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Walking Tours in the Alps

by Judy Robertson

It all started in 1996 when my husband Ian and I arrived in the mist at the Cabane du Mont-Fort above Verbier. The hut warden explained that normally the lights go out automatically, but as we were the only occupants of our large Matratzenlager we could decide our own Hüttenruhe time and just unscrew the light bulb when we were ready.

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Braunschweiger Hütte from the path to the Pitztaler Jöchl
photo Judy Robertson

Our first - and longest - tour, back in 1992, was the Alpine Pass Route across Switzerland from Sargans in the east to Lake Geneva in the west. We enjoyed the walk and it gave us a great sense of satisfaction and achievement, but every day involved a long ascent from one valley to a pass then back down to the next valley. So, in 1996 we decided to try a higher level walk - the Walkers' Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt which involved several nights in huts. When Switzerland became too expensive for us we switched our affinity to Austria, where we have enjoyed many wonderful holidays, starting in 2003 with the Stubai Horseshoe in the Tirol.

Since then we have stayed in a wide range of huts, large and small, in Austria, France, Switzerland, Italy and Slovenia. We usually base our routes on suggested hut-to-hut tours in Cicerone guides, but sometimes put together our own shorter or easier routes. We always pre-book accommodation, specifying that we are Alpenverein members, and request a Zimmer rather than a Matratzenlager. In many of the huts where we have stayed we have been lucky enough to get a two-bed room, once even with our own washbasin! We particularly like the smaller huts, where we have typically found the warden and other staff to be friendly, helpful, sociable and full of fascinating local information. They are wonderful people - calm and patient even when serving dozens of meals and checking in tired, sometimes distressed walkers, able to advise on the condition of the paths (often they are also involved in maintaining them) and the weather, and frequently with a great sense of humour.

Larger huts can be more impersonal and less relaxing, especially if they are on popular routes. Having said that, it was entertaining last summer, after arriving exhausted and soaked to the skin at the Memminger Hütte on the busy E5 Germany to Italy route, to join a group of very organised German girls in the queue for the one women's shower. They had introduced a kind of production line to minimise queueing time and maximise value from our shower tokens!

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Enjoying a glass of milk at the Riffelseehütte
photo Ian Robertson

Our Top Tips for Successful Hut to Hut Tours:

Our Favourite Routes:

Our AAC membership has proved invaluable to us over the years. We love what the Alpenverein stands for - the huts, maintaining the paths and access to the mountains. As members of the Alpenverein we have often received special treatment in huts - to the point of embarrassment on one occasion in Slovenia when hungry non-members watched as we were brought a huge evening meal to which they were not entitled!

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Mobile Milking Parlour
photo Judy Robertson

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