The Alpine Pass Route is a long-distance hiking trail through the Alps in Switzerland, part of the Via Alpina route. It starts in Sargans in eastern Switzerland, and crosses the heart of country westwards to finish in

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxi ...

on the shore of

Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial la ...

. The total route covers over and crosses 16 mountain passes, and takes 15 or more walking days to complete.

The route

There are a number of variations on the precise route, but the following stages are fairly standard: The Via Alpina green trail follows the Swiss National Route no. 1 (previously known as the Swiss Alpine Pass Route from Sargans to Lenk, which then continues over a further four passes to

. * From Sargans over the Foo Pass to Elm * Over the

Richetli Pass The Richetli Pass (german: Richetlipass) is a high mountain pass in the Glarus Alps in the Swiss canton of Glarus. The pass crosses between the heads of the valleys of the Linth and the Sernf rivers, using the col between the Hausstock and K� ...

to Linthal * Over the Klausen Pass to Flüelen * Over the Surenen Pass to Engelberg * Over the Joch Pass to Meiringen * Over the Grosse Scheidegg Pass to

Grindelwald Grindelwald is a village and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Berne. In addition to the village of Grindelwald, the municipality also includes the settlements of Alpiglen, Burglauenen, Grund, Itram ...

* Over the Kleine Scheidegg Pass to Lauterbrunnen * Over the Sefinenfurgge Pass to Griesalp * Over the Hohtürli Pass to

Kandersteg Kandersteg is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located along the valley of the River Kander, west of the Jungfrau massif. It is noted for its spectacular mount ...

* Over the Bunderchrinde Pass to Adelboden * Over the Hahnenmoos Pass to Lenk * Over the Trütlisberg Pass to Lauenen * Over the Krinne to

Gsteig Gsteig bei Gstaad is a municipality in the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Gsteig was formerly known by the French name of ''Châtelet''. History Gsteig is first mentioned in 1312 as ''Ch ...

* Over the

Col des Andérets In geomorphology, a col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 103. . It may also be called a gap. Particularly rugged and forbidding co ...

to Col des Mosses * Over the

Col de Chaude In geomorphology, a col is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks.Whittow, John (1984). ''Dictionary of Physical Geography''. London: Penguin, 1984, p. 103. . It may also be called a gap. Particularly rugged and forbidding co ...

The central portion of the route through the Bernese Oberland is the most spectacular, with many hikers choosing to hike a few passes rather than the whole route in one go. The excellent transport connections give many possibilities for breaking it up.

Signposting

The trail is well signposted. Most of the signs carry the name of the next pass or town, but increasingly the green square " Via Alpina" signs are being introduced. This is now called route number 1.

References

External links

* * http://www.wanderland.ch/en/routes/route-01.html Hiking trails in Switzerland {{Switzerland-stub