The Tour du Mont Blanc has a fearsome reputation, but a trekker who recently completed the full circuit in six days says the route is less 'difficult' than simply long. Lots of altitude gained and lost, gorgeous views the whole way, and one non-negotiable rule: slow down. His group of four, all self-described beginners at multi-day alpine hiking, finished the loop in September — the final week of the season — and hit only a single hour of rain in six days.

The route circles the Mont Blanc massif through France, Italy and Switzerland, which means you sleep in a different charming town each night and earn your dinner with a big pass every morning. The group learned quickly that everyone has a weak point — one person's knees, another's toes, someone else's lungs — and that frequent short breaks beat heroic pushes. On the long climbs, small steady steps won out; on the way down, poles were the difference between a pleasant descent and a knee-battering slog.

Navigation turned out to be the easy part. Trail signage is excellent, and GPS apps let you simply follow a blue dot. Still, the most useful habit was old-school: spending half an hour each evening studying the next day's route on a good printed map. Weather strategy mattered just as much. Forecasts looked threatening all week, so the group packed rain gear daily and cycled through layers as they climbed and dropped — a rhythm that finally clicked around day four, when they realised they were actually getting good at this.

And the payoffs? Star-filled skies above alpine towns every night, plus the deep satisfaction of walking an entire mountain range's worth of trail without a single emergency. For anyone who has eyed the TMB and assumed it was only for superhumans, this is a useful reality check: it's an endurance event, not a technical climb, and pacing, poles and layers will carry you through.

The trekker is turning his photos and tips into a free online presentation on 29 November as part of the Monday Night Travel series — worth registering for if you're weighing up the route. Later in the season means quieter trails and autumn colours, but book huts early and accept that some lifts and refuges may already be closing for winter.

Why it matters: the TMB is one of the world's great walks precisely because it's achievable for ordinary fit people who plan sensibly. Six days is a compressed version (most walkers take 10-11), so beginners could stretch it out, break at more villages, and make it gentler still. Pack poles, pack rain shells, trust the blue dot — and take the pass slowly.