Tour de Monte Rosa

We fly from Oslo to Milan and travel up to the small, beautiful town of Alagna, a hidden little gem at the foot of the Monte Rosa massif. Here, among historical wooden houses, we lower our shoulders with a group dinner and go through the trip program for the next few days.

In the morning, we pack our backpacks for all the days in the mountains, and leave behind what we don't need at the hotel in Alagna. A short bus ride takes us to Rifugio Pastore (1575 m), before we begin the actual hike. Today's stage goes over Colle Del Turlo (2738 m), and here we follow old, historical paths. We hike from vibrant green meadows up to spectacular views, before arriving in the small Italian town of Macugnaga on the border with Switzerland. Here, we check into a cozy hotel for the night.

We start the day with a gondola up to a mountain lodge (2796 m). Since today's stage is relatively short, we can have a coffee on the veranda of the mountain lodge and enjoy the view before hiking about a hundred meters of elevation up to the Monte Moro Pass. Here we say "Arrivederci" to Italy and enter Switzerland. From the pass, it goes downhill toward Mattmark, and the path gradually gets flatter until we reach the lake. From the other end of the lake, a bus takes us down to the famous, car-free, and charming ski resort of Saas Fee. In Saas Fee, we stay at a pleasant hotel.

Today's stage from Saas Fee to Grächen is one of the highlights of the trip. We follow the path along a shelf formation high above the bottom of the Saastal (Saas Valley). The stage goes through hilly terrain around 2000 m above sea level, and we have views of 4000-meter peaks and mighty glaciers. This day can be somewhat challenging for those afraid of heights. The stage takes about 8 hours. From Grächen, we take a bus to beautiful, car-free Zermatt—one of the Alps' most famous ski resorts. In Zermatt, we stay at a pleasant hotel.

Today's stage starts with a gondola ride. We take the gondola via Klein Matterhorn to Testa Grigia, which is located right on the border with Italy. We enjoy the view and take another gondola down toward Cervinia, hopping off halfway. From there, today's hike starts down a beautiful and green valley to Reyes, where we spend the night at a charming mountain lodge, 2000 m above sea level.

From the mountain lodge in Reyes, we hike a slightly longer variation of the Monte Rosa Trip. We hike over Colle Di Pinter (2777 m) and down to the little village of Alpenzu (1780 m), which is one of the oldest settlements in the area. The houses are beautifully restored and have fantastic surroundings.

Last trip day and we start with the gondola all the way up to almost 3000 m above sea level. From here, a beautiful trip down to Alagna through Valle D'Otro awaits, a great conclusion to the trip. We hike back to Alagna where the bus is waiting to drive us to charming Lago d'Orta, where we will have a well-deserved, relaxing final evening. It is possible to take the gondola down to Alagna if your knees refuse to walk down all the hills.

After breakfast, we will be driven to the airport in Milan. From there, we fly to Norway.