Walker's Haute Route Trek Chamonix to Zermatt | Guided trekking, hiking and walking holidays in the Alps

In 1861 British mountaineers opened the Haute Route between the two most famous mountaineering centers in Europe, namely Chamonix and Zermatt, which are the homes of Europe’s most well-known mountains: Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.

Our Walker’s Haute Route trek starts, as tradition dictates, in Chamonix in the French Alps. From Chamonix, we walk East through the Swiss Alps, crossing mountain passes up to 3000 meters high, until we reach the historic Swiss town of Zermatt. The Haute Route trek is bursting with great walking trails, breath-taking mountain views and fascinating mountaineering history. Along the tour, we have the opportunity to experience the local culture, food, flora and fauna, which will change, literally, from one valley to the next.

We have tailored our Haute Route to mountain walkers who wish to complete the entire tour in less than two weeks in an authentic fashion. We stay in mountain huts and hiker’s hostels as often as possible and we cover the vast majority of the complete tour on foot.

Our walker’s Haute Route trek avoids glaciers and sections where technical climbing skills are needed. The trek is long and demanding so we’ll need good walking fitness and strong stamina.

There are a number of possible variations to the Walker’s Haute Route so we keep the itinerary flexible enough to match it as closely as possible to the group members’ aspirations and abilities and any other circumstances that may arise. A typical itinerary for our Walker’s Haute Route trek is shown below.

Brief itinerary:

Day 1:
Arrive Chamonix valley and meet with your guide and tour leader in the evening for welcome, equipment check and a day-by-day briefing on the Haute Route trek ahead.

Day 2:
From our hotel, we walk to the top of the Chamonix valley. We ascend to the Aiguilette des Posettes where we have perfect 360 degree views of the Chamonix valley to one side and the Swiss Alps to the other. A short descend, followed by a short ascend brings us to the Balme pass, which forms the border between France and Switzerland. We descend into Switzerland and the village Trient where we spend the night in a bustling hiker’s hostel.

Day 3:
From Trient we have a spectacular walk ahead of us. We climb to the notorious Fenêtre d’Arpette - a tiny mountain pass cut into a rugged alpine ridge - and descend steeply into the Arpette valley on the other side. Our walk ends at the charming lake-side village Champex where we stay the night.

Day 4:
From Champex we have a gentle downhill walk to the village of le Chable. Here, we take the cable car up through the famous ski resort Verbier to Ruinettes. From Ruinettes we have an easy ascend along old irrigation channels to the stunning Mont Fort mountain hut where we can watch the sun setting behind the mountains before we turn in.

Day 5:
From the Mont Fort hut we have a stunning and very wild walk ahead of us, tackling no less than three mountain passes - Col de la Chaux, Col de Louvie and Col de Prafleuri. The walk takes us through rugged alpine terrain where there is a good chance of spotting ibex. We end the day at the Prafleuri mountain hut.

Day 6:
From the Prafleuri hut we walk over Col des Roux and down to the enormous Dix lake and dam. We have a gentle walk along the lake before we start ascending again. On the final part of the ascend, a boulder field leads us up to our second pass of the day. We have a choice of the Riedman pass or the slightly more challenging Pas de Chevre, which require us to tackle some ladders on the last section. Our hike ends with a descend to the village Arolla where we spend the night, tired and satisfied after a long day.

Day 7:
Today we have an easy walk from Arolla to the village La Sage. For those wishing a rest day, it’s possible to take the local post bus from Arolla to La Sage.

Day 8:
From La Sage we have a long ascend through idyllic Swiss mountain pastures to the Torrent mountain pass. Descending from the pass, we keep a lookout for the rare edelweiss, which flowers in this area. We arrive at the beautiful Moiry lake and dam where we jump on the local Post Bus to the village Zinal. If we’re feeling strong we can walk all the way to Zinal, crossing over the Sorrebois pas.

Day 9:
From our charming auberge in Zinal, we traverse our way upwards through pine forest to the Forcletta pass. From the pass we descend into the small Turtmann valley, which is the beginning of the German speaking part of Switzerland. We stay in the historic Schwarzhorn Hotel in the small village of Gruben.

Day 10:
The walking trail behind our hotel in Gruben takes us directly up to the Augstbordpass. At the pass, we can look into the large Mattertal valley where we’ll be hiking for the rest of our tour. A long descend takes us through the old hamlet of Jungu before we reach the town St. Niklaus in the bottom of the valley. We jump on a local bus for a short transfer to the smaller village Gasenried where we spend the night.

Day 11:
From Gasenried, we ascend to join the famous Europaweg, which traverses high above the Mattertal. The walking is challenging and interesting and we are treated to views of Zermatt and the matterhorn in the distance. We stay the night high up in the Europa hut.

Day 12:
We leave the Europa hut for our final leg of the journey towards our end-destination Zermatt. The high traverse on the Europaweg continues along interesting terrain and amazing views of the tall mountains that surround the Mattertal. All too soon, we begin our descend to Zermatt and the end of our journey. We spend the night in the historic Zermatt.

Day 13:

Breakfast in Zermatt and the official end of our Haute Route trip.

Please note:

This trip starts in Chamonix and finishes in Zermatt.

For group members wishing to leave extra luggage in Chamonix, we can organise for that luggage to be transported from Chamonix to the finish point in Zermatt.

For group members wishing to return to Chamonix, we can organise return transport.

Please contact us to discuss cost and availability of these extra services at the time of your booking.

Walker’s Haute Route Trek, Chamonix-Zermatt