Tour du Mont Blanc Alternatives Blog: Five of the Best Treks in the Alps (that aren’t the TMB)

25 Jan

“It’s booked out already?” is a phrase we hear every year, and each year it happens a little earlier. The accommodation on the Tour du Mont Blanc, the most popular trek in the Alps, is usually fully booked many months in advance.

It’s a spectacular trail, no doubt, but there are so many other brilliant trekking routes in the Alps which are just as beautiful, but which don’t get booked out nearly so far in advance!

So, we’ve put together a summary of the best hut to hut treks in the Alps, which aren’t the Tour du Mont Blanc:

If you’re interested in any of these brilliant walking holidays, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’d be delighted to answer any other questions you may have about them, or to provide a quotation for your trip!

1. Tour des Combins

Country: Switzerland & Italy
Distance: 98km (60 miles)
Length: 7 to 9 nights
Grade: Moderate to Challenging

The Tour des Combins is a hidden gem which ticks all the boxes for us, and might just be our favourite… Just a few valleys over from the Tour du Mont Blanc, it sees a much lower number of hikers. With a standard itinerary of 7 nights, it fits nicely into a week, but packs in a huge number of spectacular views, icy mountain lakes and cosy hut nights.

The route makes a circular route around the Grand Combins mountain range - a glaciated massif which straddles the border between Switzerland and Italy. Generally the route “stays high” in the mountains - only once dropping below 1800m (5900ft) altitude. Accommodation is mostly in Alpine huts, high amongst some of the highest peaks in Western Europe.

Along the way you’ll pass through quaint mountain villages like Bourg St Pierre and St Rhémy, and historic places such as the Hospice of Grand St Bernard, which has been accommodating pilgrims and travellers for nearly 1,000 years. In quiet valleys you’ll come across traditional mountain farmsteads and cow herds.

2. Alta Via 1 Dolomites

Country: Italy
Distance: 120km (75 miles) - shortened itinerary available
Length: 8 to 11 days
Grade: Easy to Moderate

One of our favourite treks, The Alta Via 1 takes hikers on a grand tour of the Italian Dolomites, following its spine from North to South. There are few sights as awe-inspiring as the soaring limestone peaks of this famous mountain range, rightfully designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Start off in Dobbiaco in the region of South Tyrol, an area formerly part of Austria where most residents still speak German. Hikers are immediately thrust into a route through an area of stunning scenery - passing sights along the way such as the crystal blue waters of the Lago di Braies, and the multiple pillars of Cinque Torre. The region also has a fascinating history - along the trail, the trenches and tunnels of WW1 are still evident and recall a tumultuous past. End your trip in the town of Belluno, from which many hikers make the short train journey to Venice.

Although not a walk in the park, the AV1 involves less ascent than most Alpine hut to hut routes, and the navigation is generally straightforward. You will also find the AV1 to be enjoyably remote, staying high up in the mountains for the duration of the hike. Accommodation is therefore in huts, or rifugios, where you can enjoy breathtaking views all around, such as Rifugio Lagazuoi, improbably perched atop a towering peak. And this is Italy, after all, so the food is amazing.

Alta Via 1 Dolomites - Approaching Lagazuoi

Alta Via 1 Dolomites - The famous Cinque Torri

3. Walker’s Haute Route - Chamonix to Zermatt

Country: France & Switzerland
Distance: 225km (140 miles) - shortened itinerary available
Length: 12 to 19 days
Grade: Moderate to Strenuous

The Walker’s Haute Route takes hikers on a fantastic trail across the high mountains, from one classic centre of mountaineering to another: from Chamonix in France, nestled beneath Mont Blanc, to Zermatt in Switzerland, resting in the shadow of the Matterhorn.

The trek tackles a series of breathtaking mountain passes as it heads through remote Alpine scenery, such as the vast “Grand Desert”. Civilisation is often many miles away, especially on nights spent in high mountain refuges.

The route has a long history - mountaineers set out the idea of a cross-mountain “High Route“ from Chamonix to Zermatt as far back as the mid 1800s. The walker’s variation is now well established as a hiking route with no technical skills required - though it is certainly the most physically demanding of the trails we offer, often requiring long days with significant ascent.

Whilst Zermatt and Chamonix are busy resort towns, many of the villages and valleys between them are quiet and feel fairly off the beaten track. Amongst green forests, wildflower meadows and mountain ridges, you’ve a good chance of seeing Chamois, Ibex and Marmots.

The Walker’s Hate Route - Approaching the Cabane des Dix, near Arolla

The Walker’s Hate Route - Marmots near the Cabane Mont Fort

4. Via Alpina 1 - Switzerland

Country: Switzerland
Distance: 386km (240 miles) - shortened itinerary available
Length: 7 to 23 days days
Grade: Moderate

For truly chocolate box Switzerland and some of the very best of the Swiss Alps, there’s none better than the Via Alpina 1. Traversing the country from East to West, trekkers cross countless mountain passes and Alpine pastures, often to the quintessential soundtrack of cowbells. The most popular section (our 10 day VAS-C-2 Highlights Itinerary) covers the spectacular Bernese Oberland, where hikers visit the beautiful car-free villages of Wengen and Mürren, beneath famous mountains such as the Eiger and Jungfrau.

Previously known as the Swiss Alpine Pass Route, the trail is gradually growing in popularity. Unusually for Alpine treks, Via Alpina itineraries do not require staying in mountain huts (unless you want to!) - overnight stays can be entirely in hotels and guest houses, and therefore in private rooms throughout.

Via Alpina 1 - Overlooking Lauterbrunnen from Wengen

Via Alpina 1 - Ascending near the Oeschinensee lake

5. Chamonix & the French Alps (Rail & Trail Tour)

Country: France
Distance: Flexible
Length: 6 days (suggested)
Grade: Flexible

OK, we admit it, we’ve slipped in a holiday here which isn’t really a hut to hut tour! But if you’re keen to hike some of the best sections of the Tour du Mont Blanc in the Chamonix area, but at a more flexible pace, our Chamonix & the French Alps Rail & Trail Tour is the holiday for you. Spend a few nights in a comfortable Chamonix hotel, rather than checking in and out daily. Our itinerary is designed to make use of the most convenient train, bus and cable car routes in the valley, to access some of the best hikes every day.

The town of Chamonix tempts walkers and adventurers from all over the world, as arguably the perfect base for outdoor activities. It’s a location long famous for having Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in western Europe, sitting directly above it. There aren’t many other places where you can sit in a square, sipping your morning coffee, then step into a cable car and 20 minutes later stand at 3,842 metres, overlooking a glacier at the spectacular Aiguille du Midi.

Hikes include a traverse of the famous Grand Balcon Sud, for the best vista of the Mont Blanc Massif - maybe with an extra leg to the beautiful Lac Blanc, where giant, snowy peaks are mirrored in the blue waters. Take the Plan de l’Aiguille gondola, for a stunning walk along the lower slopes of Mont Blanc, to the brink of the appropriately named Mer de Glace (“Sea of Ice”). Later, head to quieter parts of the Chamonix valley, to hike around the peaceful and historic villages of Le Buet and Vallorcine.