Trekking in the Alps
 

Hi-
My friend and I are planning a hut to hut hiking trip in Switzerland for two weeks in July. I would love any feedback from people who have done this. Best guidebooks, routes, gear to bring, etc. etc. Do we have to have our route planned out so we know when we will be at which hut at night, or can we just wing it (which tends to be our style)? We are looking for a challenging route and if it dips into the Italian or French Alps, all the better.
Thanks,
Jen

Jen--- iIposted a response to your previous question about this and won't repeat anything I said there. Kev Reynolds has written guidebooks to three hut-to-hut treks in Switzerland: the Alpine Pass Route, the Walker's Haute Route, and the Tour de Mont Blanc. You should read the reviews of these books on Amazon; they are quite informative. The Haute Route is the most difficult of the three, and the guidebook is criticized for failing to adequately warn hikers of that.

Given that you would like to "dip" into France and Italy, I think the Tour de Mont Blanc might work well for you and your friend. We hiked parts of it when in Chamonix last summer, and the scenery is incredible.

Thanks, I appreciate both responses...thought I'd get some more though but you have been the only responder to both posts!

Hi Jen---I posted a question about the skier's Haute Route (my son is interested) and also got no responses. I think most of the people here, even hikers, are more likely to stay in villages at nice hotels. You might look into joining the British section of the Austrian Alpine Club (OEAV); you maight be able to learn more about hut-to-hut trekking through them. I have friends who have hiked the Alpine Pass Route and the TMB using just Kev Reynolds' books and their own knowledge and experience, and they did just fine.

Hi Jen. I have done a great deal of research on this topic recently. My husband and I are hiking in Switzerland in September. The guided tours are very expensive and after all the work I've done I think we can go it alone. Many of the hiking guided tours are very strenuous. We are avid hikers who climb mountains but we don't always want to climb 3500' each day. The engadine is supposed to be quite nice, but we decided to do a portion of the Berner Oberland.
We are doing the following:
Two nights Grindewald. Hotel-Try Hotel Belvedere.
12 mile hike to Wengen, 1700 gain, cog train part of the way.
Lodging-Try Hotel Bellevue or Hotel Alpenrose. Bellevue is recommended in the books, the Alpenrose looks good online.
Hike to Murren-Lodging at Hotel Eiger.
Bus to Kandersteg-hiking from Murren to Kandersteg is a LONG day...about 14 miles and 4500' gain so we are bussing this part.

Lodging in Kandersteg at Hotel Victoria or www.chalethotel.ch
We can day hike in Kandersteg to some really great places!

This itinerary only requires us to dump our bags at a train station twice and when working on lodging reservations, these places will deliver our bags to the station. Nice touch. We have also been told its easy finding your way around and that we can get hike maps there. Who needs to pay a guide? I'll save my $$$ for Cinque Terre when we get to Italy. Hope this is helpful.

Thanks for your posts! Yes, they are very helpful. We are going to Cinque Terre after our hiking trip as well...have you figured out the train from Switz. to Cinque Terre yet?

I'm not quite sure it's as rugged as what you're looking for, but the Bregaglia Valley is beautiful and very close to Italy. Google the "Via Panoramica" and the "Via Bregaglia" if you're interested.

Intrepid Tours does a 12 day hut to hut tour. You could look at their itinerary to get an idea of where to go. Intrepid is known for getting off the beaten path and encourages people to be a traveler rather than a tourist.

http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trip.p...&code=GFCW