We’ve come to love hut-to-hut walking — moving through mountain terrain without camping gear, with a bed waiting at the end of each day, and starting every day warm and dry, whether that’s an Alpine refuge serving a three-course dinner or a self-catering DOC hut in Fiordland.
Staffed Huts
Staffed huts provide meals and beds: dinner at communal tables, breakfast before you’re on trail. You carry no tent, no stove, no food. Your pack stays light(er); and you get to relax once you to get to your hut. See hut-to-hut packing list for trips like this.
Hut-to-Hut in the Alps
4+ routes walked first hand · staffed refuges · delicious food
Multi-day circuits and intro nights across the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps — from a single night at Rifugio Lagazuoi to 12-day circuits through the Écrins and Piz Bernina massif.
Routes covered
Picos de Europa
Cantabrian Mountains · 2-night circuit
Two-night in the in the Cantabrian Mountains — dramatic limestone terrain, small refugios, and far fewer international hikers than the Alps.
Trip guides
Paso de las Nubes
Bariloche · 1-night crossing
A one-night crossing in the Argentine Lake District — part of a week of hiking in Bariloche, and the trip that first showed us what staffed mountain huts could be.
Trip guides
Unstaffed Huts
New Zealand’s Great Walk huts run on a different model: DOC-managed, warden-staffed, with bunks and a shared kitchen, but meals are self-catered: you bring your food and cook alongside whoever else is on trail that night. Depending on the hut, you may need to berths in advance. Some huts, especially those on the Great Walks, have stoves, while at others, you need to carry your own stove.
Our Milford and Routeburn packing list covers what to pack. There are also guided, catered variations of the Milford and Routeburn, which stop at different huts.
Milford Track
Fiordland · 4-day Great Walk
A one-way traverse from the head of Lake Te Anau to Milford Sound — Clinton Valley floors, MacKinnon Pass, Sutherland Falls — with scenery that scales from brilliant to thoroughly sodden, sometimes within the same afternoon. Independent walkers share the track with guided groups but sleep in separate huts.
Trip guides
Routeburn Track
Fiordland / Mount Aspiring · 3-day Great Walk
A three-day traverse crossing between Fiordland and Mount Aspiring National Parks over Harris Saddle — shorter than the Milford but with more exposed ridge and alpine terrain. Pair it with the Milford in the same trip (like we did), or do it as a stunning standalone.
Trip guides