Monkeys and Mountains Hiking Tours

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Monkeys and Mountains Hiking Tours

Planning a hiking trip is hard, we make hiking Europe easy and stress free. Get your FREE custom training plan + trail tips. Hi, I’m Laurel.

Self-guided hiking tours in Europe: Tour du Mont Blanc, Dolomites, Cinque Terre, Gran Paradiso, Croatia & Wicklow Way. I started Monkeys and Mountains Adventure Travel because being outdoors more often has had a profound impact on my life. I know that it can have a similar positive impact on your life too. For 20+ years I’ve been choosing my travel destination based on the outdoor activities and/or wildlife viewing it has to offer. I travelled to Rwanda because I wanted to observe mountain gorillas. I hiked the Tour du Mont Blanc because I wanted to hike in three countries. Since 2010, I’ve helped millions of travellers experience unforgettable outdoor adventures and have been featured in large media outlets like BBC Travel, BBC Earth, National Geographic, Forbes. My goal is to help you make the most of your time outside. Spending more time in the mountains, on the bike trail, or doing the adventure of your choosing, can have a tremendous impact on your life long that lasts long after the adventure is over.

16/09/2026

Fall is my favorite season to hike, and the one that has caught me out most.

Snow in September in Banff, when I'd packed for a sunny afternoon. A shaded switchback iced over while the rest of the trail was bone dry. A descent finished in the dark because I planned the day like it was July.

So here's what I do differently now.

Layers that come off. Base, fleece, waterproof. The morning is cold, midday is not, and the weather will change its mind anyway.

Microspikes once you're heading up high. Those north-facing sections ice over before anything else does.

A headlamp, even for a short hike. The sun sets earlier than you plan for.

An emergency thermal blanket. I carry one in summer too, and I've been glad of it more than once.

Noise, in bear country. Bears are bulking up for winter in fall, so I hike with friends and keep the spray somewhere I can actually reach. Bear bells do nothing.

All seven tips, including how to shoot larches so they don't come out flat: https://monkeysandmountains.com/fall-hiking-tips/

15/09/2026

Where to hike in Europe in October.

August is for queuing behind someone's selfie stick. October is for having the path to yourself.

Cinque Terre: the cliff paths without the queue, and gelato that tastes better when you've walked for it.

Croatia, Dubrovnik to Split: sunny days, medieval towns, five Adriatic islands.

The Spanish Pyrenees: gold forests, cool air, stone bridges, quiet valleys.

Sierra Nevada and the Alpujarras: white villages, olive groves, and your luggage moved while you walk.

Costa Brava: warm enough to swim, cool enough to hike.

The Wicklow Way: mossy valleys, proper mist, and a pub at the end of it.

Flights and rooms cost less in October too, which is the least romantic reason to go and probably the most convincing.

All eight, all self-guided: https://monkeysandmountains.com/where-to-hike-in-europe-in-october/

Which would you do first, the Cinque Terre coast or the Pyrenees?

14/09/2026

Tour du Mont Blanc accommodation: 4 ways to sleep, from bunk bed to 5-star.

Where you sleep on the TMB shapes the whole trip, so here's the ladder, most comfortable first.

4 and 5-star hotels. Three nights in 5-star, two in 4-star, one in 3-star, and your own bathroom every night. That's our new 7-Day Ultimate Luxury Tour.

3-star and 2-star hotels. Comfort, mountain style, with a private bathroom every night. Our 6-Day Classic Luxury Tour.

A Comfort private double. Your own room, usually in a village inn, with a shared bathroom some nights. On our 7 and 10-day tours.

A dorm bed in a mountain hut. Bunks, dinner at a long table, and lights out around 10pm, which sounds early right up until you've hauled yourself over a col that afternoon. Also on our 7 and 10-day tours, and the cheapest option.

Private rooms go first, and there aren't many of them. Dorm beds last longer.

There's no right choice. Pick your rung, and we book every refuge, inn and hotel for you, one email at a time, in three languages.

Today (Sept 14th) is the last day to get 2026 pricing on 2027 tours, so book today with Monkeys and Mountains Hiking Tours: https://monkeysandmountains.com/tour-du-mont-blanc-self-guided/

13/09/2026

Lac Blanc Hike: One Chairlift Saves You 440 m (1,444 ft) of Climbing

There are two lifts to Lac Blanc, not one, and the second is the one that matters.

The Flégère gondola from Les Praz saves you about 800 m (2,625 ft). Then the Index chairlift takes another 440 m (1,444 ft) off the top. From there it's about 1h15 to 1h30 to the lake.

One honest caveat. You'll see "60 m of ascent" quoted from the Index. That's net. You drop down first and the trail undulates the whole way, so budget more like 100 to 150 m (330 to 492 ft) of real climbing.

My favorite easy way to do it is a loop. Index chairlift up, Lac Blanc, then down past the Lacs des Chéserys, where Mont Blanc spends most of the day admiring its own reflection, and across to Flégère for the gondola down. About 4 hours, one short ladder section, and you see twice as much.

But I love, love, love the full day from Argentière. It's one of the highlights of the Tour du Mont Blanc, with Mont Blanc and its glaciers right across the valley the whole way. Ladders and all.

Whichever you pick, stop at the Refuge du Lac Blanc at 2,352 m (7,717 ft) and let everyone else queue for the photo.

Both lifts run seasonally, and the Index opens later and closes earlier than the gondola, so check before you go.

All three routes, with times and elevations, are in the full guide: https://monkeysandmountains.com/lac-blanc-hike/

Feeling inspired? Lac Blanc is part of the incredible Tour du Mont Blanc, if one day just isn't enough.

One practical note: Monday is the last day to get 2026 pricing on 2027 tours.

12/09/2026

How to train for the Tour du Mont Blanc in 12 weeks.

The number that matters isn't the 170 km. It's the 10,000 m of climbing, and most days ask for 800 to 1,200 m of it.

So train for the up, not the distance.

A peak week looks like this: two hikes back to back, 5 to 7 hours each, 800 to 1,000 m of gain, with a pack that gets a little heavier every couple of weeks.

If the biggest hill near you is a parking garage, you can still do this. Treadmill at 10 to 15%, stadium stairs with controlled descents, step-ups until you're bored of them, then a real trail every week or two so your ankles remember what rocks feel like.

And take the poles. They cut the force on your knees on the way down by 12 to 25%, which you'll feel on day four.

You're ready when you can climb 1,200 m in a day, then get up and do it again.

The full 12-week plan is here: https://monkeysandmountains.com/training-for-the-tour-du-mont-blanc/

Book your Tour du Mont Blanc tour with us and you get a much more detailed custom training plan, worth €300, built around your itinerary, your fitness level and the terrain where you actually live.

One practical note: Monday is the last day to get 2026 pricing on 2027 tours.

09/09/2026

Somewhere between the French Alps and the Italian border, you stop checking your phone. You stop thinking about work. You start noticing that you're hungry, that your legs feel better than they did on day one, and that the light on the glacier changes every ten minutes.

That's the Tour du Mont Blanc. It walks you out of the French Alps, down into Italy, and home through the Swiss Alps, sleeping somewhere different every night. A new valley each day, a different country's dinner every few. We book all of it, so the only thing you have to do is walk.

2027 dates are open. Link in bio.

04/09/2026

17 things to do outside in September before it's gone

I used to treat September like a waiting room.

Summer was over, the good hiking was behind me, and I'd quietly start filing everything under next year.

Then I actually counted. Between the first crisp morning and the first real freeze you get about 30 days where the trails are quiet, the light does that thing, and you can still sit outside without three layers on. Thirty. Fewer if you live somewhere high.

So this year I made a list instead of waiting.

Some of it is easy. An apple orchard. A new seasonal drink, and yes, the pumpkin latte counts. An hour with a book under a tree. Kicking through a pile of leaves like you're nine.

Some of it takes a bit more. One last swim in water that has genuinely turned cold. A night hike with a headlamp and one friend who won't complain about the dark.

And one of them is the unromantic admin thing that decides whether next year actually happens. The Tour du Mont Blanc, Alta Via 1 and the Haute Route all need booking 9 to 12 months out, and some accommodations don't open reservations until mid-October. Autumn is the planning window. Not January.

The whole list is in the video. Then go do number one before the weekend.

Which one are you doing first?

01/09/2026

Life is this
Waking up in a mountain hut with no idea what the weather will do, and going anyway.

Quads that ache in a way that means something.

The kind of quiet you can't get anywhere else, right before the kind of view that makes you stop talking.

I built Monkeys and Mountains because hiking changed my life. But I often hike in places we don't sell yours to, because that was never the point. Getting outside and being in the mountains is.

That's the whole philosophy. Find your trail wherever it is.

And if you need help getting in shape for hiking, check out our free 6-Week Training Plan.......

31/08/2026

166 km. 10,000 m of climbing. 3 countries. 1 hike that will absolutely rearrange your quads.

The Tour du Mont Blanc broken down, number by number, including the one stat nobody can actually confirm (looking at you, ibex).

Full route or highlights, 6, 7 or 10 days, France, Italy, and Switzerland all in one loop, this is the hike everyone should do self-guided at least once.

Swipe through, then tell us: full 10 days, or are you the "hit the highlights" type?

Ready to hike the TMB your way? Link in bio for our self-guided Tour du Mont Blanc.

30/08/2026

Guided vs. self-guided Tour du Mont Blanc? We're firmly on Team Self-Guided, and here's why.

You get the freedom to hike at your own pace, sleep in when you need to, linger at that overlook a little longer, all without a group of strangers waiting on you.

No rigid schedule, no forced small talk while hiking, just you (and your own people) on one of the best multi-day hiking tours in the world.

The real difference isn't the hiking trail, it's who's calling the shots. On a self-guided TMB, that's you.

Swipe through for the real breakdown of guided vs. self-guided Mont Blanc hiking, and why we think self-guided wins every time.

Thinking about hiking the Tour du Mont Blanc? Link in bio for our self-guided TMB tour.
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