Trail running and local culinary specialties along the way

The Alps have some of the best trail running in the world. They also have some of the best mountain cafés and restaurants!

What's Included

• Daily guided trail runs with a licensed International Mountain Leader
• 7 nights accomodation – 3 nights at a 4* spa hotel in Chamonix, France; 1 night at Chamonix’s Montenvers mountain hotel above the Mer de Glace, 3 nights at a 4* spa hotel in Zermatt
• Welcome briefing and drinks on first night
  
• All breakfasts, light lunches and trail nutrition, plus multi-course dinners every evening
  
• Where possible, Run the Alps will reserve a table for our group, and will alert the huts to our arrival the night prior, so that the hut’s speciality is available
  
• Geneva Airport-Chamonix shared shuttle transfer at the start of the tour
  
• All transfers to and from trailheads that are included on our planned itinerary
  
• Luggage transfers (luggage available every night)
  
• Run the Alps’ Guide to Trail Running in the Alps, which contains 80+ pages of information about where you’ll be running, what to pack, how to train, and plenty of other insider information from Run the Alps staff and guides
A PDF copy of the Run the Alps Culinary Trail Tour of the Alps guidebook
• A day of professional photography on the trails, with images provided to you license-free
• An in-country welcome pack – includes trail nutrition and a Run the Alps T-shirt (Note: You can choose to opt out of the T-shirt during registration; if you do, we’ll automatically donate the equivalent to one of our 1% for the Planet partners instead.)
  
• Personalized support before and during your tour
• 20% discount code for the Run the Alps store
  
• 20% discount code at The Hub Chamonix, in case you choose to extend your trip
• Contribution to our Net Positive initiatives

Cost

$4560 per person
$900 single supplement

Itinerary

Day 1 - Chamonix
We’ll arrive in Chamonix, “La Vallée du Trail,” in the afternoon, then meet with the group and your guide for the week. After, we’ll head out to an excellent Savoyarde restaurant in town for a big welcome dinner.

Day 2 - Chamonix
After a hearty breakfast buffet, we’ll head up to the village of Le Tour to start our run up to the Refuge Albert Première with a climb to the Swiss border – stopping for café au lait and Tarte aux Myrtilles at Col de Balme.

Day 3 - Chamonix
From the village of Les Praz, we’ll hike up through the forest for coffee at La Buvette du Chapeau, a quaint mountain café overlooking the valley. Next, we run along the rolling Petit Balcon Nord, to lunch in Argentière, at our favorite boulangerie in the valley.

Day 4 - Chamonix Refuge du Montenvers
Ready for more cafés and trail running? Great! We’ll take the cable car up to the Refuge du Plan de l’Aiguille, for lunch at the beautiful refuge overlooking the Chamonix valley. We’ll run the “Grand Balcon Nord” – a high traverse to reach Le Signal, overlooking the Mer de Glace glacier, then descend to the historic Refuge du Montenvers. Here, we’ll have dinner and spend the night at 2,000 meters, high above Chamonix.

Day 5 - Zermatt
After a traditional French buffet breakfast at our high hotel, we’ll run down through the woods to Chamonix. We’ll stop en-route at Chalet de Caillet for refreshments. Back at the hotel it will be time to pick up our bags and leave Chamonix for Zermatt, Switzerland, at the foot of the Matterhorn.

Day 6 - Zermatt
We’ll head up the southern side of the Zermatt valley and follow a traversing trail high above town, stopping at one of the excellent high altitude restaurants in the region.

Day 7 - Zermatt
t’s time to venture to the other side of the valley! We’ll start with a hike up to Hotel du Trift at 2,337 meters. Here, we can enjoy some of their famous iced tea and tasty snacks before we loop back to Zermatt on stunning trails.

Day 8 - Depart from Zermatt
Today we say goodbyes to Zermatt and the group, and take the train to Geneva, Zurich, or wherever your travels take you next!

Prefer to run on your own schedule, without a guide? Go self-guided and let us take care of all the logistics.



Photo Credits: Meg Mackenzie, Courtney Strom, Kim Strom, Sam Hill, Mark Brightwell, and Milo Zanecchia

Event's current local time: 6:58 AM WET