Hiking in Europe - any recommendations?

[Viss1]

I've been thinking about doing a hiking tour of Western Europe, probably somewhere in the Alps region or thereabouts, for about a week this summer. I know REI offers some organized trips. Any thoughts on these or other tour companies? How about recco's for a destination?

[torxim]

Chamonix is a great place to go out of. There are cable cars and ski lifts that take you up if you're into some more alpine climbing style days as well.

France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria all have great hut systems in the Alps that you can go between.

Are you only looking or hiking/trekking?

[Viss1]

The priority would be sightseeing/views rather than technical work. Might end up doing a bicycling tour as well after seeing what's out there.

[torxim]

I still wholeheartedly recommend Chamonix. I actually just got back from there this past Tuesday; I was there for five days and had an amazing time. There is loads of hiking, mt biking and other outdoor activities to partake in right from the town. You can also take a cable car up to the glaciers in Vallée Blanche.

[GeoffD]

The priority would be sightseeing/views rather than technical work. Might end up doing a bicycling tour as well after seeing what's out there.

If you live at sea level, hiking in the French Alps is pretty, err, breathtaking. The town of Chamonix is about the same elevation as Lake Tahoe.... 6,000-ish feet and everything is uphill from there. Most people coming from sea level are going to be feeling the altitude. You're not going to be able to cover the ground you'd easily handle at sea level. Plan accordingly.

[torxim]

If you live at sea level, hiking in the French Alps is pretty, err, breathtaking. The town of Chamonix is about the same elevation as Lake Tahoe.... 6,000-ish feet and everything is uphill from there. Most people coming from sea level are going to be feeling the altitude. You're not going to be able to cover the ground you'd easily handle at sea level. Plan accordingly.

Agreed- don't go all out the first two days. Unless you get 3000m+ you really should have no trouble adjusting to the altitude. I did a few 4000m+ days, 3 nights acclimatizing was fine- if you are planning for more hiking, less glacier/alpine climbing, the elevation should be quite easy to adjust to.

[Viss1]

Thanks for the advice. I decided to go in a totally different direction and won't be making this trip in the short term. FWIW I probably would have gone with one of REI's tours - they seem to have a good reputation.

[paraglidingswiss]

Go for Switzerland.There's so many sites to explore there.

[Son]

Zermatt, Switzerland.

While there, I did some via ferrata...








You can take a cable car up to the glaciers and go skiing, if you want.




Then I took a train up to 3,300m and rode down on my rental mountain bike.







On the next day I took a condola up to 2,600m (I think) to ride down. I also hiked closer to the Matterhorn from there.





Had an awesome time. And I got the impression that it's a better place for a hiker than for a mountain biker.

[tbvvw]

Nice pics! ^^

I will be in Munich next month, not for the Oktoberfest, just some biz and visiting relatives and want to do some day hikes in the Alps region to the south. Basically I want to schedule 1-3 short hikes, no more than in and out = 5-6 hrs. Anywhere from Salzburg to the Zugspitze...any recommendations?

[uglybaby]

If you want to do Alps on the cheap go to Slovenia. Not exactly western Europe, but for where you'd be spending most of your time you'd never know the difference. You might not encounter as many English speakers as some of the more frequented trails in the other countries mentioned, but your money will go a heck of a lot farther and give you essentially the same experience you're after. There are networks of private homes in which people will rent a room for a night and such. Really great way to see the country. Plus you could follow the mountains all the way back in to Austria and beyond if you had the time and inclination.

[John Y]

I can highly recommend the Dolomites in northeastern Italy. Breathtaking scenery, plenty of cheap lodging, friendly people, good food.