Switzerland
Hut-to-Hut: A First-Timer’s Guide to Alpine Hiking
Hut-to-hut walking is the cheapest way to spend a night at two and a half thousand metres and the only way to see the Alps empty. It is also less demanding than it sounds, if you plan the days honestly.
A hut is not a hostel with a view. It is a working building, often supplied by helicopter, with a warden who has been awake since five. Behave accordingly and it is one of the great experiences in European travel.
How booking works
Reservations open in spring, usually online, occasionally by telephone in the older places. Popular huts fill within days. Book the beds first and plan the walking around them.
Cancel properly if plans change — someone else wants the bed, and the warden has already bought the food.
Four to six hours a day is plenty. The point is the evening, not the distance.
What to pack
A silk liner, earplugs, cash, a head torch, and half of what you think you need in clothing. Boots that you have already walked in. The huts have blankets and pillows; they do not have towels or, generally, showers.
The days
Start early enough to arrive by four. Order dinner when you arrive. Drink the soup. Go to bed at nine with the rest of the dormitory, and be genuinely glad of it.
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