Deposit: 30% when you book. If you book less than 40 days before your start date, the full price is due when you book.
Balance: due 40 days before your tour starts.
Cancellation fees: 20% of the tour price more than 60 days before you start, 30% from 60 to 45 days, 40% from 44 to 30 days, 75% from 29 to 15 days and 100% less than 15 days before.
Date changes: the same fees as cancellations apply.
Currency: all prices are in Swiss francs (CHF).
Travel insurance: required, covering mountain rescue, medical expenses, evacuation and repatriation. Cancellation cover from the day you book is strongly recommended.
These terms apply to our two self-guided hiking tours in Switzerland: the Bernese Oberland Hiking Tour: 8-Day Self-Guided Swiss Alps Trek and the Matterhorn hiking tour. Monkeys and Mountains takes your booking and your payment, and our local Swiss partner, a tour operator based in Switzerland, runs the tour on the ground: your accommodations, the transport included in the tour, luggage transfers if you add them, and support while you’re hiking.
Swiss Tour Payments: Deposit and Balance
- All prices are in Swiss francs (CHF) and include all taxes, except the local tourist tax, which you pay at your accommodations.
- When you book more than 40 days before your start date, a 30% deposit is due at the time of booking.
- The balance is due 40 days before your start date.
- When you book less than 40 days before your start date, the full price is due at the time of booking.
Late payments may lead to your booking being cancelled, with the cancellation fees below.
Confirming Your Swiss Hiking Tour
After you book, we confirm your booking in writing. From then on, our Swiss partner takes over and will be in touch about your travel, the logistics and any questions about the tour. Please wait for this confirmation before you book flights or other travel, because we can’t be responsible for extra costs from arrangements made before your tour is confirmed.
Our local Swiss partner starts booking your accommodations right away. As soon as you book, they reserve every accommodation on your route that’s already taking bookings. Some accommodations on both our Swiss tours don’t take bookings until March 2027, so they book those the moment they open for reservations. If we can’t secure your accommodation, you get a full refund.
Swiss Tour Cancellation Policy
If you need to cancel, please tell us in writing, by email to info@monkeysandmountains.com, as soon as possible. Your cancellation takes effect on the day we receive it. These cancellation fees apply, as a percentage of the total price of your tour:
- More than 60 days before your start date: 20% of the total price.
- 60 to 45 days before: 30% of the total price.
- 44 to 30 days before: 40% of the total price.
- 29 to 15 days before: 75% of the total price.
- Less than 15 days before: 100% of the total price.
We can’t refund costs outside the tour, such as flights or your travel to the start of your tour, which is one more reason to take out travel insurance with cancellation cover.
Changing the Dates of Your Swiss Tour
If you need to change your start date, the same fees as the cancellation schedule above apply, based on how many days before your original start date you ask. That’s because many of the accommodations on our Swiss routes take non-refundable deposits.
If the Tour Can’t Go Ahead
Once your booking is confirmed, the tour won’t be cancelled on you, because we know you’ll already have booked flights and other travel. The only exception is unforeseen circumstances that make the tour impossible to run, such as force majeure, severe weather that makes the route unsafe, strikes, demonstrations, road closures, pandemics or natural disasters. In that case we’ll tell you as soon as we know and offer you a suitable alternative. If there’s no alternative that works for you, you get a full refund of the amounts you’ve paid for the tour. We aren’t responsible for other costs, such as flights, and that’s why we recommend travel insurance with cancellation cover.
Travel Insurance for Your Swiss Hiking Tour
Travel insurance is required on all our tours. Your policy must cover medical expenses, mountain rescue, evacuation and repatriation for hiking in the Swiss Alps. We also strongly recommend cancellation cover from the day you book, so you’re protected if you need to cancel or the tour can’t go ahead. It’s your responsibility to choose cover that suits your needs. Our Travel Insurance Finder helps you compare policies for a hiking trip.
Health, Fitness and Minimum Age
Both tours are mountain hikes. By booking, you confirm that you’re sure-footed, comfortable with heights and fit enough for the longest day of your tour: up to 7 hours of hiking on the Bernese Oberland tour and up to 5 hours on the Matterhorn tour. Mountain-hiking experience is required on the Bernese Oberland tour and recommended on the Matterhorn tour. If you’re putting yourself or others at risk, our partner can refuse your participation on a hike, without a refund.
The minimum age is 16 on the Bernese Oberland tour and 14 on the Matterhorn tour. Hikers under 18 need permission from a parent or legal guardian and must hike with an adult, who takes full responsibility for them during the tour.
Passports and Visas for Switzerland
You’re responsible for having the right travel documents, such as a valid passport and any visa you need, and for following all customs and immigration rules for Switzerland.
Your Personal Details
We share your booking details with our Swiss partner only so they can deliver your tour. We handle your personal data under Bulgarian law and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as set out in our privacy policy.
Right of Withdrawal
Under EU rules, you don’t have a right to withdraw from a booking for travel services once the contract is made (Article 16 of the Consumer Rights Directive, 2011/83/EU). The cancellation policy above applies instead.
Complaints
If something goes wrong during your trip, contact our Swiss partner right away using the emergency phone or WhatsApp number in your trip documents, so they can fix it while you’re there. For anything after your trip, email us at info@monkeysandmountains.com within 30 days of the end of your tour.
Final Provisions
Information on our website is correct when published, but details can change, so please check the details of your tour, including the price, when you book. We may update these terms at any time, and the version in force when you book applies to your booking. Bulgarian law applies, and any dispute goes to the relevant court in Bulgaria.
Questions about these terms, or about our Swiss hiking tours? Send us a message and we’ll be glad to help.