Hut-to-hut hiking: how booking actually works
Booking a hut trek is not one skill. On the Tour du Mont Blanc it comes down to one date in October. In the Dolomites it is an email to every rifugio, one by one. On Kungsleden the simple huts have a tradition of not turning walkers away. Find out which system your route uses before you pick dates, or you will be early for the wrong thing.
Four ways huts take bookings
- One opening day for a whole route. The refuges of the Tour du Mont Blanc association open the next summer on one date. The French Alpine Club (FFCAM) has one opening date for all its huts.
- One central system per route. Corsica’s GR20, Mallorca’s GR221, La Porta del Cel in the Pyrenees and Iceland’s Laugavegur each book through one site.
- Hut by hut, by phone or email. Most Italian rifugi, several huts on the Walker’s Haute Route, the fermes-auberges of the Vosges.
- Like any hotel. Trails with villages instead of huts: the West Highland Way, the Escapardenne, the Fishermen’s Trail, the Schluchtensteig. Nobody opens anything; the small places simply fill first.
France: one date for the Tour du Mont Blanc, one for the FFCAM
The Association des Gardiens de Refuges et Gîtes du TMB opens summer 2027 for every refuge and gîte on its platform on 15 October 2026. Four of the busiest places are not on it: Rifugio Bonatti, Rifugio Elisabetta, Refuge du Lac Blanc and La Flégère, which book on their own. Half board is usually compulsory. The full TMB 2027 booking order.
The FFCAM, the French Alpine Club, opens all its huts on one date. For summer 2026 that was 5 January. On the Tour du Beaufortain, Refuge de Presset, thirty beds at 2,514 m, is the night that decides the route.
On Corsica, the GR20 refuges are run by the regional park and booked only through its own system. A booking is a bunk, a bivouac pitch or a hired tent, chosen when you book. GR20 refuges in 2027.
Le Tour du Mont Blanc, refuge booking platform FFCAM, French Alpine Club Parc naturel régional de Corse, refuge booking
Italy: rifugio by rifugio
Italian rifugi usually take bookings by phone or email rather than through a booking site. On the Alta Via 1, eleven stages means eleven conversations, in Italian or German. Half board is standard and often the only food up high.
The Italian Alpine Club’s portal, CAI Prenota Rifugi, covers the club-run rifugi only, not the privately held ones. It shortens the list; it does not replace it.
Switzerland: online, except where it is email
Swiss Alpine Club huts book online, and membership cuts the nightly rate. On the Walker’s Haute Route, three places take bookings by email only: Cabane du Mont Fort, Hotel Schwarzhorn in Gruben and the Europahütte. Start with those. Cabane de Moiry usually opens its summer reservations around April.
Austria: the alpine clubs’ shared system
The alpine clubs run a shared booking site, hut-reservation.org. On the Adlerweg in the Wilder Kaiser, the Gaudeamushütte takes overnight bookings only there. Its 2026 season ran from 13 May to 14 October, and weather can move both dates.
Slovenia: the hut’s own site
In the Triglav Lakes Valley the only bed is Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih, which takes overnight guests by online reservation on its own site: full payment when you book, free cancellation until two days before. In 2026 it was open from 6 June to 30 September.
Spain: central systems on Mallorca and in the Pyrenees
On Mallorca’s GR221 the Consell de Mallorca books six refuges through one central system, night by night. The exception is Coma d’en Vidal, which is let only as a whole refuge, by phone.
La Porta del Cel in the Catalan Pyrenees books all four refuge nights and the hotel in Tavascan in one go, half board included. In 2026 that meant €105 down when you book.
Consell de Mallorca, refuge booking La Porta del Cel, booking
Iceland: FÍ, in the autumn before
Ferðafélag Íslands (FÍ) runs every hut on the Laugavegur and opens bookings for the next summer in the autumn. July and August nights are reported to go within weeks. FÍ expects you to have a confirmed hut or campsite booking before you start.
Ferðafélag Íslands, hut booking
Sweden: book the stations, not the simple huts
The Swedish Tourist Association’s mountain stations, such as Kebnekaise or the three stations of the Jämtland Triangle, book online in advance. The simple huts along Kungsleden work differently: turning walkers away into the night is against their tradition, but a full hut can mean a mattress on the floor. Check the current policy before you rely on it. On Kungsleden, membership gives a discount at every hut.
Svenska Turistföreningen (STF)
Scotland, the Benelux, Germany and Portugal: no huts at all
On trails that go village to village you book each night directly, like any hotel. On the West Highland Way the tiny stops sell out first, and independent guides advise about six months ahead for May to September. To camp on the east shore of Loch Lomond between 1 March and 30 September you need a permit: £4.50 per tent per night, bookable up to four weeks ahead.
The Schluchtensteig’s organisation recommends booking at least a week ahead. On the Escapardenne, weekends fill before weekdays. On the Fishermen’s Trail, wild camping is forbidden inside the natural park.
West Highland Way, official accommodation directory Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, camping permits Schluchtensteig, official site Rota Vicentina, booking
Permits are bookings too
On Madeira, the classified trails need a timed ticket from the regional government’s SIMplifica system (€4.50 per trail, €10.50 for the full PR1), and camping needs its own licence at €5 per tent per night, with room for only 2 to 5 tents per site. The tent permits sell out, not the trail tickets.
On the Peaks of the Balkans, the border permits come first: you apply at least fifteen days ahead, at the police of the country you are leaving. Guesthouses answer the phone all year.
SIMplifica, Madeira regional government Peaks of the Balkans, cross-border procedures
The order that works
- Find the system your route uses, from the list above.
- Book the night that decides the route first: the smallest hut, the only bed in a valley, the stop 20 km from the next one.
- Then the rest, in stage order.
- Transport in and out, the same week: some trailhead buses sell out too, like the highland buses to the Laugavegur on peak days.
- Hold one fallback for a night that is not confirmed yet, and let it go the day the real booking comes through.
Every route’s booking system, in the app
Treksup shows for every route how its huts or beds take bookings, which nights fill first and where to book, with the official link. Seven routes are open in full, free on iPhone.
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When do mountain huts open for bookings?
It depends on the system. The Tour du Mont Blanc association opens summer 2027 on 15 October 2026. The French Alpine Club opens all its huts on one date, 5 January for summer 2026. Iceland’s FÍ opens in the autumn before. On village-to-village trails such as the West Highland Way, most places take bookings all year.
Can I just turn up at a mountain hut without a booking?
Do not count on it. FÍ expects a confirmed booking on the Laugavegur, and on the Tour du Mont Blanc half board is booked with the bed. The exception is the simple huts on Kungsleden, where turning walkers away is against tradition, though a full hut can mean a mattress on the floor.
Do I need to be a member of an alpine club to stay in huts?
No. Membership lowers the price: the Swiss Alpine Club and the Swedish Tourist Association both give members a discount.
Is dinner included in a mountain hut booking?
Often. Half board is usually compulsory on the Tour du Mont Blanc and standard in Italian rifugi, and often the only food available up high.
How do I book Italian rifugi?
Mostly by phone or email, one rifugio at a time. The Italian Alpine Club’s portal, CAI Prenota Rifugi, covers the club-run rifugi, not the private ones.
Read next
Sources
- Le Tour du Mont Blanc, refuge booking platform: https://www.montourdumontblanc.com
- FFCAM, French Alpine Club: https://www.ffcam.fr
- Parc naturel régional de Corse, refuge booking: https://pnr-resa.corsica
- CAI Prenota Rifugi: https://www.prenotarifugi.cai.it
- Swiss Alpine Club (SAC): https://www.sac-cas.ch
- Alpine clubs’ hut reservation: https://www.hut-reservation.org
- Koča pri Triglavskih jezerih: https://sedmera.si/en
- Consell de Mallorca, refuge booking: https://seu.conselldemallorca.net/refugis/es/ruta/
- La Porta del Cel, booking: https://www.laportadelcel.com/reserves-2/
- Ferðafélag Íslands, hut booking: https://vinna.fi.is/en/boka/
- Svenska Turistföreningen (STF): https://www.svenskaturistforeningen.se
- West Highland Way, official accommodation directory: https://www.westhighlandway.org/places/
- Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park, camping permits: https://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/things-to-do/camping/get-a-permit/
- Schluchtensteig, official site: https://www.schluchtensteig.de
- Rota Vicentina, booking: https://rotavicentina.com/en/book-with-us/
- SIMplifica, Madeira regional government: https://simplifica.madeira.gov.pt
- Peaks of the Balkans, cross-border procedures: https://www.peaksofthebalkans.com/Cross-Border-Procedures
Booking facts from the Treksup route library, researched route by route in 2026 at the official channels listed here; the Tour du Mont Blanc dates were read on 29 September 2026. Systems and prices change, so check the source before you book. Page updated 30 September 2026.