• Professional English-speaking guide
• All accommodation as described
• Meals as detailed in the meal plan

• Travel Insurance
• Meals as detailed in the meal plan
• Airport transfers
• Transfers and cable cars not part of the itinerary
• Miscellaneous personal expenses

TRAVEL TO YOUR DESTINATION

In some cases you may choose to take a ferry and/or train to your holiday start and end destination. Please see further information on Travelling by Train.

If flying from the UK there are low cost airlines available to the start and from the end of your holiday.

To benefit from full financial protection, ease your holiday planning, and avoid dealing with airlines, we can book scheduled flights from the UK as part of a flight inclusive package. Scheduled flights are usually more expensive than low cost alternatives, however potentially less stressful if your flight is cancelled or delayed. If you book flights through KE Adventure Travel we will offset the carbon of your flight.

You must join the group at the Pension Heino in Saas Grund on the evening of Day 1 of the trip itinerary. For clients arriving by air, the easiest way to get to Saas Grund is to fly to Geneva Airport and travel by train from there. We recommend that you make your onward booking with Swiss Federal Railways on http://www.sbb.ch.
If you intend to book your ticket in advance, note that the Swiss Rail website defaults to the concessionary fare which is half the normal fare. You must untick the 'Reduced fare' tick box before making your purchase. The railway station is in the airport at Geneva and there is an hourly service (throughout most of the day), involving a train to either Visp or Brig and then a bus to Saas Grund. The journey takes 2.5 - 3.5 hours on the train and 45 minutes for the final leg by bus. A ticket to Saas Grund is valid for the train and the bus.
There are several stops in Saas Grund listed on the website and we recommend that you opt for Saas Grund, Post. The buses provide digital displays indicating which stop they are approaching. It is only a short walk from this stop to our hotel base. We will provide hotel contact details and an emergency number for all clients with your booking confirmation.

All meals except lunches are included in the holiday price from dinner on day 1 to breakfast on day 11. Lunches, supplementary snacks and drinks can be purchased from the huts or supermarkets when in the valley.

When in the towns and villages all tap water is drinkable. In mountain huts there is usually not a sustainable drinking water supply. Water in plastic bottles is brought in to the hut. All huts have a recycling point. If you have to purchase water in plastic bottles please buy the largest bottle you can so as to use less plastic. Please take purification tablets or a filter bottle (such as a Water-To-Go bottle) to treat your water if you can fill from a local stream. Bottled water is not provided. We do not encourage the purchasing of single use plastic bottles. Local authorities are working to find solutions to using plastic water bottles in huts. We monitor the situation carefully for updates.

As to be expected, the food available in restaurants and hotels in Italy and Switzerland is excellent. In huts food is simple and wholesome with usually a limited choice which will include a vegetarian option. Continental breakfasts and evening meals are provided by our accommodation.

During this trip the group will spend 2 nights at a hotel in Saas Grund with en-suite facilities, this will be in either twin or triple rooms. Whilst on trek, there are 8 nights spent in village hotels, mountain huts or similar accommodation (gites). Most of the accommodation away from Saas Grund is on a non-segregated, dormitory-style basis. In some high mountain huts, washing facilities are limited. Single rooms are not available.

A qualified (IML) guide will accompany the group throughout.

This holiday involves going to moderately high altitude.  During the course of your trip you will reach altitudes in excess of 2500 metres.  Most people will have no difficulty with this level of altitude but before coming on the holiday, we recommend you read the advice on trekking at high altitude.  You can also talk to one of our trekking experts if you have any concerns about altitude.

This holiday involves going to moderately high altitude. During the course of your trip you will reach altitudes in excess of 2500 metres. Most people will have no difficulty with this level of altitude but before coming on the holiday, we recommend you read the advice on trekking at altitude on our website which can be viewed via the link below. You can also talk to one of our trekking experts if you have any concerns about altitude. www.keadventure.com/page/altitude.html

The package price includes all accommodation and guiding. You should make an allowance for lunches, additional snacks, drinks etc. Beer, wine and soft drinks are available every night. On the tour we spend 5 nights Switzerland and 5 nights in Italy and you should take your spending money in a mix of Swiss francs and Euros. Approximately 200 Swiss Francs and 120 Euros should adequately cover typical personal spending requirements.  At a couple of the mountain huts drinking water will need to be purchased, these amounts should also cover this. There are ATMs in Geneva Airport where only Swiss Francs can be drawn,ATMs in Zermatt where both currencies can be drawn, ATMs in Macugnaga where Euros can be drawn and ATMs in Saas Grund where Swiss Francs can be drawn.

Tipping for good service has become the norm. However, it is important to remember that tipping is voluntary and should be seen as a 'thank you' for a job well done. There are no set rules as to how much to tip but we do recommend that the group as a whole decide on the level of tips rather than individually.

For this holiday you should take one piece of luggage and a daypack (of around 30 - 40 litres). Since group members will carry all personal equipment during the trek, it is important to keep the overall weight of this equipment to a minimum. Neither a sleeping bag nor a camping mattress is needed and it should be possible to keep the weight of your pack to around 8 kg.

At the start of the trip, you will leave your travel clothes and anything you do not need for the trek in your main bag at the hotel in Saas Grund. From that point until the arrival at Saas Grund on Day 10, you will not have access to this bag. Luggage with wheels is useful for this holiday.

For each holiday there is a minimum number of participants required to enable it to go ahead. Once the minimum number is reached, the trip status will change from 'Available' to 'Guaranteed to run'. You can check the trip status for each departure in the ‘Dates and Prices’ table. Other than in exceptional circumstances, we will not cancel a trip once it has achieved this guaranteed to run status so you are free to proceed with your international flight booking and other travel arrangements.