UKH

Hello, 

I’m looking to do a 1 to 2 week walk in the Alps in early September. Tour of Monte Rosa is probably top of the list but also looking a doing a section of the Alpine Pass route. Any recommendations or advice would be welcome, thanks. 

Get up early and finish the day's walk as early as possible before the afternoon Alpine thunderstorms.  Setting off in an Alpine dawn is one of life's greatest joys anyway. 

PS: You'll be relieved to get up early after a sleepless night in the average Alpine hut with a dozen snoring farting Europeans anyway. 

Decide which way round the TMR you are going to go... sounds a bit silly, but there are two ways and both have advantages and disadvantages. The Europaweg section is once again partially closed - check what bits you can or can't do.

Just so you are aware the UTMR is in the first week of September, you will have plenty of company !

https://www.ultratourmonterosa.com/race-programme

Recommend the GR5 from Lac Leman to Chamonix - takes about a week, it's beautiful and not crowded. I did it in the first week of September a few years ago just before the huts shut down for autumn...

Only if you're stuck in a big dorm - most huts I've stayed in have multiple smaller rooms these days.

To the OP - how high do you want to go and are there any things you wish to see in particular? Where have you already been?

We did this about 2 years ago, a lovely walk and had great weather, rained a little only once on the whole walk. This year we are off to the Julian Alps in Slovenia for high level hiking around triglav in September, lots of potential walks around there.

Oh, and the food in the Italian refugios!! Amazing.

This edited addition really bugs me. We Brits don't snore and fart?

FWIW, if you aren't totally committed to the Alps, the Pyrenees might be worth a look - they generally feel a tad cheaper, quieter and less commercialised than what I've seen of the Alps, and while the peaks aren't as big and impressive, you can actually get to some tops rather than admiring them from afar. The Pyrenees Haute Route has a bunch of chunks that would fit your sort of schedule...

I didn’t know that, thank you!

Have you done both? Which is your preference? Thanks

Hi there, 

I’ve been out a few times for climbing peaks, mainly between Chamonix and Mattertal. This trip is just going to be trekking with nothing too technical, want to travel light.  Haven’t been to the Bernese Oberland or further east. 

Neither in their entirety. My wife wrote the Cicerone guide and describes it anti-clockwise. She's walked it in both directions numerous times but has a slight preference for clockwise. You have to think about which sections you'd prefer to walk downhill or uphill, which sections it might be better to miss out (! - think ski installations, pistes etc) by taking a lift. Whether you want to leave the highest pass till last or do it first and risk feeling bad with the altitude. Where you want to start/finish - Zermatt is expensive and crowded - Grächen, Saas Grund or Randa, for instance, are quieter and a little cheaper (though this is Switzerland of course...) or start/finish in Italy - Gressoney, for instance, easily accessed from Turin or Milan.

Definitely go east if you've not been - the generally lower summits make things more accessible as in the Pyrenees. Have a look at the Adlerweg in Austria or the Alte Via routes in the Dolomites. Be aware that Slovenia suffers a lack of lift access so you can find yourself with irritating descents into valleys when you'd rather stay high. Maybe fly into Munich or Innsbruck and go from there?