It costs 500 Swiss Francs to plan your own 6-day hike in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland.
This cost will vary depending on the number of days on the trail, and your accommodation, food, and transport preferences. So, how do you calculate how much it will cost for your trip? Here are a few sample itineraries using actual 2024 costs to help you out!
The Europaweg Trail between Grächen and Zermatt is one of the most famous two-day hikes in the Alps, as well as forming part of the Walker’s Haute Route and Tour of Monte Rosa. In the past few years, there has been some confusion about where exactly the Europaweg trail goes, due to the original route still appearing on some outdated maps, apps and guidebooks. In this updated post, I share details about the Europaweg trail, clarify where the route goes and share a brief history of trail changes in recent years.
It costs €826 to plan your own 10-day hike of the Tour du Mont Blanc. This amount comes from our new cost calculator for the Tour du Mont Blanc, which uses over 300 actual customer itineraries and 2023 costs from nearly 100 accommodation and service providers along the trail.
the calculator is for self-guided hikers to estimate how much it will cost them to organise their own hike of the Tour du Mont Blanc based on their preferences. Give it a try!
How much it costs to hike the Walker’s Haute Route is one of the most common questions I’m asked. Armed with my accounting background and mission to make every hikers self-guided dreams come true, I’ve dug deep into the numbers across all the different accommodation types, food and services available to provide firm guidance on what it costs to hike the Walker’s Haute Route.
The standard Tour of Monte Rosa trail is 167 km / 104 mi. But did you realise that there are lots of exciting alternate routes you can incorporate into your hike to make it even more epic? Or alternate routes that allow you to skip some of the more difficult and challenging sections. Take a read through our list of top alternate routes for the Tour of Monte Rosa to make sure you are choosing the best routes to suit your ideal hike!
Essential gear for Via Ferrata: your complete gear list. Via Ferrata is an exhilarating way to experience the mountains, combining hiking with the thrill of climbing. To make sure you're well-prepared, having the right gear is crucial for safety and enjoyment. Here’s a short list of essentials you’ll need for a successful Via Ferrata adventure:
We’re excited to announce that The Hiking Club has acquired TMB Planner. Their innovative data processing and notification technology gives Do It Yourself (DIY) planners a powerful tool to assist them in booking their accommodation, and end up with the best itinerary possible for popular multi-day hikes.
The Hiking Club route planning app for the Tour du Mont Blanc now has real-time availability for mountain huts and the ability to set email alerts for room types thanks to TMB Planner joining the family :)
TMB Planner was developed by Leon Lan, a Mathematics PhD candidate focused on supply chain optimization. The idea came from a personal need he had when friends asked to join his planned Tour du Mont Blanc (aka TMB) trip only a few months out from the hiking season. As the Tour du Mont Blanc is one of Europe’s most popular multi-day hiking trails, most of the places Leon had booked no longer had any availability. Leon created a tool that tracked real-time availability and alerted him if new availability became available. As the hiking season approached, he received notifications and booked all the extra accommodation his friends needed to join him - what a good hiking buddy!
As part of this project, Leon found that most accommodation providers list new availability in the lead up to the hiking season, due to cancellations and tour operators giving up beds they don’t need. Based on data collected between December 2023 and the 2024 hiking season, over 2,000 beds were added back to online booking platforms for the mountain huts. Having already built the technology, Leon thought others in the hiking community would benefit from what he’d created, and so the availability calendar and alerts tool was born.
TMB Planner displays real-time availability for mountain huts that list their availability online, and notifies users via email when new beds become available to book for their target properties/dates. It helps:
early season hikers be the ‘first to know’ when accommodation providers list their availability for next season, and
gives later planners an opportunity to be notified when new beds (or private rooms) become available, so they can cancel off-trail accommodation and rebook their preferred property.
See real-time availability and set email alerts in The Hiking Club route planning app to be notified when new beds/room types become available
“We are thrilled to welcome Leon into The Hiking Club family. His innovative tools will support our mission to help self-guided hikers confidently plan, book and navigate their epic adventures. Booking your own accommodation on a multi-day hike, is one of the most difficult parts of planning your own hike. By combining TMB Planner’s technology with our own, we’ll provide The Hiking Club customers an easier booking experience, and the best chance to secure high-demand beds for their ideal itinerary”
Tour du Mont Blanc availability calendar is now available on The Hiking Club website
“I’m delighted that the technology I’ve created has found a home in The Hiking Club platform. The collaboration with Brendan and Nick from The Hiking Club has been excellent over the past few months, and I’m excited to continue working with The Hiking Club to extend the technology to other trails and maximise its benefit to the community.”
With the integration of TMB Planner into The Hiking Club platform, the availability calendar will now be accessible free on The Hiking Club website, without the need for any sign-up. The accommodation alerts have been integrated into our popular web-based planning app and available for Tour du Mont Blanc customers.
In the coming months, we’ll be working to extend the functionality to other popular trails such as Alta Via 1 Dolomites, West Highland Way, Walker’s Haute Route and more. Stay tuned for updates on this exciting integration!
About TMB Planner: Planning tools to make your Tour du Mont Blanc hike easier, including real-time hut availability and email alerts when huts begin accepting bookings for next season.
About The Hiking Club: With the first purpose-built app for multi-day hikes, up-to-date trail information, expert consultations, online events, a training program, and an active ambassador community, The Hiking Club has everything a self-guided hiker needs to confidently plan and navigate their epic adventure.
As part of our acquisition of TMB Planner, we’ve integrated technology into our app to check bed availability for mountain huts. At time of launch, this will just be for the existing TMB Planner accommodation scope for the Tour du Mont Blanc trail, however, we’ll be extending the same technology to other popular trails where accommodation is challenging for DIY planners to find, such as Alta Via 1 in the Dolomites and the newest trail we are working on, the West Highland Way in Scotland.
The scope of mountain huts is limited to those which list their availability online. We can not provide availability data for mountain huts that do not list their availability online, for example, those properties requiring bookings to be made via phone, email, or submitting an online form.
In our accommodation database, we also have many more accommodation types along the trail, such as hotels, campgrounds and bivouac locations. Where an accommodation location lists their availability online, such as hotels, we plan to integrate this information into our app over the next year.
If the accommodation location is one of the following, there is no availability data that we can provide you;
Bivouac or wild camping locations
Campgrounds that don’t accept/need bookings
Accommodation that don’t list their availability online
A general accommodation location rather than being for a specific property
As of February 2025, the current scope of mountain huts we provide availability data for in the app is;
Chalet Les Meandres (ex Tupilak)
Gite Michel Fagot
Refuge du Fioux
Auberge du Truc
Chalet CAF des Contamines
La Ferme a Piron
Gite Les Melezes
Gite le Pontet
Refuge Nant Borrant
Refuge des Pres
Refuge de la Balme
Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme
Refuge de la Nova
Les Chambres du Soleil
Refuge des Mottets
Robert Blanc
Cabane Combal
Rifugio Monte Bianco
Rifugio Maison Vieille
Gite le Randonneur du Mont Blanc
Rifugio Bertone
Hotel Funivia
Hotel Lavachey
Hotel Chalet Val Ferret
Gite Alpage de La Peule
Hotel du Col de Fenetre
Gite de La Lechere
Chalet Le Dolent
Auberge de Maya-Joie
Auberge des Glaciers
Gite de la Fouly
Hotel Edelweiss La Fouly
Pension en Plein Air
Gite Bon Abri
Chalet La Grange
Relais d'Arpette
Hotel Col de la Forclaz
Auberge la Grande Ourse
Auberge du Mont-Blanc
Refuge Le Peuty
Refuge du Col de Balme
Gite Mermoud
Gite d'Alpage Les Ecuries de Charamillon
Albert Premier Hut
Chalet CAF du Tour
Gite Le Moulin
Auberge la Boerne
Refuge Lac Blanc
Originally from the Netherlands, Jonas moved to Switzerland in 2016 and his love for the mountains blossomed. He’s hiked and run through forests, hills, and mountains, completing multi-day tours like the Tour du Mont Blanc, Tour des Combins and Tour du Monte Rosa. Jonas has also ventured into high-altitude mountaineering, having conquered over 10 of the Alps' 4,000-meter peaks. In trail running, he’s become one of the fastest from his low-altitude homeland, participating in races like Sierre-Zinal and OCC of the famed UTMB circuit.
Jonas is training to become an International Mountain Leader and has become an expert in the Pennine Alps region. He has experience during all seasons - summer, winter and shoulder - and offers guiding services for those that are interested in tackling more technical routes or to support a private group. He has guided groups all across the alps and beyond in hiking, trail running and snowshoeing.
As the “Trail Expert, Tour des Combins”, Jonas will be the key point person on The Hiking Club team for this trail. Our planning app will not only include necessary data and information for hiking the main trail, but also the inclusion of alternative routes and highlights that provide a unique experience. He will also provide consulting services via our Expert Access and Expert Consultation packages, present workshops and webinars, answer customer support questions and lead marketing activities.
With Jonas’ expertise, we aim to bring the most comprehensive planning tool for the Tour des Combins to The Hiking Club community.
If you’re planning to drive to the Tour des Combins with either your own or a rental car, parking can be an important consideration, as the trail spans both Switzerland and Italy, passing through several towns and remote areas. Here’s a breakdown of parking options for hikers embarking on the Tour des Combins, covering key starting points and access points for the trail.
The best time to hike the Tour des Combins is typically from late June to early September, when the weather is most favorable, the trail is clear of snow, and mountain huts are open. The choice between early or late summer depends on your preferences for weather and crowds, but both options offer stunning alpine landscapes and a challenging yet rewarding experience. Read our detailed blog to learn more about when is the best time to hike the Tour des Combins.
Brendan, Susan and Nick, Co-Founders of The Hiking Club
We are excited to announce Nick Janzen, has officially joined The Hiking Club team as Co-Founder and Chief Technical Office (CTO).
Nick brings 12+ years GIS (Geographic Information System) experience from IBM, GSI, Tensing and Merkator, which is extremely valuable to mapping the complex, integrated trail networks of legendary multi-day trails. More importantly, he brings his passion of innovation to the hiking community.
Nick’s involvement with The Hiking Club began two and a half years ago when he reached out with an email subject ‘Can I Help?’. He shared our vision for how technology could improve the planning and preparation process, and knew that he had the skills to make a significant impact to the hiking community. Since then, Nick has been working nights and weekends with Brendan and Susan to build our planning app, the first purpose-built app for planning multi-day hikes.
Nick has been a fundamental part of The Hiking Club journey and our growth. We are excited that with the popularity of our planning app, we are able to bring Nick on full-time to deliver more innovation to the multi-day hiking space, accelerate our speed to launch new trails, and continue to provide a delightful customer experience.
We know that Nick is the right person for the role not only for his dedication and technical expertise, but also because he’s survived a ‘break the trail’ experience, brings his family on our crazy offsite trips, and shows resilience and enthusiasm in wild Scottish weather. We are inspired by his dedication to his work, his family and his outdoor endeavours, and can’t wait to see what we will do together on The Hiking Club.
- Brendan & Susan
Nick joining the 2022 Break The Trail hike on Tour du Mont Blanc
The Hiking Club first offsite in Switzerland
Bear crawling over Munros in strong winds along the West Highland Way
Families who hike together, stay together :)
Meg completed the Tour du Mont Blanc in 2024 as a trail ambassador. This was her first solo thru hike. Read her top tips for hiking the TMB solo.
