Trail details
Brendan Jones
Tour du Mont Blanc Refuges: Booking Tips and ...

While many of the wonderful Tour du Mont Blanc refuges will feature on your ideal self-guided hiking itinerary, what do you do if they have no availability when you go to book your own trip? In this blog post, I’m going to share accommodation booking tips and my top 4 booking tricks for finding accommodation that will keep your trip alive.

Tour du Mont Blanc Refuges: Booking Tips and Tricks
Trail details
Susan Perry
How much does it cost to hike the Bernese ...

It costs 500 Swiss Francs to plan your own 6-day hike in Bernese Oberland, Switzerland.

This cost will vary depending on the number of days on the trail, and your accommodation, food, and transport preferences. So, how do you calculate how much it will cost for your trip? Here are a few sample itineraries using actual 2024 costs to help you out!

How much does it cost to hike the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland?
Trail updates
Brendan Jones
Europaweg Trail: Complete guide

The Europaweg Trail between Grächen and Zermatt is one of the most famous two-day hikes in the Alps, as well as forming part of the Walker’s Haute Route and Tour of Monte Rosa. In the past few years, there has been some confusion about where exactly the Europaweg trail goes, due to the original route still appearing on some outdated maps, apps and guidebooks. In this updated post, I share details about the Europaweg trail, clarify where the route goes and share a brief history of trail changes in recent years.

Europaweg Trail: Complete guide
Trail details
Brendan Jones
How much does it cost to hike the Tour du Mont ...

It costs €826 to plan your own 10-day hike of the Tour du Mont Blanc. This amount comes from our new cost calculator for the Tour du Mont Blanc, which uses over 300 actual customer itineraries and 2023 costs from nearly 100 accommodation and service providers along the trail. 

the calculator is for self-guided hikers to estimate how much it will cost them to organise their own hike of the Tour du Mont Blanc based on their preferences. Give it a try!

How much does it cost to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc?
Trail details
Brendan Jones
How much does the Walker's Haute Route cost to ...

How much it costs to hike the Walker’s Haute Route is one of the most common questions I’m asked. Armed with my accounting background and mission to make every hikers self-guided dreams come true, I’ve dug deep into the numbers across all the different accommodation types, food and services available to provide firm guidance on what it costs to hike the Walker’s Haute Route.

How much does the Walker's Haute Route cost to hike?

alta via 2 - dolomites

Real-time accommodation availability in our app

Updated 10th September 2025 for the 2026 season module.

As part of our acquisition of TMB Planner, we’ve integrated technology into our app to check bed availability for mountain huts. At time of launch, we focused on incorporating the existing TMB Planner accommodation scope for the Tour du Mont Blanc trail, however, we’ve now extended the same technology to other popular trails where accommodation is challenging for DIY planners to find, such as Alta Via 1 in the Dolomites and the newest trail, the West Highland Way in Scotland.

What type of accommodation can we provide availability data for?

The scope of mountain huts is limited to those which list their availability online. We can not provide availability data for mountain huts that do not list their availability online, for example, those properties requiring bookings to be made via phone, email, or submitting an online form.

In our accommodation database, we also have many more accommodation types along the trail, such as hotels, campgrounds and bivouac locations. Where an accommodation location lists their availability online, such as hotels, we have an ongoing initiative to integrate their availability data into our app. For the 2025 season, we were able to display available beds for ~150 properties - for the 2026 season, we're working to bring in even more.

Please note: Some properties are easier to connect with than others, and they usually need to list their availability online before we can confirm an integration with them. You can see a list of properties below that we can show live availability for, and others that we are working to integrate.

what type of accommodation can’t we provide availability data for?

If the accommodation location is one of the following, there is no availability data that we can provide you;

  • Bivouac or wild camping locations

  • Campgrounds that don’t accept/need bookings

  • Accommodation that don’t list their availability online

  • A general accommodation location rather than being for a specific property

PROPERTIES WITH LIVE AVAILABILITY

  • Confirmed Integration (2026)

    • Chalet CAF des Contamines

    • Refuge de la Croix du Bonhomme

    • Chamonix Lodge

    • Vert Lodge Chamonix

    • Albert Premier Hut

    • Chalet CAF du Tour

    • Robert Blanc

    • Refuge du Col de Balme

    • Refuge Lac Blanc

    Planned Integration (2026)

    • Refuge de la Nova

    • Auberge des Glaciers

    • Auberge du Truc

    • Auberge la Grande Ourse

    • Gite Le Moulin

    • Gite d'Alpage Les Ecuries de Charamillon

    • Auberge la Boerne

    • Chalet Les Meandres (ex Tupilak)

    • Cabane Combal

    • Refuge Le Peuty

    • Gite Les Melezes

    • Gite Michel Fagot

    • Gite le Randonneur du Mont Blanc

    • Gite Bon Abri

    • La Ferme a Piron

    • Les Chambres du Soleil

    • Gite le Pontet

    • Hotel Chalet Val Ferret

    • Auberge du Mont-Blanc

    • Refuge des Mottets

    • Refuge du Fioux

    • Refuge Nant Borrant

    • Hotel Lavachey

    • Refuge de la Balme

    • Rifugio Maison Vieille

    • Auberge de Maya-Joie

    • Hotel Col de la Forclaz

    • Chalet Le Dolent

    • Refuge des Pres

    • Chalet La Grange

    • Gite Alpage de La Peule

    • Relais d'Arpette

    • Rifugio Bertone

    • Gite de la Fouly

    • Rifugio Monte Bianco

    • Hotel Edelweiss La Fouly

    • Pension en Plein Air

    • Gite de La Lechere

    • Hotel du Col de Fenetre

    • Hotel Funivia

    • Gite Mermoud

    • Refuge la Roselette

    Plus over 20 properties in the villages along the trail

  • Confirmed Integration (2026)

    • Cabane de la Barmaz

    • Chamonix Lodge

    • Vert Lodge Chamonix

    • Refuge du Col de Balme

    • Refuge Lac Blanc

    • Cabane de Louvie

    • Cabane de Prafleuri

    • Cabane des Dix

    • Cabane de Moiry

    • Turtmannhutte

    • Cabane Brunet

    • Topalihutte

    • Taschhutte

    • Cabane FXB Panossiere

    • Cabane de Mille

    Planned Integration (2026)

    • Auberge la Grande Ourse

    • Gite Le Moulin

    • Gite d'Alpage Les Ecuries de Charamillon

    • Auberge la Boerne

    • Refuge Le Peuty

    • Gite Bon Abri

    • Auberge du Mont-Blanc

    • Hotel Col de la Forclaz

    • Chalet La Grange

    • Relais d'Arpette

    • Pension en Plein Air

    • Gite Mermoud

    Plus some additional properties in villages

  • Confirmed Integration (2026)

    • Rifugio Scotoni

    • Rifugio Col Gallina

    • Rifugio Scoiattoli

    • Rifugio Averau

    • Rifugio Nuvolau

    • Rifugio Passo Duran

    • Rifugio Biella

    Planned Integration (2026)

    • Refuge de la Nova

    • Rifugio Fodara Vedla

    • Rifugio Pederu

    • Rifugio Fanes

    • Rifugio Lavarella

    • Rifugio Lagazuoi

    • Rifugio Croda da Lago

    • Rifugio Passo Staulanza

    • Rifugio Adolfo Sonino Al Coldai

    • Rifugio Attilio Tissi

    • Rifugio Mario Vazzoler

    Plus some additional properties in villages

  • Confirmed Integration (2026)

    • Ashbank B&B

    • Braeside Guest House

    • Shandon Farmhouse

    • Balmaha Bunkhouse

    • MacDonald Hotel & Cabins

    • Forest View Guest House

    • West Highland Way Lodge

    • Bank House Guesthouse

    • Greenstone Lodge B&B

    • Inversnaid Bunkhouse

    • Inversnaid Hotel

    • Craigbank Guest House

    • Glenardran House guest house

    • Ardess Lodge & Ben Lomond Bunkhouse

    • Ossians Hotel

    • The Drovers Inn

    Planned Integration (2026)

    • Crianlarich Youth Hostel

    • Glencoe Youth Hostel

    • Rowardennan Lodge Youth Hostel

    • Glen Nevis Youth Hostel

    • Kingshouse Hotel and Bunkhouse

  • Confirmed Integration (2026)

    • Berghaus Alpiglen

    • Bluemlisalphuette SAC

    • Brochhuette SAC

    • Glecksteinhuette

    • Gspaltenhornhuette SAC

    • Rotstockhuette

    • Berghaus Baeregg

    • Berghaus Maenndlenen

    • Lobhornhuette

  • Confirmed Integration (2026)

    • Cabane FXB Panossiere

    • Rifugio Champillon

    • Cabane de Louvie

    • Cabane de Mille

    • Cabane Brunet

    • Cabane de Chanrion

    • Great St. Bernard hospice

    • Mont-Joux Auberge

    • Rifugio Frassati

    • La Tsissette Hut

    Planned Integration (2026)

    • Auberge des Glaciers

    • Hotel Mont Lac

    • Hotel du Glacier Champex

    • Auberge de Maya-Joie

    • Chalet Le Dolent

    • Gite de la Fouly

    • Hotel Edelweiss La Fouly

    • Pension en Plein Air

    • Gite de La Lechere

    • Hotel du Col de Fenetre

  • Confirmed Integration (2026)

    • Britannia Hut

    • Albergo Ristoro Sitten

    • Topalihutte

    • Taschhutte

  • Planned Integration (2026)

    • Rifugio Puez (CAI)

Via Ferrata Gear List

Via Ferrata Gear List

Essential gear for Via Ferrata: your complete gear list. Via Ferrata is an exhilarating way to experience the mountains, combining hiking with the thrill of climbing. To make sure you're well-prepared, having the right gear is crucial for safety and enjoyment. Here’s a short list of essentials you’ll need for a successful Via Ferrata adventure: