Vse novice
Trekking the Swiss Via Alpina
East to West across Switzerland – the Alpine Pass Route

New book about trekking the Swiss Via Alpina is arriving soon. You can already make a pre-order.

Official description from Cicerone website.

Guidebook to the Swiss Via Alpina, a 400km trek east-west across Switzerland, with options of detouring along the Alpine Pass Route. This demanding 3-week trek crosses 16 passes, including the 2778m Hohtürli, in a total of 19 stages from Sargans to Montreux, as well as a prologue stage from Liechtenstein. Requires good fitness and experience.


Seasons
From the start of July through to September. August can be wet, and an early season trek may find snow on the higher passes, so suitable additional equipment would be essential.


Centres
Sargans, Elm, Linthal, Altdorf, Engelberg, Meiringen, Grindlewald, Lauterbrunnen, Kandersteg, Adelboden, Lenk, Gstaad, Rossiniere, Gsteig, Col des Mosses, Montreux


Difficulty
It's pretty tough: the route amasses nearly 23,000m of ascent over 20 stages and nearly every day involves a pass crossing. Some higher passes and ridges present occasional exposure and technical difficulty.


Must See
The Todi and Titlis; Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau near Grindlewald; valley-pass landscapes every day; the Lauterbrunnen valley; the Oeschinensee above Kandersteg; Blumlisalp and Les Diablerets.