The Walker's Haute Route: Chamonix to Zermatt Hut-to-Hut Guide

The Walker's Haute Route links Chamonix, at the foot of Mont Blanc, with Zermatt, at the foot of the Matterhorn — roughly 200 km of walking across the grain of the Pennine Alps in about 14 stages. Let's clear up the name first, because it confuses almost everyone: this is the walking version of the Haute Route. It is not the famous ski Haute Route, which crosses glaciers with ropes, crampons and mountaineering skills, and it has nothing to do with the cycling events that borrowed the name. The Walker's Haute Route follows footpaths the entire way. There is no glacier travel, no roped terrain and no technical climbing — just a long, hard, gloriously scenic trek over a dozen high passes, sleeping in mountain huts and small village hotels along the way.

Many people arrive at this trek after finishing the Tour du Mont Blanc and wanting something bigger. That is exactly the right way to think about it. Where the TMB circles one massif on well-trodden paths, the Haute Route traverses a whole region, crossing from French-speaking Valais into German-speaking Valais, passing beneath ten of the twelve highest peaks in the Alps. It is quieter, wilder, higher and noticeably tougher.

The route at a glance

• Start / finish: Chamonix (France) to Zermatt (Switzerland)
• Distance: roughly 180–200 km depending on variants, with popular alternatives stretching it further
• Stages: 14 classic stages; most walkers take 12–14 days
• Total ascent: on the order of 12,000–14,000 m
• High point: Col de Prafleuri, at about 2,965 m
• Character: non-glaciated walking on marked trails, with some steep, rough and exposed sections

Stage by stage: how the trek unfolds

Chamonix to Trient: the warm-up

The first two days leave the Chamonix valley and cross into Switzerland, sharing ground with the Tour du Mont Blanc. From Chamonix or Argentière you climb toward Col de Balme on the frontier ridge, with the option of a first-night detour on the balcony trails near La Flégère — if you have spare days either side of the trek, our Chamonix hiking guide covers the best of them, including the climb to Refuge Albert 1er above the Glacier du Tour. Once over the border, most itineraries drop to the quiet village of Trient. Strong walkers can instead take the first serious variant: the Fenêtre d'Arpette (about 2,665 m), a wild boulder-filled crossing, or climb to the Cabane du Trient, perched by its glacier high above the valley.

Verbier and the Val de Bagnes

From Trient the route crosses to Champex, drops to the valley floor at Sembrancher and Le Châble, then makes the long climb — mercifully shortened by lift options from Verbier — to the Cabane du Mont Fort, a comfortable and sociable hut with a huge sunset panorama back toward Mont Blanc. From here the trek changes character for good: the next stage traverses the Grand Désert beneath the Rosablanche, crossing three cols in a single day. A beautiful alternative drops past the ibex-rich Lac de Louvie and the Cabane de Louvie, one of the prettiest hut settings in the Valais.

The wild middle: Prafleuri, Dix and Arolla

This is the heart of the trek and its most remote stretch. The Cabane de Prafleuri sits in a stark mineral bowl just below the Col de Prafleuri (about 2,965 m), the highest point of the standard route. The next day contours high above the turquoise Lac des Dix before the crux of the whole trek: the crossing to Arolla. The classic line goes over the Pas de Chèvres (2,855 m), where fixed steel ladders bolted to the cliff take you over the final step — airy but well engineered. Note that the ladder section has been closed in recent seasons, with walkers directed over the neighbouring Col de Riedmatten instead; check current status locally before committing. A superb there-and-back or overnight variant visits the Cabane des Dix, dramatically placed on its rock knoll facing Mont Blanc de Cheilon — at 2,928 m it ranks among the highest huts in the Valais that you can reach on a walking trail.

Val d'Hérens, Val de Moiry and Zinal

From Arolla the trail eases through larch forest and the postcard hamlet of La Sage in the Val d'Hérens, then climbs over the Col de Torrent (over 2,900 m) to the Val de Moiry. The detour to the Cabane de Moiry is worth every step: the hut's glass-fronted dining room hangs directly above the crevassed icefall of the Moiry Glacier, and a night here is a trek highlight for many. The route continues over the Col de Sorebois and descends to Zinal beneath the Weisshorn, Zinalrothorn and Dent Blanche — the crown of peaks that gives this section its nickname, the Imperial Crown.

Turtmanntal and the Augstbordpass

Beyond Zinal the crowds vanish. The Forcletta or Meidpass crossings lead into the Turtmanntal, one of the last truly quiet valleys in the Valais, where the tiny village of Gruben offers a hotel bed and little else — walkers wanting a hut night instead can climb to the Turtmannhütte at the head of the valley. Then comes the final great barrier: the Augstbordpass (about 2,894 m), an ancient mule crossing into the Mattertal. The descent to St. Niklaus, via the spectacular balcony at Jungen with the Dom filling the sky across the valley, is one of the finest walking days in Switzerland.

The Europaweg finish into Zermatt

The classic finale is the Europaweg, a two-day high traverse along the east wall of the Mattertal from Grächen or Gasenried to Zermatt, staying overnight at the Europahütte. Just beyond the hut hangs the route's most photographed feature: the Charles Kuonen suspension bridge, 494 m long and about 85 m above the ravine below — at its opening in 2017 it was the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the world. Be aware, though, that the Europaweg is rockfall country and sections close regularly: storm damage in 2024 shut the stretch between Randa and Täsch, and it has remained closed since, with a signed detour dropping toward the valley before regaining height near Täschalp. If the high line is closed or the weather is poor, the valley route through Randa and Täsch still delivers you to Zermatt on good paths, and you can add height on the final approach past the Täschhütte. With a spare day in Zermatt, the walk up the Zmutt valley to the Schönbielhütte, face to face with the Matterhorn's north wall, is the perfect victory lap.