It costs 500 Swiss Francs to plan your own 6-day hike in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland.
This cost will vary depending on the number of days on the trail, and your accommodation, food, and transport preferences. So, how do you calculate how much it will cost for your trip? Here are a few sample itineraries using actual 2024 costs to help you out!
The Europaweg Trail between Grächen and Zermatt is one of the most famous two-day hikes in the Alps, as well as forming part of the Walker’s Haute Route and Tour of Monte Rosa. In the past few years, there has been some confusion about where exactly the Europaweg trail goes, due to the original route still appearing on some outdated maps, apps and guidebooks. In this updated post, I share details about the Europaweg trail, clarify where the route goes and share a brief history of trail changes in recent years.
It costs €826 to plan your own 10-day hike of the Tour du Mont Blanc. This amount comes from our new cost calculator for the Tour du Mont Blanc, which uses over 300 actual customer itineraries and 2023 costs from nearly 100 accommodation and service providers along the trail.
the calculator is for self-guided hikers to estimate how much it will cost them to organise their own hike of the Tour du Mont Blanc based on their preferences. Give it a try!
How much it costs to hike the Walker’s Haute Route is one of the most common questions I’m asked. Armed with my accounting background and mission to make every hikers self-guided dreams come true, I’ve dug deep into the numbers across all the different accommodation types, food and services available to provide firm guidance on what it costs to hike the Walker’s Haute Route.
The standard Tour of Monte Rosa trail is 167 km / 104 mi. But did you realise that there are lots of exciting alternate routes you can incorporate into your hike to make it even more epic? Or alternate routes that allow you to skip some of the more difficult and challenging sections. Take a read through our list of top alternate routes for the Tour of Monte Rosa to make sure you are choosing the best routes to suit your ideal hike!
It costs 500 Swiss Francs to plan your own 6-day hike in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland.
This cost will vary depending on the number of days on the trail, and your accommodation, food, and transport preferences. So, how do you calculate how much it will cost for your trip? Here are a few sample itineraries using actual 2024 costs to help you out!
It costs €826 to plan your own 10-day hike of the Tour du Mont Blanc. This amount comes from our new cost calculator for the Tour du Mont Blanc, which uses over 300 actual customer itineraries and 2023 costs from nearly 100 accommodation and service providers along the trail.
the calculator is for self-guided hikers to estimate how much it will cost them to organise their own hike of the Tour du Mont Blanc based on their preferences. Give it a try!
Have you started planning your Alta Via 1 Dolomites hike in the usual 11 stages and finding fully booked locations for the dates you want?
You’re not alone!
Accommodation booking anxiety is experienced by most self-guided hikers that book their own accommodation…and a popular conversation topic on the trail :)
When accommodation availability becomes scarce, this 6-day itinerary can keep your Alta Via 1 dreams alive! Staying at villages and using transport provides you a much needed bed and allows you to hike 100km / 62mi along the Alta Via 1 route. You can opt to use just one, a few or all days to make your hike happen.
Average daily stats:
Distance: 17km / 11mi
Elevation gain: 950m / 3,100ft
Time (steady pace): 6 hours, not including breaks
Accommodation: Staying in villages that have the most accommodation options
This 6-day itinerary for the Alta Via 1 Dolomites gets around all of the Northern locations that are typically booked out…without needing to do any camping!
The Hiking Club has always championed self-guided hikers who want to stay in control of their itinerary and costs, by planning and booking their own trips. We have over 5 years of experience creating itineraries that are available to book at any time of the year. Our new trip planning app is the 3rd generation of our self-planning product that gives hikers the power to easily create an achievable, inspiring, and available-to-book itinerary in one session.
If you want some assistance in designing an itinerary that is ready for you to book based on your specific dates and requirements, we can do this via our Expert Access package.
day 1: lago di braies to san vigilio
The first stage travels through the Fanes, Sennes, Braies Natural Park, with 4 rifugios to choose from (Biella, Sennes, Fodara Vedla and Pederu). Once these are booked up, hikers have two options to overcome fully booked locations here:
Continue hiking into Fanes section of Natural Park (Total 22km / 14mi) to reach 3 more accommodation options (Ucia dles Muntagnoles, Fanes, Lavarella)
Catch the bus to stay in San Vigilio for the night. It takes 20 minutes and has 20+ hotels, b&bs, holiday rentals and campgrounds for hikers to choose from. In the morning, catch the same bus back to the trailhead to continue your hike.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
day 2: san vigilio to san cassiano
One of the most popular rifugios on the AV1 is Rifugio Lagazuoi. It (and surrounding rifugios) often book out quickly for peak dates and therefore forces hikers to either hike a longer day to find accommodation or use public transport to reach a nearby village.
For those that can’t find accommodation along the trail at popular rifugios (including Lagazuoi, Scotoni, Valparola, Passo Giau), the best option is:
Catch the bus from either Sciare or Passo Falzarego to San Cassiano for the night. There are 15+ hotels, b&bs and holiday rentals to choose from. In the morning, catch the same bus back to the trailhead to continue your hike.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
day 3: san cassiano to cortina
There are 6 rifugios in and around the Cinque Torri and Nuvolau area [Cinque Torri, Scoiattoli, Averau, Nuvolau, Fedare and Berghotel Passo Giau]. If these are all booked out on your dates, it is too far to continue on to Citta di Fiume, the next rifugio along the trail.
Therefore, the best options are:
Finish your hike at Cianzope bus stop and catch the 20 minute bus into Cortina, where there is lots of accommodation to choose from.
Finish you hike at Cianzope bus stop and catch 2 buses to San Cassiano, if you plan to stay there the previous night. Therefore you can hike today with just a daypack (luxury!).
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
day 4: cortina to pescul
If you are unable to secure accommodation at Rifugio Citta di Fiume, Aquileia or Passo Staulanza, your options are:
Continue hiking to Rifugio Palafavera (Total 27km / 17mi)
Finish your day by taking an alternative trail to Pescul, a small town with 10+ hotel, b&b and holiday rentals to choose from.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
Day 5: Pescul to alleghe
If you are unable to secure accommodation to Rifugio Coldai, Tissi or Vazzoler, then you’ll need to find accommodation in Alleghe for the night:
Catch the gondolas down to Alleghe, a small town with 10+ hotel, b&b and holiday rentals to choose from. In the morning, catch the gondolas back to the trailhead to continue your hike. If you are feeling energetic, you could walk this section, rather than take the gondola.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
day 6: alleghe to listolade
If you are unable to secure accommodation at Rifugio Carestiato, San Sebastiano or Passo Duran, then there are two options:
Continue hiking to Rifugio Pramperet (Total 35km / 22mi)
Finish you day (and your hike!) by taking an alternative route down to Listolade, a small village on the main road between Alleghe and Belluno. From here you can choose to catch a bus back to Alleghe, to Agordo for the closest accommodation, or all the way to Belluno, where you can stay or catch bus/train on to Venice or Cortina.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
optional day 7: passo duran to forno di zoldo
If you have been able to secure accommodation at one of the 3 rifugios near Passo Duran, including Rifugio Passo Duran, San Sebastiano, Carestiato, then you can continue your hike south. The next difficult spot to secure accommodation is Rifugio Pramperet, Malga di Pramperet and Rifugio Pian de Fontana. If you are unable to get a bed in one of these locations, you will need to:
Finish your day by hiking an alternative route to Forno di Zoldo, a small town with 10+ hotels, b&bs, holiday rentals and campground to choose from. There is a shuttle bus to reduce the last stretch of this section
Many people that stay in Forno di Zoldo, choose to finish their hike here. Otherwise it is necessary to retrace all the way back to Rifugio Pramperet to continue on the main trail to the official finish point, La Pissa Bus Stop, or via Soffranco/Longarone on the alternative route.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
So there you have it. The “AV1 6 Day Anytime” itinerary for those booking in October, January, March or July. This itinerary can provide you accommodation options to make you Alta Via 1 journey a reality!
Oh and if you want the “AV1 6 Day Anytime” itinerary, it’s available in our itinerary library so all you need to do is buy a self-guided AV1 package and this itinerary can be loaded straight into your app for planning, booking, and navigating!
Have you started planning the Tour du Mont Blanc in the usual 11 stages and finding fully booked locations for the dates you want?
You’re not alone!
Accommodation booking anxiety is experienced by most self-guided hikers that book their own accommodation…and a popular conversation topic on the trail :)
When accommodation availability becomes scarce, this 11-day itinerary will keep your TMB dreams alive! Staying at villages and using transport provides you a much needed bed.
Average daily stats:
Distance: 16.5km / 10mi
Elevation gain: 1,000m / 3,300ft
Time (steady pace): 6 hours, not including breaks
Accommodation: Staying in villages that have the most accommodation options
This 11-day itinerary for the Tour du Mont Blanc gets around all of the locations that are typically booked out…without needing to do any camping!
The Hiking Club has always championed self-guided hikers who want to stay in control of their itinerary and costs by planning and booking their own trips. We have over 5 years of experience creating itineraries for the Tour du Mont Blanc that are available to book at any time of the year. Our new trip planning app is the 3rd generation of our self-planning product that gives hikers the power to easily create an achievable, inspiring, and available-to-book itinerary in one session.
If you want some assistance in designing an itinerary that is ready for you to book based on your specific dates and requirements, we can do this via our Expert Access package.
Stage 1: Les houches to les contamines
Les Contamines-Montjoie has 6+ hotels/b&bs/refuges and a range of holiday rentals. Hikers rarely have trouble finding accommodation here due to the large number of beds relative to other stages of the trail.
What do you do if you can’t secure accommodation here?
The next best option is staying at the cabins at Le Pontet campground
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
Stage 2: Les Contamines-Montjoie to Les Chapieux
Vallée des Chapieux, which includes Refuge de la Nova, Les Chambres du Soleil and Refuge des Mottets, is usually the first area of the trail to be fully booked. Although there are quite a few beds here, only about 20% are available for hikers booking their own trips, with tour companies putting holds on the rest.
You’ve got two options to overcome fully booked locations here;
Stay at the French alpine club hut Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme
Catch the bus (or arrange a taxi) to stay in Bourg Saint Maurice for the night. It takes about 25 mins to reach Bourg Saint Maurice, and there are many accommodation options here.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
Stage 3: Les Chapieux to La Visaille Bus stop
Val Veny in Italy, which includes Rifugio Elisabetta and Cabane Combal, is also an area of the trail where it becomes hard to find availability. The next closest accommodation option is actually in Courmayeur…via the direct bus, which departs from La Visaille and takes about 25 mins. We’ve added a little ‘Courmayeur basecamp’ accommodation location in La Visaille which highlights you’re planning to catch the bus to Courmayeur for the night.
The following day, return on the bus to La Visaille and rejoin the main Tour du Mont Blanc trail near Cabane Combal.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
Stage 4: La Visaille Bus stop to Courmayuer
Courmayeur has a huge amount of accommodation so finding availability isn’t usually a problem. You can use the bus network to reach properties further south if necessary.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
Stage 5: Courmayuer to Arp Nouva bus stop
Most hikers will stay a night between Rifugio Bonatti and Rifugio Elena, however, this area does become booked out. When it does, the next closest accommodation option (once again!) is Courmayeur…via the direct bus, which departs from Arp Nouva and takes about 25 mins. We’ve added a little ‘Courmayeur basecamp’ accommodation location in Arp Nouva, which highlights that you’re planning to catch the bus to Courmayeur for the night.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
Stage 6: Arp Nouva bus stop to La Fouly
There is usually a surplus of beds in La Fouly for two reasons;
There is 5+ accommodation options in the area
The next stage is a popular one for hikers to skip so some people don’t end up staying around here at all.
For these reasons, La Fouly is one of the last places I recommend people book.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
Stage 7: La Fouly to Champex Lac
There is a reasonable range of accommodation in Champex Lac, which is further boosted by additional properties in Champex Den Haut and Arpette, which are within reach for most hikers. It is a popular stand-alone destination for people to visit and stay at during the summer so can be fully booked, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.
What do you do if you can’t secure accommodation in this area?
The next best option is taking a ~20-minute bus to Orsières in the valley below, where there is a great hotel at the station and further transport links to find other accommodation nearby.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
Stage 8: Champex Lac to Trient
The Trient Valley, which includes Auberge la Grande Ourse, Auberge du Mont-Blanc, Refuge Le Peuty, and Hotel Col de la Forclaz, is an area of Mont Blanc where most Tour du Mont Blanc and Walker’s Haute Route hikers need to stay - making it hard to find availability.
What do you do if you can’t secure accommodation in this area?
Refuge Les Grands and Refuge Col de Balme are two locations typically within reach of strong hikers and provide idyllic locations to spend a night (note you need to bring your own food to cook at Refuge Les Grands).
An infrequent bus that takes ~10 mins runs from Trient to Le Châtelard-Frontière during July and August, where there is a hotel. The departure times to reach the hotel are okay in the afternoon; however, based on last year’s timetable, you won’t be able to reach Trient until about 10am the following day.
A bus that takes ~45mins to reach Martigny where there is a large range of accommodation. The bus runs about 5 times per day - allowing you to depart for Martigny a few times during the afternoon and return to Trient by about 8am the following day.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
Stage 9: Trient to Argentiere
Tre-le-Champ is the usual stop for hikers in this area of the trail with Gite le Moulin the typical alternative which also books out early.
Argentiere is the next location to look at with a couple of big hotels in the centre of town (including a new 69 property planning to open in June 2024) and another hotel and various vacation rentals on the outskirts.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
Stage 10: Argentiere to Plan Praz (Chamonix)
Chamonix has a huge amount of accommodation so finding availability isn’t usually a problem. You can use the train or bus network to reach properties up and down the valley.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
Stage 11: Plan Praz (Chamonix) to Les Houches
Les Houches has 4 main accommodation options. However, 3 of them are not in the village center. Hikers can use the bus network to easily reach Chamonix or other locations with accommodation in the valley.
Click to expand. The trip planning app is included in all self-guided packages.
So there you have it. The “TMB Anytime” itinerary for those booking in October, January, March of July. This itinerary will provide you accommodation options so you can make you Tour du Mont Blanc journey a reality!
Oh and if you want the “TMB Anytime” itinerary, it’s available in our itinerary library so all you need to do is buy a self-guided TMB package and this itinerary can be loaded straight into your app for planning, booking, and navigating!
When creating your Alta Via 1 Dolomites itinerary using our trip planning app there are so many options and decisions you can make - route, accommodation, transport and more. Here are our top tips to creating the ultimate itinerary using our trip planning app for the Alta Via 1 Dolomites.
How much it costs to hike the Walker’s Haute Route is one of the most common questions I’m asked. Armed with my accounting background and mission to make every hikers self-guided dreams come true, I’ve dug deep into the numbers across all the different accommodation types, food and services available to provide firm guidance on what it costs to hike the Walker’s Haute Route.
The standard Tour of Monte Rosa trail is 167 km / 104 mi. But did you realise that there are lots of exciting alternate routes you can incorporate into your hike to make it even more epic? Or alternate routes that allow you to skip some of the more difficult and challenging sections. Take a read through our list of top alternate routes for the Tour of Monte Rosa to make sure you are choosing the best routes to suit your ideal hike!
The “main” Tour of Monte Rosa trail is 167 km / 104 mi. It passes through major villages such as Saas Fee and Zermatt. It crosses the Theodul glacier. It follows 2 of the most spectacular balcony trails in the Alps: Europaweg and Hohenweg. It truly is one of the legendary multi-day hikes in the Alps. Read our detailed blog post which takes a “walk” through all the different sections of the main Tour of Monte Rosa trail, including images, descriptions and trail stats.
The “main” Alta Via 1 Dolomites trail is 120km / 75mi and travels past spectacular alpine lakes, dramatic rock formations and lush green meadows. Many hikers choose to take one or more alternate routes along their journey to include a specific highlight (such as the Lagazuoi WWI tunnels), stay at a prominent accommodation option (such as Lago Federa) or take a more direct route (such as Passo Falzarego). Read our blog post which takes a visual “walk through” of main trail and popular alternative routes.
The “main” Tour du Mont Blanc trail is 166 km / 103 mi and travels around Mont Blanc, Europe’s highest mountain at 4,810m (15,781 ft). The trail crosses 10 mountain passes with a total elevation gain of just under 10,000m (32,700ft). Hikers will see alpine lakes, magnificent glaciers and lush meadows. The Tour du Mont Blanc is one of the legendary multi-day hikes in the Alps. Read our detailed blog post which takes a “walk” through all the different sections of the main Tour du Mont Blanc trail, including images, descriptions and trail stats.
While many of the wonderful Tour du Mont Blanc refuges will feature on your ideal self-guided hiking itinerary, what do you do if they have no availability when you go to book your own trip? In this blog post, I’m going to share accommodation booking tips and my top 4 booking tricks for finding accommodation that will keep your trip alive.
Booking your accommodation for the Walker’s Haute Route is no easy feat. Finding 15 different properties along the trail in a sequence of dates that has availability becomes harder and harder as we approach the hiking season. In this blog post, I share accommodation booking tips for the Walker’s Haute Route and my top 3 booking tricks for finding accommodation that will keep your trip alive.
Most people take between 6 - 10 days to hike the Alta Via 1 Dolomites. Anything quicker requires part trail running; anything longer would allow for frequent breaks and a relaxed trekking pace.
Since 2018, we’ve produced 100’s of personalised hiking itineraries that have helped 2,000+ self-guided hikers confidently plan their Alps multi-day journey. To achieve this, we focus on the following 4 steps that help to determine how long it will take to hike the Alta Via 1 Dolomites.
It costs €700 to plan your own 8-day hike of the Alta Via 1 Dolomites.
This cost will vary depending on the number of days on the trail, and your accommodation, food, and transport preferences. So, how do you calculate how much it will cost for your trip? Here are a few sample itineraries using actual 2023 costs to help you out!
Updated: June 22nd 2023
Knowing what the early season trail conditions are like is a really important part of a self guided hikers preparation. It helps with;
Awareness of the challenges
Appropriate gear choices
Review of alternative routes/options
Revision of plan (if necessary)
Our updates are kept up-to-date during the 2023 hiking season by The Hiking Club team and our 6 Trail Ambassadors.
Key trail updates include:
Our Break The Trail hike
Latest trail updates
Gear recommendations
From May 30th to June 21st 2023, Brendan Jones, Founder of The Hiking Club, completed the Tour du Mont Blanc and key sections of the Walker’s Haute Route. He documented his trip extensively on social media, providing live accounts of snow conditions across the mountain passes, route detours, and challenging sections of trails.
Click on below image to see a summary of each daily trail update:
On June 23rd, 2023, Brendan presented a one-hour “Live from the Alps” webcast to share an update of the current trail conditions, including snow conditions, route detours and gear recommendations. It also included a live Q&A session that covers everything from using microspikes, best local weather sources and alternate route choices.
As of June 22nd, 2023: Microspikes and poles are recommended for anyone hiking in June and early July to support snow crossings. This gear can help with confidence when crossing steeper snowy slopes, even when the snow is not icy. Also, although the freezing level has been up over 3,000m for a few weeks now and is forecast to stay there for the next week if it does drop to the level where snow is still lying on the trail, then microspikes and poles will be essential - especially if staying at a place high on the mountain like Cabane de Prafleuri, Cabane Des Dix, or, Cabane de Moiry.
Updated: June 13th 2023
Knowing what the early season trail conditions are like is a really important part of a self guided hikers preparation. It helps with;
Awareness of the challenges
Appropriate gear choices
Review of alternative routes/options
Revision of plan (if necessary)
Our updates are kept up-to-date during the 2023 hiking season by The Hiking Club team and our 20+ Trail Ambassadors.
Key trail updates include:
Our Break The Trail hike
Latest trail updates
Gear recommendations
From May 30th to June 2nd 2023, Brendan Jones, Founder of The Hiking Club, completed the Tour du Mont Blanc in 5 days. He documented his trip extensively on social media, providing live accounts of snow conditions across the key mountain passes and difficult sections of trails.
Click on below image to see each of the detailed daily trail updates:
On June 4th, 2023, Brendan presented a one hour “Live from the Alps” webcast to share an update of the current trail conditions including snow conditions, route detours and gear recommendation. It also includes a live Q&A session that covers everything from using microspikes, best local weather sources and alternate route choices. Watch the recording below.
We’ve created a highlights reel on Instagram where you can see the most current live updates from our 20+ trail ambassadors that complete the TMB between June > September.
SPECIFIC TRAIL UPDATES
3rd June, 2023: Bissonnay bridge now installed. 📸 Eliza, THC Trail Ambassador.
6th June, 2023: Bridge between Le Chapieux and Refuge Mottets not yet installed. 📸 Dean, THC Trail Ambassador
10th June, 2023: Tractor has cleared the road from Lex Blanche (below Rifugio Elisabetta). 📸 Raimond, THC Trail Ambassador
8th June, 2023: Mont Farve Spur still lots of snow that requires careful navigation. 📸 Marshall.
11th June, 2023: Col di Tricot now snow free! 📸 Aakash, THC Trail Ambassador.
12th June, 2023: Grand Col Ferret basically snow free on Italian side. Still lots of snow on Swiss side. 📸 Raimonds.
As of June 13th, 2023: Microspikes and poles are recommended for anyone hiking in June to support snow crossings. This gear can help with confidence when crossing steeper snowy slopes, even when the snow is soft. Also, although the freezing level has been up over 3,000m for a couple of weeks now and is forecast to stay there for the next week, if it does drop to the level where snow is still lying on the trail then microspikes and poles will be essential.
We complete a “Break The Trail” journey to provide the first trail report for the key legendary trails in the Alps - Tour du Mont Blanc, Walker’s Haute Route and Tour of Monte Rosa. We share these updates with thousands of hikers that travel to the Alps each year for their epic bucket list hikes. This information is particularly valuable for early-season hikers to understand the latest snow conditions, route detours, and gear recommendations. This year, our program is bigger and better, giving you updates across multiple channels throughout June. Check it out!
This year our program will consist of 3 key elements:
2023 Break the trail
Early season conditions can vary dramatically from year to year. June 2019 was a particularly çhallenging season with significant snow on high mountain passes throughout June
~ Col de la Seigne, Italy (Tour du Mont Blanc)
We will kick off our 2023 trail updates from Chamonix, starting at the end of May. Each day we will share updates including snow conditions, route detours, transport updates and gear recommendations. Our focus is on the conditions on the mountain passes, peaks and difficult trail sections, as this is where the most uncertainty exists.
Usually, we would do a continuous journey covering big daily distances and elevations. But this year, we’ve come up with a different format that still takes us to all the necessary places whilst keeping life fun and manageable with our 1 and 3 year old daughters! Therefore, we’ll be taking 3 weeks to complete all 3 trails. Tag teaming, taking transport, and trail running where needed to check out all the passes and key routes. No doubt it will be a comedy :)
live webcast: chamonix & zermatt
From the start of the Tour du Mont Blanc, to the end of the Walker’s Haute Route and the mid-point of the Tour of Monte Rosa. Join us for live trail updates!
This year, in addition to our daily trail updates on social media, we will be hosting free webcasts live from the Alps throughout June. Join us to learn about the latest trail updates, snow conditions, route detours (if any) and gear recommendations. We will share latest photos and descriptions of key mountain passes and difficult trail sections, for our 3 legendary trails - Tour du Mont Blanc, Walker’s Haute Route and Tour of Monte Rosa.
trail ambassadors
Hiking in June or July? Keen to share updates from your epic journey with your fellow hikers? Come on board!
📷: Shout out to Sanna, one of our 2021 trail ambassadors.
35 ambassadors took part in our 2023 program.
What will you do?
As a trail ambassador, you will provide “live from the trail” content about trail conditions, route updates, and memorable experiences. This content will be shared with The Hiking Club community to keep fellow hikers up-to-date, including:
In return, you’ll receive exclusive swag to rock on all your hiking (and non-hiking!) adventures!
Who are we looking for?
Hikers who are completing one of the below trails during June and July 2023;
Tour du Mont Blanc
Walker’s Haute Route
Tour of Monte Rosa
Alta Via 1 (Dolomites)
What is the time commitment?
Kick off session: To ensure we set you up for success, there will be a 30 min briefing session in May/June (depending on your start date)
During your hike: Share your trail updates and photos via Whatsapp or email (max 15 mins per day)
Does this sound like you? Get it touch to find out more. We’re excited to bring you on board!
Did you know that we’ve been doing Break The Trail since 2019? Read about how our project has evolved over this time.
In 2019, we completed 486 km / 302 mi, with over 30,000m of elevation gain and loss, over 18 hiking days.
There was significant snow on high mountain passes that resulted in detours, additional gear and the help of transport to complete the journey!
Read the full 2019 trip report
June was a quiet month due to COVID-19 uncertainty and travel restrictions preventing many early season hikers from reaching the trail. This led to less information being shared online about the trail making it hard to get a sense for how rapidly the snow was melting and conditions improving.
We were able to enter France on 1st July (the day the borders opened!) and quickly got on the trails to check them out.
In general, the conditions were excellent but there was still a few sections with challenging snow cover and accommodation options that were closed for the season.
Read the full 2020 TMB trip report.
Unfortunately COVID travel restrictions prevented us from travelling to the Alps this year 😭 With the help of our trail ambassadors (Sanna, Alia, Bruno, Alistair and Tui) we were still able to share trail updates to the community.
A cold and snowy May made for some difficult early-season hiking conditions. While a spell of warm weather in early June is causing the snow to rapidly melt, it will still take a few weeks before the trail is completely snow-free. The late snow and warm weather are also causing wet slide avalanches to come down throughout the Alps.
In general, the conditions for this time of year were exceptional. The amount and depth of snow were much less than in typical years. Most people were saying 4-6 weeks ahead of a typical season. Microspikes and poles are recommended for anyone hiking in June to support snow crossings. There were a number of disruptions to transport this season that may affect hikers, including: Le Tour gondola closed, Le Chable closed in June, and Grimentz cable car closed.
Read the full 2022 trip report.
Booking your accommodation for the Tour of Monte Rosa is no easy feat. Finding 9+ different properties along the trail in a sequence of dates that has availability becomes harder and harder as we approach the hiking season. In this blog post, I share accommodation booking tips for the Tour of Monte Rosa and my top 5 booking tricks for finding accommodation that will keep your trip alive.
Most people take between 8 and 15 days to hike the Walker’s Haute Route. Anything quicker requires Olympic speed walking or part trail running; anything longer would allow for frequent breaks and a relaxed trekking pace.
Since 2018, we’ve produced 100’s of personalised hiking itineraries that have helped 1000’s of hikers confidently plan their Walker’s Haute Route. It all starts with guiding hikers through the following 4 steps to determine how long it will take them to hike the Walker’s Haute Route.
Most people take between 7 and 13 days to hike the Tour of Monte Rosa. Anything quicker requires Olympic speed walking or part trail running; anything longer would allow for frequent breaks and a relaxed trekking pace.
Since 2018, we’ve produced 100’s of personalised hiking itineraries that have helped 1000’s of hikers confidently plan their adventures through the Alps. It all starts with guiding hikers through the following 4 steps to determine how long it will take them to hike the Tour of Monte Rosa.
