The Haute Route Hike Chamonix to Zermatt

Your Haute Route starts with a taxi transfer (included) from Chamonix to Le Châble near Verbier, then the Ruinettes cable car lifts you straight into the mountains. Boots on. This is where it gets real.

You’ll follow the Bisse du Levron irrigation channel up to La Chaux (2,250 m / 7,382 ft), where the Grand Combin shows up to say hello. At 4,314 m (14,154 ft), it’s one of the highest peaks in the Swiss Alps, and it’s hard to stop looking at it. Right beside it, the Corbassière Glacier stretches 9.8 km (6.1 miles) long and a little over 1 km (0.6 miles) wide.

From here, the Sentier des Chamois leads to the Tête de Louvie via the Col Termin (2,650 m / 8,694 ft), without crossing the pass. There’s nothing too tricky, but the terrain keeps changing, with rocky areas and one or two airy sections. Look at the view, not your feet. Well, look at your feet a little.

Tonight you sleep at Cabane de Louvie, where the first dinner of the trip tastes like you earned it. Because you did.

• Hiking today: 11.3 km (7 miles), 650 m (2,133 ft) ascent, 600 m (1,969 ft) descent
• Accommodation: Cabane de Louvie, in a dormitory. Dinner included, plus breakfast the next day.

Today is the big one, and your legs will know it by lunch. Two mountain passes in one day: first the Louvie Pass (2,921 m / 9,583 ft), then the Prafleuri Pass (2,939 m / 9,642 ft).

In between comes the Grand Désert, a vast plateau of moraines and rock left behind by the glaciers. It’s rocky, wild and dotted with mountain lakes, with cairns and trail markers guiding you across to the Prafleuri Pass. At almost 3,000 m (9,840 ft), it’s the highest point of your trek, so take the summit photo. You’ve earned the smug face.

Then it’s down to the Cabane de Prafleuri if you’re in dormitory accommodation, or on to the Grande Dixence Dam if you’re in Comfort (private double). At 2,365 m (7,759 ft), it’s the world’s highest gravity dam, and a very convincing excuse to stop and admire the engineering while you catch your breath.

• Hiking today (Comfort, private double, to the Grande Dixence Dam): 14.5 km (9 miles), 1,055 m (3,461 ft) ascent, 1,140 m (3,740 ft) descent
• Hiking today (Dormitory, to Cabane de Prafleuri): 11.5 km (7.1 miles), 1,060 m (3,478 ft) ascent, 645 m (2,116 ft) descent
• Accommodation: Dormitory or Comfort (private double): basic hotel in private accommodation, breakfast and dinner included.

If you slept at Prafleuri, your morning starts with a hike to the Grande Dixence Dam. From the dam, the trail drops into the Hérémence Valley to a spot called Motôt (1,905 m / 6,250 ft), crosses the Merdéré River and climbs to the alpine pastures of Novèlé (2,082 m / 6,831 ft).

Next up is the Meina Pass (2,702 m / 8,865 ft), and then the Val d’Hérens opens up below you, a valley carved by the Hérens glacier as it retreated at the end of the last ice age. It’s the kind of view that makes you forget you were tired about four minutes ago.

You’ll descend to the tiny hamlet of La Meina, then hop on a chairlift for a scenic ride down to Lannaz, where you’ll spend the night. Your knees may want to send that chairlift a thank-you card.

Good news if ladders aren’t your thing: today’s route skips both the Riedmatten Pass and the Pas de Chèvres. Both are technical, with high vertical ladders, and they’re not good for hikers who are afraid of heights or unsure of their footing on unstable, rocky terrain.

• Hiking today (Comfort, private double): 15.2 km (9.4 miles), 1,045 m (3,428 ft) ascent, 1,050 m (3,445 ft) descent
• Hiking today (Dormitory): 15.5 km (9.6 miles), 900 m (2,953 ft) ascent, 1,420 m (4,659 ft) descent
• Accommodation: Dormitory or Comfort (private double): 1* hotel, breakfast and dinner included

From La Sage in the Val d’Hérens, you’re heading for the mountain village of Zinal. First, though, the climb to the Col de Torrent (2,918 m / 9,573 ft). Slow and steady. Nobody’s timing you.

At the top, the Moiry Lake Dam appears below, a high-altitude reservoir wrapped in mountains. You’ll hike down to it through the alpine pastures of Thorens, where the Swiss cows are out in force and their bells follow you all the way down. Honestly, it’s the best soundtrack in the Swiss Alps.

From the dam, the local shuttle takes you to Zinal for the night.

• Hiking today: 11.1 km (6.9 miles), 1,205 m (3,953 ft) ascent, 700 m (2,297 ft) descent
• Accommodation: Dormitory or Comfort (private double): 3* hotel, breakfast and dinner included

Day 5 starts with a long climb to the Col de la Forcletta (2,874 m / 9,429 ft), but it keeps things interesting. A steep forest path leads to a long balcony trail above the Val de Zinal, the perfect place to catch your breath and pretend you only stopped for the photo.

Then you drop into the Turtmanntal (Val Turtmann), and it feels like stepping back in time. It’s cut off in winter, and it’s the wildest valley in the Swiss canton of Valais.

Look for the Turtmann Glacier, 5 km (3.1 miles) long, framed by the Bishorn (4,153 m / 13,625 ft) on one side and the Weisshorn (4,506 m / 14,783 ft) on the other. You’ll also spot tomorrow’s climb, the Augstbord Pass. Don’t worry about that yet. Dinner first.

• Hiking today: 17.2 km (10.7 miles), 1,250 m (4,101 ft) ascent, 1,090 m (3,576 ft) descent
• Accommodation: Dormitory, or Comfort (private double): 1* hotel, breakfast and dinner included

This is it, your last day hiking the Haute Route. The trail takes you to the mountain hamlet of Jungu, where a small cable car carries you down to St. Niklaus.

From there, it’s a train to Täsch and one more to Zermatt. Then you step out, look up, and there’s the Matterhorn. Take a second. You came all this way from Chamonix.

• Hiking today: 13 km (8.1 miles), 1,130 m (3,707 ft) ascent, 970 m (3,182 ft) descent
• Accommodation: Dormitory (breakfast and dinner not included), or Comfort (private double): 3* hotel, breakfast included (dinner not included, but there are many options in Zermatt)

You did it. In 6 hiking days you covered 82.3 km (51 miles) and climbed 6,335 m (20,780 ft) in Comfort (private double), or 79.6 km (49 miles) and 6,195 m (20,320 ft) in Dormitory. Your calves would like that on the record.

Zermatt, like Chamonix, has plenty to do. We suggest taking the lift to the Klein Matterhorn at almost 4,000 m (13,120 ft), right on the border with Italy, for views of the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and all the 4,000 m peaks. Or hike to the little alpine village of Zmutt above Zermatt, if your legs still have something left.

• Hiking today: 1 to 3 hours (optional)

Your Haute Route begins with a ride on the famous Mont-Blanc Express train. From the hamlet of Montroc, you climb to the Aiguillette des Posettes and hike along its edge.

A mountainside path through alpine meadows then leads you to the Col de Balme, right on the French-Swiss border. One step, new country. This is one of the last still-active alpine pastures in the Chamonix valley, so expect company of the four-legged kind with bells around their necks.

From there, you hike down to Trient for your first night on the trail.

• Approximate distance: 11.5 km (7.1 miles), 1,000 m (3,281 ft) elevation gain, 1,200 m (3,937 ft) elevation loss

Leave Trient via the Col de la Forclaz and head east to the Alpages de Bovine, where imposing Hérens cows spend the summer. Give them the right of way. They’re not negotiating.

A long downhill traverse toward Champex gives you views over the Rhône Valley and the Grand Combin, a very good distraction for tired thighs.

• Approximate distance: 15 km (9.3 miles), 850 m (2,789 ft) elevation gain, 1,000 m (3,281 ft) elevation loss

Today you leave the Mont-Blanc massif behind and step into the Valais Alps. After a descent through the forest to Orsières, you climb the western side of the Val d’Entremont.

It’s a big climb, so pace yourself. The payoff is the 360° view from the crests of Mont Brûlé: the Mont-Blanc massif just to your left, the Grand Combin massif and the western edge of the Bernese Alps. Suddenly all that climbing seems completely reasonable.

• Approximate distance: 13 km (8.1 miles), 1,700 m (5,577 ft) elevation gain, 700 m (2,297 ft) elevation loss

The ridges of the Valais give you a 360° panorama all day. Early on you look over the Val d’Entremont, then the Combin massif lines up its three giants: Le Petit Combin (3,668 m / 12,034 ft), the Combin de Corbassière (3,716 m / 12,192 ft) and the Grand Combin (4,314 m / 14,154 ft).

At 18 km, it’s a long one, so snack early and snack often. That’s not a suggestion, it’s Haute Route law.

• Approximate distance: 18 km (11.2 miles), 1,200 m (3,937 ft) elevation gain, 1,400 m (4,593 ft) elevation loss

Today is the big one, and your legs will know it by lunch. Two mountain passes in one day: first the Louvie Pass (2,921 m / 9,583 ft), then the Prafleuri Pass (2,939 m / 9,642 ft).

In between comes the Grand Désert, a vast plateau of moraines and rock left behind by the glaciers. It’s rocky, wild and dotted with mountain lakes, with cairns and trail markers guiding you across to the Prafleuri Pass. At almost 3,000 m (9,840 ft), it’s the highest point of your trek, so take the summit photo. You’ve earned the smug face.

Then it’s down to the Cabane de Prafleuri for the night. Close by is the Grande Dixence Dam, the world’s highest gravity dam at 2,365 m (7,759 ft).

• Hiking today: 11.5 km (7.1 miles), 1,060 m (3,478 ft) ascent, 650 m (2,133 ft) descent

From Prafleuri, your morning starts with a hike to the Grande Dixence Dam. From the dam, the trail drops into the Hérémence Valley to a spot called Motôt (1,905 m / 6,250 ft), crosses the Merdéré River and climbs to the alpine pastures of Novèlé (2,082 m / 6,831 ft).

Next up is the Meina Pass (2,702 m / 8,865 ft), and then the Val d’Hérens opens up below you, a valley carved by the Hérens glacier as it retreated at the end of the last ice age. It’s the kind of view that makes you forget you were tired about four minutes ago.

You’ll descend to the tiny hamlet of La Meina, then hop on a chairlift for a scenic ride down to Lannaz, where you’ll spend the night. Your knees may want to send that chairlift a thank-you card.

Good news if ladders aren’t your thing: today’s route skips both the Riedmatten Pass and the Pas de Chèvres. Both are technical, with high vertical ladders, and they’re not good for hikers who are afraid of heights or unsure of their footing on unstable, rocky terrain.

• Hiking today: 15.5 km (9.6 miles), 900 m (2,953 ft) ascent, 1,420 m (4,659 ft) descent

From La Sage in the Val d’Hérens, you’re heading for the mountain village of Zinal. First, though, the climb to the Col de Torrent (2,918 m / 9,573 ft). Slow and steady. Nobody’s timing you.

At the top, the Moiry Lake Dam appears below, a high-altitude reservoir wrapped in mountains. You’ll hike down to it through the alpine pastures of Thorens, where the Swiss cows are out in force and their bells follow you all the way down. Honestly, it’s the best soundtrack in the Swiss Alps.

From the dam, the local shuttle takes you to Zinal for the night.

• Hiking today: 11.1 km (6.9 miles), 1,205 m (3,953 ft) ascent, 700 m (2,297 ft) descent

This is your most difficult day of hiking the Haute Route, and the one you’ll be telling people about. It starts with a long climb to the Col de la Forcletta (2,874 m / 9,429 ft), but it keeps things interesting. A steep forest path leads to a long balcony trail above the Val de Zinal, the perfect place to catch your breath and pretend you only stopped for the photo.

Then you drop into the Turtmanntal (Val Turtmann), and it feels like stepping back in time. It’s cut off in winter, and it’s the wildest valley in the Swiss canton of Valais.

Look for the Turtmann Glacier, 5 km (3.1 miles) long, framed by the Bishorn (4,153 m / 13,625 ft) on one side and the Weisshorn (4,506 m / 14,783 ft) on the other. You’ll also spot tomorrow’s climb, the Augstbord Pass. Don’t worry about that yet. Dinner first.

• Hiking today: 17.2 km (10.7 miles), 1,250 m (4,101 ft) ascent, 1,090 m (3,576 ft) descent

This is it, your last day hiking the Haute Route. The trail takes you to the mountain hamlet of Jungu, where a small cable car carries you down to St. Niklaus.

From there, it’s a train to Täsch and one more to Zermatt. Then you step out, look up, and there’s the Matterhorn. You did it: 9 hiking days, 125.8 km (78 miles) and 10,295 m (33,780 ft) of climbing from Chamonix to Zermatt. Your calves would like that on the record.

• Hiking today: 13 km (8.1 miles), 1,130 m (3,707 ft) ascent, 970 m (3,182 ft) descent

Zermatt, like Chamonix, has plenty to do. We suggest taking the lift to the Klein Matterhorn at almost 4,000 m (13,120 ft), right on the border with Italy, for views of the Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and all the 4,000 m peaks.

Or take the loop through Zmutt, an easy-paced way to enjoy the heights above Zermatt with the north face of the Matterhorn and the Monte Rosa massif right in front of you. It’s a half-day hike, which leaves the afternoon for wandering Zermatt and deciding where you’re hiking next.

• Hiking today: 1 to 3 hours (optional)
• Approximate distance: 9 km (5.6 miles), 500 m (1,640 ft) elevation gain and loss