Tour du Mont Blanc self guided walking tour

Planet

Activity:
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 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 on their initial briefing in order to keep our impact neutral.

Water:
Water is a really important issue with trekking trips - especially as this trip reaches an altitude of over 2,500m at Brevent, which might be quite challenging. To stay hydrated it is 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, you 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 hotels and guesthouses where they stay.

UK office
It all starts at home so we have first worked to reduce our carbon footprint in our UK offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies in place, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.

Group size
We operate small group tours that have a low impact on the communities we visit and we always ensure our operations do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. This allows us to stay in unique and characterful accommodation that would not have benefitted from tourism due to their limited size.

People

Accommodation & Meals:
For accommodation and eating out we use smaller business that benefit the local community by keeping investment in the area. We spend most nights in locally owned, boutique hotels, pensions and village inns, except for 3 nights in local auberges and 1 night in a mountain refuge; and meals are usually communally organised which is more efficient and less impactful. Where meals are provided, local supplies are used if possible and for independent meals there are plenty of local shops and cafes en route as well as a Saturday market in Chamonix. On the route you can stop almost daily in locally run refuges and have a coffee and a big slice of cake. It does not sound like much but these are all locally owned establishments and your business is an excellent source of income for them.