is short, and the terrace of the refuge is the place to watch the evening light climb the glacier.

Mostly downhill and all reward: along the Lac Combal and the boulder field of the Miage glacier, through pine forest past a chapel tucked between the moraines, and down into Val Veny to end in Courmayeur, where espresso and cobbled lanes wait. Lunch in Courmayeur is not optional, it is tradition: the tour dips deep into town before climbing again tomorrow.

Climb out of Courmayeur through the forest to the Rifugio Bertone balcony, then a spectacular high traverse with the Mont Blanc range in full view to the hut named for Walter Bonatti, terrace facing the Grandes Jorasses. The evening light on the Grandes Jorasses from the Bonatti terrace is the reason walkers cross the Alps.

The Grand Col Ferret day (2,537 m): Italy ends, Switzerland begins. Through the old McNair-Erna hut and the green head of the Val Ferret, then a long descent through larch forest to La Fouly, a tiny village with a big camp site. The pass itself is a rolling green saddle; the border stone is a favourite photo stop before the long Swiss descent.

The easiest stage: a gentle valley walk through Swiss hamlets with their geraniums and water fountains, over the Forgelet ridge, and down to Champex-Lac, where the alpine lake and pine trees look like Canada without the bears. Short day, long afternoon: swim in the lake, dry your boots in the sun, and let the legs recover for the two big days ahead.

The Bovine day, and the gentle one: through the forest up to the high alp of Bovine (1,987 m), where the whole Rhône valley lies below and the Grand Combin stands opposite. Over the Collet de Portalo (2,049 m) the path drops past the Chalet de la Giète to the Col de la Forclaz and down into Trient. The standard route trades the Fenêtre d'Arpette drama for a balcony walk with the widest views of the whole tour.

Back to France: a steady climb over the Herbageres pastures and the Col des Posettes (1,997 m), with the Chamonix aiguille range appearing behind you, then the descent to the Col des Montets (1,461 m) on the Swiss border. The Argentière glacier fills the horizon for most of the day. A calm day after the big passes, and the gate back into the Chamonix valley.

From the Col des Montets to the Flégère along the balcony ledge below the Aiguillette d'Argentière: first through the woods above Tré-le-Champ, then along the rock walls with the Chamonix aiguilles on your right, and finally the short climb to the refuge. Six kilometres and a thousand metres of climbing, short but steady. If you want the lakes, take the variant at Tré-le-Champ up the ladders to the Lacs des Chéserys and Lac Blanc (2,352 metres) and down to the Flégère: four kilometres and three hundred metres of climbing extra, with the whole Mont Blanc massif in the water.

The last balcony and the goodbye: from Flégère over the Col de Brevent's ridge shoulder and down the long forest descent to Les Houches, where the tour ends where it began, 164 kilometres and eleven days later. The long descent takes the last of the energy; end with a coffee on the Les Houches main street and look up one more time.