Alpine Treks Reviews 28

Excellent company, route, hotels and planning. Would highly recommend. The accomodation far exceeded my expectations. The details provided for the route were extremely detailed and spot on. The only request woukd be for them and the book to be provided earlier in the process, as I had already bought the book months earlier to do my planning. The company were very helpful and responded to questions in a timely manner. Contact when we arrived there was very amiable, helpful, knowledgeable, and encouraging. Terrific service all round! Thank you

Great Tour du Mont Blanc trip. Excellent guide (Anne) so knowledgeable learned so much and had an unforgettable experience. Whole process was stress free. Recommend 100%.

Just completed the Tour de Mont Blanc West route with Alpine Treks and it was a truly memorable hike. Our guide Mark really enhanced the experience with his wealth of knowledge and experience of the route and his laid back sense of humour! The choice of hotels and refuge's was also perfect. We will definitely be back to complete the Eastern section and would definitely use Alpine Treks again.

Just completed a 5 day trek in the Dolomites. Everything went very smoothly and our guide was excellent

We trekked the Alta Via 1, guided , with Alpine Treks, led expertly by the very experienced & fabulous Kirsti. We can say that it was a first class experience & we had one of the best 9 day hikes of our lives. The food was delicious, the huts were comfortable & the people we met along the way were friendly, fun & from all around the world. We have done many guided treks in different continents & would highly recommend Alpine Treks as a very experienced, reliable, organised & efficient trekking company. Kirsti’s leadership was the icing on the cake!

Just returned from completing the non guided walking tour of Mont Blanc organised through Alpine Treks. Organisation was excellent with accurate daily walking instructions and time estimates; good quality hotels, and even had prior notification of dietary requirements (gluten free). This is the second trek we have done through Alpine Trek and we would thoroughly recommend them.

We lately booked a self-guided "Tour du Mont Blanc" hike through "Alpine Treks".
Everything was just perfect: The communication and consultation before and after we purchased the service, the hike was well planned including clear instructions with a few options for every day, the places they booked for us were amazing, and they were available even during our hike when needed.
We'll definitely use their service again. Highly recommended!

The end of September 2019, my husband and I went on a fantastic 9-day trek on the Alta Via 1 in the Dolomites arranged by Alpine Treks. The scenery was spectacular, the food and accommodations great - guided by Blaise who was a historian, anthropologist, geologist, botanist, sociologist all in one. Not only did we get safe and securely to our destination every day but we received mini-lectures along the way.
You definitely need to do some serious training, particularly if you want to be able to enjoy yourself and not be nursing injuries and blisters. It is hut-to-hut hiking so you need not carry camping/food gear, maybe enough for a couple days at a time if you pay for gear transfer along the way. The huts do vary in their accommodations from fairly rustic to hotel-like. Mixing up things does make it more interesting. The local food/drink is generally very good.
This is the 2nd trip with Alpine Treks. A couple years ago we went on the Tour du Mont Blanc as a group tour. Both trips were easily arranged through emails (as we are in California). Alpine Treks has always been honest and reliable to deal with and well-priced.
We highly recommend Alpine Treks and hope to plan future trips with them.

We loved Apline Treks so much we have done all three of their self guided options! We wish they had more. Truly a great company. They do all the booking and route finding for you. All you have to do is hike, enjoy yourself and follow their easy directions. We've recommended our friends who did the TMB and also loved their experience.

Mark and his team flawlessly planned and executed our Haute Route experience. I highly recommend them and hope to trek with them again in the near future

What a wonderful exciting adventure. Thank you Mark, for everything. Excellent hiking tour! Can’t wait for the next one.

After a fair amount of research, I selected Alpine Treks for a 10 day guided walk around Tour Mont Blanc (TMB), based on their combination of price, hotel / hut options, luggage transfer and single room option. A big issue for me was also that they stick to the full / proper TMB route, unlike some other companies who short-cut some sections.
Having come back from the trip, I have to say that (a) TMB is fantastic - just do it (but make sure you get a decent level of fitness to fully enjoy it) - and that Alpine Treks were also fantastic. Everything worked very smoothly; they were really helpful throughout, including any questions prior to the trip; the hotel choices were great - clean and well located, with good food; and Mark and Blaise (our guides) were great! Very friendly, informative and great company.
The route was perfect and I'd do it all over again tomorrow - and use Alpine Treks again without hesitation. I hope to do Haut Route as a next trip some time and will definitely go with Alpine Treks.
Just for background info - I was a single traveller and our group size was 7 for the whole trip (although we had 6 more on the first part of the route, who were just doing "half TMB"). The group worked really well, single room supplement was good and there was no problem at all going as a single person.
Highly recommended - thank you Mark and team for a great trip.

SHORT VERSION:
This outfit is top notch, wonderful, and truly worthy of a 5 star.

LONG VERSION:
My wife and I are veteran backpackers but I organized a trip for 7 others that were not backpackers... they were not hikers or trekkers either really. But they were up for an adventure and the Haute Route is a tough but do-able trek for non-veterans if you can find an outfitter like Alpine Treks. You'll need someone in the group able to act as guide or you can just select their guided version. Then to make it even easier, you can arrange for some luggage transfer, which we did.

Why did I choose Alpine Treks?
I started out looking at all the companies I could find on the internet, probably the same you are looking at, and I created a spreadsheet with the following:
Cost per person
Luggage transfer
Single option
Full route or cheater route (many are half bus, train, lifts, etc, yuck)
Start and End locations (some train into Zermatt)
Availability of lifts (you can use or not use, but there are a few worth considering which don't debase the trip but make your knees happy)
Dinners included, not just breakfast
Flexible with my needs/desires
Airport transfer

Alpine Treks has all the ticks above in their favor except no airport transfers (at least when we went last Aug 2017) but they DID help us understand and arrange shuttles (we chose Chamonix First which was very good and easy website to use from USA).

But two things stood out with Alpine Treks from the others;
1) they have meals built in, including dinner (trust me you don't want to hunt for a meal after a long day, and heck if you really wanted to you can skip the provided meal and look elsewhere but omg the food at all the inns was fantastic and a highlight of the trip. I serious bet everyone from our group would say that. One dinner in particular, the pizza at Hotel La Reserve, St. Niklaus, best that most of us have ever had anywhere including Italy and Croatia. FYI the hotel is nothing fancy but clean and quiet and comfortable and close to the trail)
2) after a semi-interview email with them I could tell they were going to be amazing to work with, and they sure were.

I had a few things I wanted to change from their routine itinerary and they worked with me on them all (extra days in Chamonix, cable car option info, combine a couple days to shorten the 14 day trip by a couple days, one hotel change after googling).

They helped us get two more people in even after we'd already booked, which they didn't have to do and we really imposed on them but they were gracious and made it work somehow.

They put us in insanely good hotel rooms, most with views. I'm not sure if that was standard for Alpine Treks, or our luck for the time of the year or because we booked this pretty far out in advance. Probably a combination.

I positively will look to Alpine Treks for future treks.

In regards to the trip itself, my opinion:
Consider not combining many or any days to shorten the trip. We did and it was tough and I really pushed my group, but you can do it if necessary. Also with my group I should have arranged an extra day at one of the villages on the 2nd or 3rd night in order to allow some in my group to rest up a little. Not necessary but something to consider, and I'm pretty sure Alpine Treks would have no problem arranging it.

If you are afraid of heights you can still do this, but you should read up on the Pas De Chevre and "the ladders". It was by far my favorite day, but two of my friends did not like it at all, ha. It's not technically difficult, just a bit high up. There are alternatives. Just read up and/or work with Alpine Treks.

Consider taking the Post bus on the Arolla leg at the dam to cut the trip down to Zinal. Again, just an option if you feel you busted butt enough that day and want to get to the hotel for a little more beer or wine time.

I recommend working in the new, super long pedestrian Skywalk bridge on the Zermatt leg, just to see it. You can either make it a side trip if taking the valley route into Zermatt, or if you're taking the Europaweg route you'll cross it. But the valley route saved us a night out, so we took it the lower valley route. This route is pretty most of the way but entering Zermatt its a little industrial. Don't be too put off by that, it's a good option if you need to shave a day off the trip. Most of the valley walk is easy and nice, and easy to stop for lunch mid-way. If you do choose to see the Skywalk from the valley you just leave the trail and walk up through Randa (this poor village use to be quaint and quiet I'm sure before the bridge). Walk up a trail on one side, cross the bridge, and down from the trail on the other side. We lucky took the south route up which was less rocky and easier going up. Only for the fit though (I went with only 2 others in my group that were capable and not afraid of heights and hadn't suffered injury the previous 11 days. The rest of the group continued to Zermatt without me as a guide which gave them a chance to experience guiding!). Once back in Randa you can either finish the walk to Zermatt or take the train from right there in Randa for a few bucks (purchase at a kiosk, quick and easy).

Huge thanks to Mark and Pete, and the rest of you at Alpine Treks! You are the main reason this was an amazing trip.
(sorry for not writing this up sooner)
Steve

I had the most exciting time trekking the Alps with Mark this past week. He was a terrific guide and all around great person to experience the beauty of the Alps with. He made us feel comfortable (even when I freaked out over the height at one point) and helped us gain a better appreciation of the unique terrain.

The snowshoeing trek surpassed my expectations and we have Mark to thank for that.

Overall our experience with Alpine Treks doing a self guided tour was good. There was one error in our route cards where it listed the wrong refuge and when we arrived they didn't have record of us. But the reservation was in fact valid at a refuge just a few steps away, so no harm no foul. The route cards were essential, and word to the wise, follow them to the T to avoid getting lost. The trail isn't always easy to see or follow and there are many forks and turns. We ended up taking an accidental two hour detour because we didn't read our route card closely enough. I would highly recommend bringing a compass because you will need it in some instances! The main drawback of doing this type of trip to me was the hotel food. A couple meals were pretty good, but I wasn't impressed by most of the included meals we got. I think for a first time experience, this is a great way to do it so you can familiarize yourself with the trail and know what to expect. If I were to do it again, I would plan it myself and eat some more authentic local food. Also, if possible, fork over the extra money and do the luggage transfer. These are some really long hiking days, if you don't have to carry all your clothes and supplies, don't. That was a main regret for my husband and I, our knees and backs were killing us by the end.

Alpine Treks provided superb organisation, good hotels, excellent route cards, maps etc and everything went smoothly. The days are a good length with good harder/longer and poor weather alternatives should they be needed. We had an excellent time and will certainly be using Alpine Treks again.

The trip was very well-organized and led. Our guide was highly experienced, knowledgeable and knew just the pace to maintain for our group of 7. The daily schedule of ascents and descents was challenging but doable for anyone in good condition. Our accomodations, including the mountain huts, were clean and had plenty of hot water - a wonderful treat after a day of trekking. The food was tasty and hearty. We had 3 days rain but even on those days enjoyed great views and good company. Some of the trails were marked less well than I anticipated and I was relieved, particularly in the rain, to be in a guided group. Overall this was a wonderful trip and I would have no hesitation in joining Alpine Treks on another adventure.

Walkers' Haute Route, 5 hikers plus guide, August 24th. -September 5th. 2015. Particularly liked the mix of accommodation , with mountain huts up high and hotels with dormitories in the valleys. Included meals ( breakfast and dinner ) were substantial and delicious. Our guide took good care of us, shepherding us at a steady pace ( no gung-ho youngsters in our group ) and keeping us well informed about the peaks and places we passed. We might have lost our way a few times if we had tried this hike without a guide, and would definitely not have learnt so much en route.
We were lucky with the weather-only 2 days of rain. The only problem then was finding space to hang gear to dry in the dormitories.
Rest day in Arolla in the middle of the hike was welcome, although some might like an extra day in Zermatt if intending to take cable car to Klein Matterhorn or to hike further up valley.

I have never hiked seriously before this trip but friends of mine were going and it looked like fun in a part of the world I've never been before. I am in pretty good physical shape for a 56 year old but this was the most demanding physical challenge of my life over 5 days. I was lagging a bit behind the rest of the group but the leaders Mark and Blaise gave me some good tips and would join me and another woman in the back to make sure all was well. I finished all the hikes and it felt very rewarding while seeing such majestic beauty. All throughout I felt a bit self conscious about holding up the group but everyone including the leaders said they actually appreciated the breaks which made me feel much better. This is a fantastic and fun company that I would definitely use again in the future!

Enjoyed a fantastic hike around Mt Blanc. Our guide was a local so knew the area extremely well.The accommodation was varied, from hotels to refuges,and I found the night at the refuge an absolute highlight.
The hiking can be challenging...a great experience and I'm keen to do another.