04 Apr The insider’s guide to hiking three countries in the Alps

If you search ‘hiking three countries in the Alps’ you will find many tours of the Mont Blanc come up. Hiking around the Mont Blanc is beautiful, but it is far from luxurious and very much on the tourist trail. This is so often the case. Crowds always flock to the convenient trails and organised tours. However, these companies aim to find the easiest and cheapest way to get bums on seats, as we say. The result of this is fighting for a place in a full refuge and sharing the trail with many, many others. It is a little like escaping from the city only to discover other crowds in the mountains. In our opinion, this defeats the purpose of getting back into nature.

Filling up the tank

There is another way of hiking three countries in the Alps without crowds. In fact, there are so many different hiking routes between Switzerland, Italy and France that you could spend the whole week only seeing cows, sheep and perhaps the occasional mule. If you are like us, after busy days in the office we are just itching to get away from the daily grind and crowds. We all need some time to think and move and not plan or worry about anything but the next step to take. One foot at a time to peace and tranquillity. This is the way we prefer to hike, and it is on these trails that we find the time to reflect, to appreciate nature and get back in touch with ourselves. It is time to fill up the full tank of patience, gratitude and compassion.

Hiking three countries in the Alps in style

The days of roughing it in dormitory style accommodation with 10 strangers is a thing of the past. A part of the pleasure of being out in nature is also coming back to a lovely place to rest your head, a great meal and a good glass of wine. Good compensation for a day of good activity.

A part of the fun is finding those different boutique hotels for the end of the day, something that reflects the environment that you are in. More and more of the new luxurious hotels are built in such a way that they could be anywhere in the world. They do not reflect local culture or the environment, which is a shame. It does take a little more work to find gems that will give you a true experience of the region but it is those gems that make all the difference. So we are always on the lookout for the newly renovated typical structure or the family-run boutique hotel. Once found, we keep these addresses close to our hearts and for our guests. No huge hiking groups to be seen here, you will feel like you are alone in the Alps and that is the way we like it.

So for your next hiking trip, choose the path least travelled. Escape the crowds on a private hiking trip through three countries in the Alps.

Warm Regards from the mountains,

Danielle