Walker’s Haute Route Self Guided

The last day in France will be relatively undemanding. Following the ridge of Aiguillette des Possettes, it takes you to Col de Balme, the border of Switzerland. When you leave France, you also leave the most up-close views of the Mont Blanc massif behind (though they return later), descending down into the green pastures of the Swiss village Trient.

A challenging path awaits you on the third day. You’ll ascend over the Fenetre d’Arpette, with spectacular views of the Glacier du Trient. The tricky rocky descent soon turns into a pleasant walk into the green valley, where Champex-Lac, the welcoming town beside a lake, awaits.

In the case of bad weather, the easier Bovine route (part of the Tour du Mont Blanc) is preferable.

As the only day on the trail without huge mountains, you’ll explore more of the Swiss countryside. You will follow the side of the picturesque Val Ferret and into Sembrancher of Val de Bagnes, where you hike along the river towards Le Châble. Even without any big mountains in sight, this day is still interesting as it shows you ordinary Switzerland, not often advertised.

Start early and get ready for a big climb on this day. The steep footpaths will take you above the tree line, on the slopes of the world-renowned Verbier ski resort. Traversing them, you will soon start to notice another great Alpine massif — the Grand Combin — before reaching the Cabane du Mont Fort hut, where you end the day.

The sixth day presents itself a stage full of contrasts — first the panoramic green ridges with a good chance of seeing an ibex, and then the moonlike plateau. From the panoramic trail over Col Termin (optional over Col de Louvie), you’ll soon reach the dying Grand Désert Glacier. The route takes you just below it, on the barren land of scree and stones. After passing many small lakes, you cross over Col de Prafleuri (2987 m), the highest point on the Haute Route. From there, you’ll soon reach the hut of Cabane de Prafleuri.

This stage will keep you high up in the mountains, with some of the best views on the Haute Route. Lac de Dix will surprise you just over the morning Col. After traversing alongside this 5 km long accumulation lake, you’ll cross over the morain of Glacier de Cheilon, admiring the pyramid-shaped Mont Blanc de Cheilon on your right. You have two passes you can choose before descending down to Arolla. One has ladders and the other will give you a slight glimpse of Matterhorn.

This stage is easier, and doesn’t feature any high mountains, but still very scenic. It takes you down the valley from Arolla, past typical Swiss villages, towards Les Hauderes. In between, you can also do a detour to the small but fairytale-like Lac Bleu. The day ends at the small village of La Sage.

You’ll climb your way up from the valley towards the ridge above Val d’Hérens, crossing it at its lowest point in Col du Tsate. After a descent to the small Lac Châteaupré, the way up along the Moiry Glacier begins. As the landscape becomes rockier and you start to get a closer look at the glacier, switchbacks will bring you to one of the best-situated huts on the route. The Cabane du Moiry has a great atmosphere and is for many people a destination on its own.

After a breakfast admiring the view through the panoramic glass windows of the hut’s dining room, head back down yesterday’s path to Lac de Moiry. The ascent then leads towards Col de Sorebois, a great outlook over Val d’Anniviers and iconic peaks like Weisshorn (4505 m). The descent to Zinal is steep and long, but can be shortened about halfway by a cable car.

This is the first day when you will cross into the German-speaking part of Switzerland. The ascending trail leads high above the Zinal Valley with great views of its head every time you look behind. The shortest route to the valley of Turtmanntal on the other side is across Forcletta pass.

If you have more time, you can extend the Haute Route with a night stay at the iconic Victorian Hotel Weisshorn, and hike across Meidpass the next day. See the description of the extra day right below.

If you decided to stay the night at Hotel Weisshorn, you’ve made the right choice. The hotel interior is like from an old story, while the views are incredible. After the morning breakfast, you will make your way up alpine meadows to Meidpass. There, a gorgeous view will open up with the 4505 m tall Weisshorn dominating it. Descend down both rocky and green alpine landscape, pass some Swiss hamlets, enter the forest, and finally end up in the village of Gruben, richer for an extra day of beauty.

This is another day full of contrasts, crossing the last mountain pass on the Walker’s Haute Route. From the green forests above Gruden, across the rocky landscape of Augstbordpass, you’ll be walking on a historical trading route. After coming around the corner, the epic views of Mattertal valley will vow you. Although no sight of Matterhorn yet, you’ll see Dom (4545 m), the highest peak only in Swiss territory). Past the lovely hamlet of Jungen, descend into the valley into St. Niklaus.

The last two-day stretch on the Walker’s Haute features one of the best hikes in the alp, the Europaweg. Redesigned in 2021, because of a landslide, its first part now takes you from Gasenried to Herbriggen at a lower altitude. But we suggest you skip this part, taking the valley route from St. Niklaus to Herbriggen. Otherwise, this stage is needlessly long without any extra great views. From Herbriggen, a long but grand ascent to the Europahutte begins. With epic views at every stop, including panoramas with Weisshorn, you’ll cross bridges and soon arrive at the hut.

Every grand route should have a grand ending, and this one is exactly that. You’ll be traversing up high above the valley, crossing the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the Alps. Later, the imposing view of the sharp Matterhorn at the end of the valley will come into view. You’ll traverse all the way to Sunegga, where you descend down into Zermatt — the end of the Walker’s Haute Route.