9. The Haute Route, France-Switzerland
The best hike is for yodelers
200 kilometers (125 miles) away
fourteen days
Level: challenging
The two-week Walkers’ Haute Route journey passes through some of the highest and most breathtaking landscape accessible anywhere in the Alps as it travels from Chamonix in France through the southern Valais to Zermatt in Switzerland. Here, hiking is a summertime activity that follows a different route than the well-known Haute Route for ski tourists in the winter. Every step will put your stamina to the test, and many of the sections of the walk’s “pass hopping” need a high level of fitness.
Why subject your body to such strain? Obviously, the mountain vistas! Some days are spent traversing yodel-worthy alpine meadows, while other days are spent negotiating glacier-carved outcrops defended by enormous mountain peaks. Furthermore, because it is northern Europe, the infrastructure is good, with hotels, gites d’etape, auberges, and mountain refuges strewn all across the path. A comfortable bed and a nice dinner will be appreciated after climbing over 46,000 feet (14,000m) in height.
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