Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Swiss mountain hut accomodation

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Swiss mountain hut accomodation

My 10 year old son and I will be meeting my husband in Zurich (he's there on business now)in mid-August and travelling for about 17 days is Germany and Switzerland. My husband doesn't want to do hostels, although it would be okay with my son and me. I have heard about quasi-camping accomodation in Swiss shelter huts, where you need to bring a sleeping bag. I'm at a lost as to where to find out more information about this accomodation and someone I know suggested I post the question here and another Europe message board, www.eurotrip.com. Anyone able to point me in the right direction to web-surf for this info or know firsthand of hut-shelter accomodation in Switzeland or Germany?

Let's first distingush between mountain hotels and true mountain huts maintained by the Swiss Alpine Club. Most of the hotels in the mountains are accessible only by trail. They are not usually luxury estabishments, but it is possible to get a private room in one. The hotels also have communal sleep in the straw type of bunking as well. The German term is Matratzenlage. And the standards vary tremendously. Most of the mountain huts offer some food services if there is an attendant on duty. Sleeping is usually in a dormitory style communal room. Comfort standards vary greatly. Most of the huts will provide blankets. I don't know of any publications other than hiking guides, but these often do not describe the details at specific huts. I have stayed a mountain hotels and they are ok. The mountain huts I have seen, but not stayed in, do not appeal to me. They beat sleeping outside, I guess. But being in a room with 50 strangers never was my cup of tea. Try surfing on the Swiss Alpine Club. For mountain hotels, contact the tourist office of a town near where you want to go.

Thank-you so much, Bob Brown. A seach on Go-To under "Swiss Alpine Club" brought up 3 great sites with much info on mountain huts. Thank-you for your input,too. We are pretty heavy duty hikers/campers but just between you and me, I might lobby for a good ol' hotel, at least for some nights - but now I have more info. Thanks again!

Bob has given you pretty good notes on the hut situation. What I think he assumes you know is that these huts are remote, as in quite remote. There only useful as part of a trek, often to a peak, in the backcountry. None are remotely close to civilized points. Of course when you're staging yourself for an assault on a 4,000 meter peak you'll welcome the matratzenlager at the Mutthornhütte at 2,900 feet. For 17 days, then, in most cases I'd think you'd be staying elsewhere than in a SAC hut. It's difficult, in a country as small as Switzerland in fact, to conceive of a 17-day trip where you'd use only huts ... quite aside from comfort, and odor, considerations. For many over-pass trips in fact there are no huts for overnight accommodations, but rather the mountain hotels that Bob mentioned. Some are quite comfortable, some very ascetic. If you're into hiking in some relatively remote areas but with a modicum of comfort, you should run right out and buy the Liberman's Switzerland's Mountain Inns: A Walker's Complete Vacation Guide The ISBN is 0881504068, and the book is available online at Amazon.com Their Walking Switzerland the Swiss Way is also an excellent reference. twenj

Key Reynolds has written a series of books on hiking in Switzerland. Three of them are entitled "The Valais, a Walking Guide", "The Bernese Alps, a Walking Guide", "Chamonix to Zermatt, the Walkers Haute Route". Kev knows his stuff and describes the trails well. He also pinpoints the huts and mountain hotels, even including some hotel phone numbers. (I would call ahead for a mountain hotel. Those places often have a regular clientele every summer.) The king of them all is the high pass route from Zermatt to Chamonix. The estimated time is 12 - 14 days. I am not sure many people can make it in that length of time. The main accommodation could be mountain huts, but you cross near villages, too, where you can stay in a hotel. Bear in mind that some of the trails are incredibly steep. An altitude gain of 5,000 feet is not out of the question. I have done some of the "Fourteeners" in the Colorado Rockies, but I did not know what steep was until I hit some of those Swiss trails. Of course, I did my 14,000 in Colorado when I was in my forties and did not get to Switzerland until I was in my sixties. So there was some dimunition of strength!! Let me suggest that you approach the Swiss Alps a little differently than taking off on a long walk. Select one of the villages as a mountain base and rent an apartment for a week. If you select the right place, you can find quite a few interesting walks on a day hike basis. You might do that for a week and then try some of the longer treks where you are out for 3 or 4 nights sleeping in huts. If you acquire copies of Reynolds' books, I think you can make some definite plans. But you only have about a month, so you need to start planning now. Switzerland gets very full in the summer with hikers.

If you understand some German or French, try www.sac-cas.ch