Classic hut-to-hut routes

10 of the great multi-day walks of the Alps and Corsica: what each one is, who it suits, and the shelters along it read from our table rather than from memory.

• Tour du Mont Blanc

  The loop around the highest massif in the Alps: three countries, a dozen cols, and a bed with a view every night.

  France, Italy, Switzerland · ~170 km · 7–11 days · 59 shelters along the way

• Alta Via 1

  The gentlest of the Dolomite high routes, north to south from Lago di Braies to Belluno, past the war-scarred Lagazuoi and under the Civetta wall.

  Italy · ~120 km · 8–12 days · 31 shelters along the way

• Alta Via 2

  The harder, wilder Dolomite high route from Bressanone to Feltre, through the Puez, the Sella, the Marmolada and the Pale di San Martino.

  Italy · ~160 km · 12–14 days · 48 shelters along the way

• Walker's Haute Route

  Chamonix to Zermatt on foot, from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn over eleven passes, without touching a glacier.

  France, Switzerland · ~180 km · 12–14 days · 34 shelters along the way

• Tour of Monte Rosa

  A loop around the second-highest massif in the Alps, Swiss and Italian sides, with one glacier crossing at the Theodul.

  Switzerland, Italy · ~163 km · 9–10 days · 32 shelters along the way

• Stubai Höhenweg

  Eight Alpine Club huts in a horseshoe above the Stubai valley, an hour from Innsbruck, with a bed and a warm meal every single night.

  Austria · ~80 km · 7–8 days · 7 shelters along the way

• Berliner Höhenweg

  The Zillertal's high circuit: nine huts above the glaciers, the grand old Berliner Hütte at its heart, and the Olpererhütte's suspension bridge for the photograph everyone takes.

  Austria · ~70 km · 7–9 days · 12 shelters along the way

• GR20

  The length of Corsica along its granite spine, refuge to refuge for two weeks, with a reputation as the toughest waymarked trail in Europe.

  France · ~180 km · 15–16 days · 28 shelters along the way

• Julian Alps, the Triglav hut traverse

  From Lake Bohinj over the Valley of the Seven Lakes to the Triglav huts and down to Pokljuka, the way Slovenians climb their mountain.

  Slovenia · 20 shelters along the way

• GR54, Tour des Écrins

  The circuit of the Écrins massif, the quiet cousin of the Tour du Mont Blanc: harder, emptier, and with more ascent than any other route here.

  France · ~176 km · 12–13 days · 31 shelters along the way