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.
Given that the classic Walker’s Haute Route is a distance of 213km / 132mi and includes a demanding 14,000 m / 46,000 ft of elevation gain, speed and fitness are important factors to understand how long it could take a hiker to complete the trail. However, preferences and time constraints ultimately dictate how many days it will take a hiker to complete the Walker’s Haute Route.
Since 2018, we’ve produced 100’s of personalised hiking itineraries that have helped 1000’s of self-guided hikers confidently plan their Walker’s Haute Route. To achieve this, we focus on the following 4 steps that help to determine how long it will take them to hike the Walker’s Haute Route.
This blog post summarises these steps, which form part of the itinerary creation process our customers use to produce their very own personalised plan and GPS map file with The Hiking Club app.
So how long would it take you to hike the Walker’s Haute Route? Let’s find out!
STEP 1: PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE
The following calculator is designed to provide a simple estimate of how many days it could take a hiker to complete the Walker’s Haute Route. Please note;
The number of hours is for hiking time only and should exclude breaks and stationary time.
Consider fellow multi-day hikers as the ‘others’ when choosing relative speed rather than an average person.
After clicking ‘calculate,’ allow ~5 seconds for the result to display. Feel free to make new selections and recalculate as many times as required.
If interested, learn more about our time estimates and calculator here.
Step 2: Selecting preferences
The Walker’s Haute Route offers a wonderful array of choices in terms of trail highlights and accommodation types. Some of these choices will change the number of days it will take to complete the Walker’s Haute Route.
Our customers use our planning app to choose their preferences and create a draft plan for the Walker’s Haute Route.
Learn more about each of the options below.
Views of Moiry glacier from Cabane de Moiry
Trail highlights
The Alps offers a network of trails rather than a single path to follow. There are always trail junctions that allow hikers to choose a route based on the highlight, terrain, or accommodation options available. Unlike many of the other trails in the Alps, the Walker’s Haute Route is not marked on any trail signs. It is defined by the journey between Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn, rather than following a specific trail.
There is still a classic or "main trail" Walker’s Haute Route is 213km / 132mi. However, many hikers choose to take one or more alternate routes along their journey.
Some of the more popular alternate routes include:
Route Choice: In the Verbier ski area, hikers can choose either the Col de la Chaux Trail or Sentier des Chamois
Posettes Trail: Ridgeline offering spectacular 360 views of the Chamonix Valley, Le Tour glacier, Emosson dam and beyond.
Glacier du Tour: Hike along a balcony trail up to the edge of the glacier. Although the lower part can be seen from the main trail, the 5km / 3mi glacial plateau can only be seen from the hut.
Grande-Dixence Dam: Stay a night at the base of this Swiss hydroelectric engineering marvel. It is the tallest gravity dam in the world and the tallest dam in Europe
Grimentz: A swiss ski resort village with a well maintained "old town" that is decorated with colourful flower boxes in the summertime. It also has numerous mechical wood carvings throughout the village, representing its farming origins.
A night at Hotel Weisshorn: This hotel has been in service for over 130 years. It is an older, alpine lodge perched high in the mountains, above Saint Luc. Enjoy the wide sweeping views of the Rhone Valley and the Bernese Alps that come alive at sunset.
Turtmannhutte: This mountain hut is located at 2,519m / 8,264ft next to the 5km / 3mi long Turtmann glacier. It offers spectacular views from its restaurant and sunny outdoor patio.
As you will see below, your route choice (either Europaweg Trail or Mattertal Valley Trail) can significantly change your hiking time.
Making a choice: Our planning app shows the different route choices available and trail statistics for reach
Accommodation types
If a hiker has specific accommodation preferences, it may impact how far they need to hike each day.
The following accommodation options are available on the Walker’s Haute Route;
Bivouac: Above Lac Bleu
Refuge La Barma: An example of a mountain hut with no food or showers
Bivouac/Wild camping: Only permitted in some locations on the trail. I have written a blog post on camping which gives guidance on how to identify where it is permitted along the trail
Campgrounds with amenities: showers and toilets, sometimes shops and laundry
Mountain huts with no food or showers: Only a few located on the trail. Cooking facilities/utensils are available at these locations.
Dorm rooms: 4-16 bed rooms are available in mountain huts and some accommodation providers in the alpine villages
Private room with shared bathroom: Most villages have accommodation with these rooms available. There are also some mountain huts that have private rooms (including Cabane de Louvie, Cabane du Mont Forte, Cabane de Moiry) usually for an extra charge.
Private room with ensuite: Most villages have accommodation with these rooms available. No mountain huts has private rooms with ensuites.
There are more than one of the above accommodation options in many of the destinations along the trail. However, there are some points where hikers will be limited by choice, so they either need to compromise on their accommodation preferences or adjust the number of days it will take them to complete the hike.
Step 3: Compromises
Most hikers have a maximum number of days available to complete the Walker’s Haute Route. Sometimes, their choice of preferred hiking hours, pace, and preferences result in an itinerary with more hiking days than they have available. In these cases, here are the compromises that can keep a hikers Walker’s Haute Route dream alive!
Be willing to take some transport
Transport alongside the trail: Chairlift option in the Le Tour ski area.
Most hikers want to walk every step of the Walker’s Haute Route to experience all the trail has to offer. However, if a hiker doesn't have enough time to walk all the way, there is transport (bus, gondola, chairlift) that runs alongside the trail or skips entire sections, reducing the number of days it will take to complete the trail. In other cases, transport can allow a hiker to maintain their ideal number of hiking days while staying in their preferred accommodation type.
We provide transportation details within planning app to incorporate into your plan.
Be flexible with trail highlight preferences
There is 2-4 hiking days difference between the longest and shortest routes between Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. If a hiker is unwilling to use transport to reduce their number of hiking days, ignoring route choices based on trail highlights in favour of the shortest trail combination can be a viable option.
Zermatt: In some cases, compromises are needed to make sure you can reach the finish line of the Walker’s Haute Route
Be flexible with accommodation type preferences
Some hikers start by off with a mandatory accommodation type, usually for private rooms or camping. As every accommodation location doesn't offer these types (or places become fully booked), seeking them out can increase the number of hiking days it will take to complete the trail. Being open to spending some nights in a dorm room can prevent this increase.
Choose to hike a section of the Walker’s Haute Route
If a hiker doesn't want to take any transport, isn't interested in skipping trail highlights, and, is unwilling to compromise on their preferred accommodation types, doing a section of the Walker’s Haute Route is a practical option to ensure the trip goes ahead within the available days. Given how well the trail is connected to transport, it's possible to join and leave the trail at multiple points allowing for a lot of flexibility in partial tours.
Step 4: Final plan
Using our planning app, you can design a Walker’s Haute Route hiking itinerary based on all the information above, including your desired hiking days, route preferences, accommodation choice and transport options.
Watch the below video to see how our planning app turns all of the options above into a fun and easily choose your own adventure experience for the Walker’s Haute Route!
READY TO START PLANNING YOUR OWN WALKER’S HAUTE ROUTE ADVENTURE?
Everything you need to plan, book, prepare and navigate your adventure. This package includes;
Access a trail expert to prepare an itinerary that meets your needs. This package includes;
Personalised itinerary designed by our trail expert
Author: Brendan Jones, Founder, The Hiking Club
A pizza-making, craft beer-loving, peanut butter connoisseur that has been exploring the great outdoors since completing the Duke of Edinburgh Award in high school. I started The Hiking Club to democratise hiking and the benefits that come from spending time in nature.