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has been some confusion about where exactly the Europaweg trail goes, due to the original route still appearing on some outdated maps, apps and guidebooks.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!
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.
Most people take between 6 and 12 days to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc. 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 Tour du Mont Blanc. It all starts with guiding hikers through the following 4 steps to determine how long it will take them to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc.
The Pennine Alps are a towering mountain range marking the border between the canton of Valais in Switzerland and the Italian provinces of Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. They are located in the western part of the Alps, with the Mont Blanc massif flanking them to the West and Lepontine Alps to the East. With over thirty 4,000m / 13,000ft + peaks including the famous Matterhorn and Monte Rosa, a trail through the Pennine Alps features on the bucket list of most hikers.
Pennine Alps: Shaded in blue
The availability of mountain accommodation and transportation has created many incredible day and overnight hiking experiences in the Pennine Alps. The top 5 multi-day experiences in this area are:
Walker’s Haute Route (~ 213km / 132mi): along the North side
Alta Via 1 - Aosta Valley (~ 190km / 118mi) : along the South side
Tour of Monte Rosa (164km / 102mi): around the East end
Tour des Combins (100km / 62mi): around the West end
Tour of the Matterhorn (107km / 66mi): around the middle section
Experienced mountaineers also have the original ‘Haute Route’ which follows the Pennine Alps mountain chain, spending much of its time on glaciated terrain. This route was first forged by the English Alpine Club in the mid-19th century and has become a popular ski route in the Spring months too.
The rugged high mountain terrain of the Pennine Alps offers few opportunities for easy passage between Switzerland and Italy. For hikers, only four trails become snow-free in the summer and a further two remain glaciated year-round (but can be crossed with a guide). Col du Grand Saint Bernard on the West end and Simplon pass on the East offer the easiest places to cross the Pennine Alps and have been used by travelers as far back as the Bronze Age — about 800 B.C. Nowadays, roads have been built over these two passes and you’ll often hear the roar of sports cars enjoying the high mountain switchbacks.
Aside from the big mountain vistas, some of the unique highlights in the area include seeing the Valais Blackneck goat, the origin of raclette and fontina cheeses (which are a culinary highlight in their own right!); the tallest gravity dam in the world (Grande Dixence); the highest peak in Switzerland (Monte Rosa); and longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the alps (Charles Kuonen suspension bridge).
Col du Grand Saint Bernard holds particular historical significance as Napoleon crossed here with his army to surprise Austrian forces in Genoa. A famous painting (considered a propaganda masterpiece) was produced to mark the occasion and ultimate triumph of the campaign. In the painting, Napoleon is wearing a magnificent cloak on a rearing charger, when in actual fact, he crossed the pass riding a donkey, wearing a simple grey greatcoat. Hannibal is also etched into the foreground of the painting which aims to draw a comparison with other great generals and has fueled the debate as to whether Col du Grand Saint Bernard was where he crossed the Alps with his African war elephants to strike at Rome.
Napoleon crossing the Alps: Jacques-Louis David, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The Pennine Alps is also home to The Great St Bernard Hospice was originally a monastic shelter founded in the Middle Ages, led by Augustinian monks. The hospitality of the monks is legendary and continues on as a hospice welcoming pilgrims and hikers, and a museum, today. Founded in 1049, the hospice became famous for its breeding and use of St Bernard dogs in rescue operations.
The Saint Bernard dog: Large size, and gentle temperament originally bred for rescue work by the hospice of the Great St Bernard Pass.
Hiking in this inspiring part of the world was where the idea for The Hiking Club was born and therefore thought there was no better location to kick off our ‘Trails of the world spotlight’. Many of you have experience hiking in the Pennine Alps so we’d invite you to share any highlights or interesting history from the area that you discovered.
Author: Brendan Jones, 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. He started The Hiking Club to democratise hiking and the benefits that come from spending time in nature. You can read more about Brendan and the team here.
The Hiking Club empowers anyone to walk the way they want in the wild with personalised self-guided hiking experiences that are easy to find, quick to plan and simple to navigate.
We believe hiking experiences have the power to transform lives. With a growing range of personalised hikes that take into account your preferences, fitness and interests, we give you everything you need to explore the legendary trails of the world!
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.
The standard Tour du Mont Blanc trail is 166 km / 103 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 du Mont Blanc to make sure you are choosing the best routes to suit your ideal hike!
While going completely off the grid during the Walker’s Haute Route is appealing, it’s best to be making that choice by switching your mobile to flight mode rather than not having a way to find a signal at all. In this blog post, I’m going to share with you which mobile network has most verified coverage along the Walker’s Haute Route and how you can access it for your hike.
So you’re interested in hiking the Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt but want to camp, instead of staying huts, hotels or B&Bs each night? Great choice! Although the idea of spending each night under the stars is an idyllic option, you need to be aware of where you can actually camp along the Haute Route, as there are very strict rules put in place by the National Parks and local governments.
Over the past few years, we’ve gathered the latest information on where you can wild camp, campgrounds with facilities and mountain huts that allow you to camp nearby. About 20% of our customers use our platform to plan and navigate their camping adventure along the Haute Route. Read on to learn about the various camping options, the cost estimates for camping and other useful tips to help you prepare for camping the Walker’s Haute Route.
The standard Walker’s Haute Route trail is 213km / 132mi. 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 Walker’s Haute Route to make sure you are choosing the best routes to suit your ideal hike!
The “main” Walker’s Haute Route trail is 123 km / 132 mi and travels from Chamonix, France to Zermatt, Switzerland. The trail crosses 11 mountain passes with a total elevation gain of 14,000 m / 46,000 ft. Hikers will see alpine lakes, magnificent glaciers and desolate, rugged landscapes. The Walker’s Haute Route 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 Walker’s Haute Route trail, including images, descriptions and trail stats.
So you’re interested in hiking the Tour of Monte Rosa but want to camp, instead of staying huts, hotels or B&Bs each night? Great choice! Although the idea of spending each night under the stars is an idyllic option, you need to be aware of where you can actually camp along the Tour of Monte Rosa, as there are rules put in place by Swiss and Italian local governments and National Parks.
How much it costs to hike the Tour of Monte Rosa is one of the most common questions we’re asked about the trail. I’ve dug deep into the numbers to compare the cost for campers, self-guided hikers and tour group costs, including transportation, food and accommodation. This will give you firm guidance on what it costs to hike the Tour of Monte Rosa.
