Great Cafés of the Alps

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 one of many excellent restaurants in town for a big welcome dinner.

After a hearty breakfast buffet, we’ll take the valley bus up to the village of Le Tour where we start our run up to the Refuge Albert Première with a climbing run to the Swiss border – stopping for café au lait at Col Balme. (Option of chairlift to help with the ascent.) Next, we’ll enjoy a rising traverse above a glacial moraine to reach the refuge, a French Alpine Club hut at 2700m elevation, where we can enjoy lunch on the edge of the glacier under towering 4,000-meter high peaks.

Afterwards, we’ll cruise on downhill single track. There will be time for a stop at one of our favorite cafés en route or when we get down to the valley.

In the evening we’ll head out for a delicious dinner, perhaps trying one of the local Savoyard specialities such as fondue or raclette.

Today, we’ll take Chamonix’s valley train a couple of stops to the pretty village of Les Praz. From here, we’ll run up through the forest for lunch at La Buvette du Chapeau, a quaint mountain hut and café overlooking the valley. Next, we’ll climb up above treeline to run a traverse underneath the snowy Aiguille Verte. We’ll take in the view of the Argentière glacier when we stop for coffee and hot chocolate at Refuge de Lognan, perched just above the glacier’s ice-fall.

We’ll finish the day by descending to Argentière, then hop a the train or bus back to Chamonix. Dinner will be in town at another excellent Chamonix restaurant.

Ready for more cafés and trail running? Great! We’ll take a short run to Chalet la Floria, one of the most flowery cafés in the Alps, then cross the valley for a run-hike up to the Refuge du Plan de l’Aiguille, where we can have lunch at the beautiful refuge overlooking the Chamonix valley. (Those ready for a break can skip the ascent, with the Aiguille du Midi tram.)

From here, we’ll run the “Grand Balcon Nord” – a high traverse to reach Le Signal, a promontory overlooking the Mer de Glace glacier. Then it’s a short descent to the historic Refuge du Montenvers, where we will have dinner and spend the night at 2,000 meters, high above Chamonix. We’ll enjoy a traditional local mountain dinner and sleep in the recently renovated refuge dormitory.

A small overnight bag for each guest will be transported up the mountain by cog train.

Run the Alps staff take a time out for treats! Location: Moody Coffee Roaster, Chamonix, France. (Photo: Kim Strom.)

After a traditional French 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. This pretty wooden chalet specializes in local organic food and drink.

The menu of the day, at Chalet de Caillet, above Chamonix (Photo: Doug Mayer.)

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.

On our way to catch the train, we’ll swing by a boulangerie to pick up some lunch treats for our journey to Zermatt.

Today, 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.

On the way down to Zermatt we’ll run past mountain farms and chalets, stopping to enjoy a coffee at Restaurant Zum See with owners Max and Greti.

Tonight, we’ll enjoy the great dinner fare at the Hotel Europe in Zermatt.

It’s time to venture to the other side of the valley! We’ll start with a fast 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 continue on our run along a rising traverse, with the Matterhorn looming ahead of us.

We’ll run back down to Zermatt via the traditional farming village of Zmutt.

Our last day of running takes us above Zermatt with great views of the Matterhorn. (Photo: PatitucciPhoto.)

We’ll eat another delicious dinner at our hotel restaurant tonight.

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