Classic hut-to-hut routes · France, Switzerland

Walker's Haute Route

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

Distance
~180 km
Days
12–14
Total ascent
~12,000 m
High point
Col de Prafleuri, 2,965 m
Season
July to mid-September

The Walker's Haute Route is the summer, non-glacier version of the famous ski traverse: two weeks from Chamonix to Zermatt across the grain of the Pennine Alps, so almost every day climbs to a col near 3,000 m and drops into the next valley. It ends under the Matterhorn, which is as good a last day as walking offers.

Nothing needs a rope, but several passes hold snow and ladders, and the days are long. It is the route to do once the Tour du Mont Blanc has stopped feeling hard.

Who it suits
Level: ExperiencedStrong walkers with a Tour du Mont Blanc behind them, happy with big days and simple dormitories.
The nights
A mix of Swiss Alpine Club cabanes, mountain inns and villages; the cabanes on the high stages are the ones to book first.

Stage points and the shelters near them

Published path grades around the stage points run T1 to T5, from 13 of 13 stages. That describes the terrain there, not the exact line of the route. A via ferrata grade appears somewhere along it.

34 shelters within 4 km of the stage points, from the shelter table. Distances are from the stage point, not walking distances.

  1. 01Chamonix

  2. 02Trient

  3. 03Champex-Lac

  4. 04Le Châble

  5. 05Cabane du Mont Fort

  6. 06Cabane de Prafleuri

  7. 07Arolla

  8. 08La Sage

  9. 09Zinal

    No shelter in our table within 4 km of Zinal; this stage usually ends in a village or a private inn.

  10. 10Gruben

    No shelter in our table within 4 km of Gruben; this stage usually ends in a village or a private inn.

  11. 11St. Niklaus

    • Cabane Topali

      2,675 m · wardened · sleeps 44 · warden Jul-Sep & Jul-Aug · 3.9 km

      Books on hut-reservation.org

  12. 12Europahütte

    • Europahütte

      2,220 m · wardened · sleeps 42 · warden Jun-Oct · 1.6 km

    • Domhütte

      2,940 m · wardened · sleeps 75 · warden Jul-Sep · 2.0 km

    • Kinhütte

      2,584 m · wardened · sleeps 30 · warden Jul-Oct · 3.5 km

  13. 13Zermatt

How booking works

Alpine Club huts on this route take reservations through hut-reservation.org, the shared system of the German, Austrian and Swiss clubs. We link straight to it and earn nothing from a hut booking.

Members of any Alpine Club pay a reduced rate at all club huts, whichever club they joined, and membership usually includes mountain rescue cover. On a week of hut nights it pays for itself. Join the SAC

Plan Walker's Haute Route around my datesOpens the planner with this route's area and length filled in.

Common questions

Every answer below is counted from the 34 shelters our table holds along this route. Where a shelter does not state something, it is counted as not stated rather than assumed.

How long is Walker's Haute Route, and how many days does it take?
About 180 km, usually walked in 12–14 days. Total ascent is around 12,000 m. The highest point on the route is Col de Prafleuri, at 2,965 m.
When can you walk it?
The season is July to mid-September. Of the 34 shelters along the way, 14 publish when a warden is present, and the most common season among them is June to September, stated by 9 of them.
Where do you sleep?
In 34 shelters within 4 km of the stage points, of which 34 are run by an Alpine Club. 2 of them can be booked online through the clubs' own system; the rest take a phone call, and every number we hold is on the shelter's own page.
Do you need to book ahead?
0 of the 34 shelters state that a reservation is required and 0 that it is recommended. The other 34 do not say either way, which is not the same as saying no.
What if you arrive out of season?
4 of the 34 shelters state that a winter room is left open. That is a room, not a service: no warden, no meals, and you carry what you need.
What is the highest place you sleep?
The highest shelter we hold on this route is Refuge-igloo des Pantalons Blancs, at 3,280 m.

Other classic routes

Distance, days, ascent, high point and season are approximate and taken from Wikipedia, Haute Route. Shelters from refuges.info (©Les contributeurs de Refuges.info, CC BY-SA 2.0 FR) and OpenStreetMap (ODbL).