Day 0
We have done hundreds of day hikes but this was to be our first extended backpacking trip together. The moment we've read about the TMB we knew this was the one for us. It was just the right amount of hiking but with the luxury of mountain huts so carrying our own food, tents, or sleeping bags wasn't necessary. This definitely reduced our backpack weight, which were still around 22lbs each.
The first planning obstacle was of course getting a cheap airfare but this year that proved very tricky. Not sure if it's because normally we fly slightly out of season but I was convinced we'll easily score tickets for under 1k..... didn't happen. The closest and most convienient airport to the start of TMB is Geneva, and direct flights from JFK on Swiss Air were starting around $1400. We waited, and waited but the prices were not dropping, finally it was time to bite the bullet. We found a good connection with Aer Lingus for around $1150. The flight turned out great, new plane, good entertainment system, layover was only 1hr and the airport in Dublin was very nice. Similarly on the way back, this time with longer layover, but no complains as not one of our flights were even slightly delayed.
As with the other 99.9% of the people on the trail we followed the Kev Reynolds - Tour of Mont Blanc guide. This literally has to be the best selling travel guide of all time! We planned the whole trip based on the book's 11 stages and booked all the huts ahead of time. In retrospect I'm definitely glad we did, knowing that we have to finish each stage gave us an extra kick to start the day early and push on when tired. Also since we didn't speak French it was nice not to worry each night about making reservations. It was actually surprisingly easy to reserve everything either directly online or through email.
We arrived in Geneva around 10am, grabbed our bags and went directly to catch our bus to Chamonix. We booked it with Alpy Bus for $24 each. Since we arrived a bit earlier then planned they managed to put us on an earlier bus, and within 1hr we were already checking in to our first dormitory: the Ski Chalet.
The first planning obstacle was of course getting a cheap airfare but this year that proved very tricky. Not sure if it's because normally we fly slightly out of season but I was convinced we'll easily score tickets for under 1k..... didn't happen. The closest and most convienient airport to the start of TMB is Geneva, and direct flights from JFK on Swiss Air were starting around $1400. We waited, and waited but the prices were not dropping, finally it was time to bite the bullet. We found a good connection with Aer Lingus for around $1150. The flight turned out great, new plane, good entertainment system, layover was only 1hr and the airport in Dublin was very nice. Similarly on the way back, this time with longer layover, but no complains as not one of our flights were even slightly delayed.
As with the other 99.9% of the people on the trail we followed the Kev Reynolds - Tour of Mont Blanc guide. This literally has to be the best selling travel guide of all time! We planned the whole trip based on the book's 11 stages and booked all the huts ahead of time. In retrospect I'm definitely glad we did, knowing that we have to finish each stage gave us an extra kick to start the day early and push on when tired. Also since we didn't speak French it was nice not to worry each night about making reservations. It was actually surprisingly easy to reserve everything either directly online or through email.
We arrived in Geneva around 10am, grabbed our bags and went directly to catch our bus to Chamonix. We booked it with Alpy Bus for $24 each. Since we arrived a bit earlier then planned they managed to put us on an earlier bus, and within 1hr we were already checking in to our first dormitory: the Ski Chalet.
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