I'm hoping to do some hut to hut hiking in the Alps potentially in late August or early September for say 5-10 days (7-15kms/day)...

Any recommended routes? Do I need to book with the huts or register with an alpine club?

Words of wisdom? Warnings? Tips?

I have done the tour du mont blanc 10 years ago on a relaxed pace.

Check "tour du mont-blanc" route on the web. You can do this 4-5 straight days or 2 week-ends.

Check my Haute Route pages. Many shorter tours are described in the brochure Hiking Tours Valais. Joining the Swiss Alpine Club will get you a discount at the huts, but may well cost more than you gain from the discounts.

The problem with hut to hut trips is that you must arrange them in advance, so you have no idea what the weather will be like when you hike. Reservations must be made in advance (in most cases with a credit card), I am not sure what the cancellation policy is.

But in good weather it is an extremely enjoyable experience. And an overnight thunder storm in the mountains is something to be experienced, especially if the weather is kind enough to clear up next day!

Last year, my GF and I toured the Engadine region and it was stunning! It wasn't a hut-to-hut journey per se, but we stayed in a few huts and camped the other nights. If that's where you end up, I highly highly recommend a night at Chamanna Cluozza in the Swiss National Park.

StephenNeuchatel is also a great source of information and writes a fantastic blog. I also have a young friend (ex student of mine) who works for the Club Alpin, if you want to contact her.

Thanks for pointing me to his blog: Is it much further to the top?.

Thanks Odile for plugging my blog, and to Retiredin NH for re-plugging the plug . More ideas (in French) on http://www.hikr.org/user/stephen/tour/

Kristanez - the Tour du Mont Blanc mentioned above is a must-do and is not difficult at all, but you need two weeks to do the whole thing. I was sceptical because it has the reputation of being crowded, but if you aim for end of August/early September you will be OK. The scenery is stunning and incredibly varied.

In five days you could do the Tour des Muverans (see http://www.hikr.org/tour/post14721.html) starting and finishing at Ovronnaz, Derborence or Pont de Nant. It's quite physical but worth every drop of sweat, you hardly see a road or a village for the whole five days.

You could do a week along the Alpine Pass Route (though the whole thing needs two to three weeks), some of the stages are long but there are almost always transport options if you need to shorten a day. See the blog that RetiredinNH has linked to, under July 2010.

In four days you could do the tour des Dents du Midi (see http://www.hikr.org/tour/post7162.html), again worth the effort and off the beaten track.

In ten days you could do Chamonix-Zermatt, or its shorter variant Verbier-Zermatt in seven days... I don't have a description of this one online but have done it and can guarantee that it's worth it. Probably the most difficult of the hikes mentioned here.

All of these are on well signposted paths and don't require a guide, assuming you have a minimum of mountain hiking experience and physical condition. They can all be done with guides and trekking agencies as well though - this is how I did the tour du Mont Blanc and Verbier-Zermatt.

Edit on hut bookings: yes, you should always book ahead if possible, the hut wardens need to know how many people to prepare the evening meal for. On Saturday evenings even in September, huts get very crowded and you should book several days in advance. On very popular routes like the TMB and Chamonix-Zermatt, it may be best to book several weeks ahead at least for the Saturday night. You can always call the hut to cancel if your plans change.

Stephen's French is impeccable and reads so well (exceptional for a furiner I must say) - so read it in French Kristanez, excellent practice. Fabulous photos too, and paintings, drawings.

Thanks, I knew you had a blog in French.

I am very curious ... why would someone with your experience use a trekking agency

Simply because sometimes I like the company of a group, meeting new people with the same interests, etc. Also, being in a guided group pushes me to do things that I might not dare to do on my own.

I don't like the big groups that local Swiss walking clubs tend to attract (I once found myself in a group of more than 30 people after signing up for a hike with the local club in Neuchâtel), but I really enjoy spending a week with six or seven strangers and a guide .

Obviously no one can predict the future, but do you think there is much risk of this trip being impeded by weather if we plan it for this time frame? I think the last two septembers have been quite lovely in Switzerland, but we would have family flying in from Canada particularly to do this trip with us...any thoughts on our timing?

And a huge thank you for all your insights and ideas, I've got quite a bit of research to do now - thanks for all the leads!

September is usually pretty good... the only problem is that after about the middle of the month, the huts start closing. Last week of August/first week of September, or the first two weeks of September, would be an excellent choice in my opinion.

I have probably jinxed the weather by saying this of course... must now remember not to book my holidays for that time .