12 independent reviews for Mont Blanc vacation, Tour du Mont Blanc

Thank you for your review, Frances, and we're pleased to hear you had an enjoyable trip to the Alps with us. We do find that, on balance, Mont Blanc Highlights is a Grade 3 (Moderate) trip, though we mention in the trip notes that customers without hill walking experience may find it a little more difficult. We will certainly continue to monitor the feedback we receive about the trip, though, should a number of our clients feel that the trip should be graded higher.

Dear Michael, Firstly, thank you for your comments, we are delighted that overall you had a great trip. We’d like to give you a little more information regarding your comments in question 3. As we’re sure you’re aware few vacations have as little detrimental impact on the environment and local residents as a walking and trekking trip. Erosion on and adjacent to popular paths is a growing problem in certain places and therefore our trip leaders encourage clients to stick to advised routes in order to minimise this. We do believe in leaving no more than footprints and have a strict policy with proper disposal of litter. We understand that this sense of responsibility is even more necessary in the case of Mont Blanc than some other trekking sites as the mountain does not have National Park status and regulations to protect it. Our staff are trained with environmental stewardship in mind and protective guidelines are then passed on to our clients through briefings in order to keep our impact neutral. Where meals are provided, we try to use local supplies if possible and encourage clients to do the same when they shop independently: for example, there is a Saturday market in Chamonix with plenty of local shops and cafes en route which we hope you got to visit. When eating out, we use family run business that benefit the local community by keeping investment in the area. We stop almost daily in locally run refuges where our trekkers usually have a coffee and a big slice of cake. It does not sound like much but these are all locally owned establishments and our business is an excellent source of income for them. Water is a really important issue with trekking trips- especially as this trip reaches at altitude of over 2,500m at the highest pass of the route, Lac Blanc, which might be quite challenging. Whilst we must stay hydrated, it is also vital that we have a system for providing clean water without causing lots of waste with plastic bottles. We suggest that instead of repeatedly buying bottled water, guests should use fresh water springs on the way to re-fill a singular container. These springs are clean and are a wonderful resource for reducing plastic waste, or guests can simply re-fill at the campsites, mountain huts or village inns where they stay. We do hope that this explanation provides an adequate response to your review and offers you reassurance that we are continuously working on ensuring our trips are as responsible as possible. We hope to welcome you back to France one day.