Trekking in the Alps

A book to 20 classic trekking routes in the Alps. Exploring the best trekking areas, outline descriptions and photographs illustrate the classics such as the Tour of Mont Blanc, and Chamonix to Zermatt, as well a number of trekking routes in Slovenia, the Italian Dolomites, the French Alps, Austrian Alps and Swiss Alps. Ideal for inspiration.

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Overview

An inspirational larger format guidebook to 20 summer treks in the Alps across Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France and Slovenia, including the classics such as the Tour of Mont Blanc and lesser-known routes like the Traverse of the Slovenian Alps.

Perfect for planning, the treks included are: Tour of Mont Blanc, Tour of the Matterhorn, Tour of Monte Rosa, Walker's Haute Route, Tour of the Jungfrau Region, Tour of the Vanoise and Dolomites AV 1 & 2; (longer trans-Alpine routes) GR5 (Lake Geneva to Nice), Eastern Alps E5, Italian Alps GTA and the Traverse of the Slovenian Alps; and (for the Alpine adventurer) Alpine Pass Route, Tour of the Oisans, Tour of the Queyras, Tour of Mont Ruan, Stubai High Route, Zillertal High Route, Gran Paradiso AV2 and the Ratikon Hoehenweg.

Outline schedules for each trek allow you compare the routes and become inspired to take up the challenge. Basic day-by-day route descriptions for each route are illustrated with maps and profiles, helping you choose the best routes to walk.

Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction
About this book
Hut conventions
Advice for trekkers
When to go
Safety in the mountains
Words of greeting
The Treks
Trek 1 Grande Traversata delle Alpi: GTA – Gillian Price
Trek 2 Tour of the Queyras – Alan Castle
Trek 3 Tour of the Oisans – Kev Reynolds
Trek 4 Tour of the Vanoise – Kev Reynolds
Trek 5 Gran Paradiso Alta Via 2 – Gillian Price
Trek 6 Tour of Mont Blanc – Kev Reynolds
Trek 7 GR5: Through the French Alps – Paddy Dillon
Trek 8 Tour of Mont Ruan – Hilary Sharp
Trek 9 The Walker’s Haute Route – Kev Reynolds
Trek 10 Alpine Pass Route – Kev Reynolds
Trek 11 Tour of the Jungfrau Region – Kev Reynolds
Trek 12 Tour of the Matterhorn – Hilary Sharp
Trek 13 Tour of Monte Rosa – Hilary Sharp
Trek 14 Tour of the Rätikon – Kev Reynolds
Trek 15 Across the Eastern Alps: E5 – Gillian Price
Trek 16 Stubai High-Level Route – Allan Hartley
Trek 17 Zillertal High-Level Route – Allan Hartley
Trek 18 Dolomites Alta Via 1 – Gillian Price
Trek 19 Dolomites Alta Via 2 – Gillian Price
Trek 20 Julian Alps Traverse – Roy Clark & Justi Carey

Appendix A Useful contacts
Appendix B Glossary for trekkers

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July 2018

Updates

page 243

The hut on Krn is closed - it doesn't say how long for, but it sounds like it might be for the season.

It says it is possible to spend the night on tables or benches in the lobby - there's room for about 8 people. There are therefore three possibilities - sleep in the lobby as it says, bivi out near the hut (bearing in mind in both of these options that there won't be any food up there) or drop down into the Bohinj valley from Dom na Komna and pick the route up again at Vogel . There is a cable car from the valley up to the Ski Hotel on Vogel.

It is also possible to walk directly from Dom na Komna to Vogel - there is a waymarked path but we haven't done it so can't advise - we suggest people ask at the hut.

Reviews

Trekking in the Alps is an excellent resource for researching and initial planning of a European hike.

After tackling the Tour du Mont Blanc in recent summers I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to find another Europe hike to match or top that wonderful experience.

To aid me in my decision I have been poring over Trekking in the Alps, an excellent book from Cicerone, and edited by Tour du Mont Blanc guide editor Kev Reynolds.

This covers 20 classic routes in the European Alps and there is a huge range to choose from. This hiking book includes hikes in France, Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia and Austria.

It also covers some incredible treks that take hikers, as with the Tour du Mont Blanc, across the borders of multiple European countries.

The most epic is the Grande Traversata delle Alpi (or GTA if you’re short on time) and I might have to leave this one until I’m retired because it takes a full 47 days!

This trek skirts the big mountains of the Alps, staying mainly in the foothills. An alternative that is more alpine in nature, crossing big passes is the GR5 through the French Alps from Lac Leman at Geneva to the Mediterranean Sea.

Ultra long distance hikes like these can, of course, be broken up into more achievable chunks. This guide book offers suggestions for shorter routes and variations available to walkers.

Trekking in the Alps is an excellent resource for researching and initial planning of a European hike. It covers the most famous treks in the Alps – the ones I’d really love to achieve. It truly is a compilation of the best walking in the Alps.

Editor Kev Reynolds and eight other authors provide comprehensive summaries of each route, including photos, a map and an elevation diagram. There’s enough information in this glossy book to allow hikers to make an educated choice of walking holiday.

This book includes treks with a range of difficulty from only mildly demanding to properly strenuous. There are a few where you will need skills and equipment to cross glaciers.

One particular lifegoal of mine is the Walkers’ Haute Route. This follows the Pennine Alps and offers views of some of the most stunning panoramas in Europe. This sounds like a tough and adventurous route and one of the most beautiful in Europe.

After much enjoyable reading of this book I and browsing some other Cicerone guides I came up with a couple of different options. Thanks Cicerone for not only helping choose my trekking holiday this year, but for inspiring me for many years to come!

By Natasha von Geldern

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So helpful in deciding where to head next

I have Walking in the Alps & Trekking in the Alps. I'm a bit of Cicerone Guidebook Junkie, but I find them so helpful in deciding where to head next.

LuAnne, by email

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Yes, I know it's a cliché to say that this book inspired me to book my next holiday, but it did – well, almost. It certainly made me determine to do one or more of the treks described within at some point in the near future, which will involve booking a holiday eventually...

Some might say that a mere 20 treks for a range as well trodden as the Alps is rather parsimonious, but what contributing editor Kev Reynolds has done is select the crème de la crème of trekking options, invited a coterie of top outdoor writers to describe them (along with his esteemed self), dropped in a fine selection of images and gathered it all together in a highly attractive package that will surely inspire anyone who calls themselves a real walker.

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UKClimbing.com

Extremely readable route guides with a jovial story telling tone are coupled with quality photographs of each region that will inspire you to tackle your next classic route. A great starter pack to the Alps when deciding which trail to head to next and for how long.

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www.wideworldmag.com

The eight writers contributing to this selection have written many other guidebooks and are experienced and enthusiastic about their chosen treks.

170 stunning colour photographs

Trekking in the Alps celebrates the rich scenic diversity for which this area is renowned. Whether you have a week to spare…or a whole summer free to wander, this book describes some of the very best treks in Europe’s premier mountain range. It certainly fulfils its aim ‘to be an introduction to some of the most exciting and rewarding of multi-day treks’.

Strider, August 2011

‘This book should have the sub-heading ‘the book of dreams’: I could plan about 15 of my next holidays from it, and then a gap year.

The book dedicates at least 10 pages to each route, including photos, maps, graphs showing the altitudes you’ll be at on the trek, and details of each day or stage of the trek. Everyone should have it on their coffee table or by the bed for planning or dreaming about their next adventure.’

Adventure Travel Magazine, September/October 2011

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