Walker's Haute Route (Chamonix to Zermatt) East
Self-guided walking holiday

+ Walk the Eastern Haute Route stages from Arolla to Zermatt
+ Cross a succession of passes into new mountain worlds
+ Excellent, charming hotels booked for you

Latest news May 2010
Following our research during October we can offer for 2010 the routes via Hotel Weisshorn or Cabane Bella Tola. Please contact us to chat about these super routes between Grimentz/Zinal and Gruben.

Trek the second half of the Walker's Haute Route, from Arolla to Zermatt. It's a week of Alpine walking with spectacular high-mountain scenery.

The Walker's Haute Route is a trekking route, as opposed to the original, Classic Haute Route that takes to the glaciers and is often made as a ski tour. This Eastern section comprises a main stretch of 4 stages each with a new pass to cross, plus easier valley stages at the start and end. The passes are high, typically 2,800m or 2,900m, making for a lot of climbing. The views compensate for this! This week is slightly easier than the Western week and has no extended stays in the mountains, but remains a tough route with 4 high passes to cross.

This being a self-guided holiday, you're free to complete the stages as you choose: we arrange everything for you, including booking accommodation and providing you with routecards for the walking, and then it's up to you to carry out the walks yourself.

We book your accommodation in a mix of friendly hotels and auberges, to give a range of experiences from the simple to the luxurious.

Options

We can adjust your Haute Route East in various ways, as follows:

Alternative routings
The Haute Route lets us offer multi-day diversions. For example:

Via Hotel Weisshorn or Cabane Bella Tola (New for 2010)
From Grimentz the usual route goes to Zinal and then Gruben. Instead, cross the valley to St Luc and (perhaps with the aid of the funicular) climb to Hotel Weisshorn, a venerable old hotel in a hut's location. The Hotel can also be reached in a grand day from Zinal. Then cross to Gruben in a day. The result is either to keep to the normal number of days, or to add one day. Cabane Bella Tola is a mountain hut at a similar height to Hotel Weisshorn above St Luc; it fits into a similar schedule.

Via Cabane de Moiry (Planned for 2011)
This is an alternative to Grimentz for the night between La Sage and Zinal. We aim to offer it as an option for 2011. Please ask us for more details.

Via the Europaweg (Planned for 2011)
This is the high-level route from St Niklaus to Zermatt over 2 days, which we also plan to offer from 2011. Please contact us.

Rest days
A rest day can be welcome and diverting, perhaps in Zinal which is roughly half-way between Arolla and Zermatt. Please contact us and we'll advise.

Accommodation
Please let us know if you fancy a more comfortable or a more basic trip. Our normal schedule is at the comfy end; at certain villages we can adjust your accommodation, booking more auberges or more smart hotels.