- Dates: Middle of June – End of September
The Trient Valley, source of well-being in the heart of the Espace Mont-Blanc, welcomes you for an authentic hiking experience.
A preserved nature, unique attractions, an exceptional panorama, villages full of history and welcoming people are the major assets of a region ideally located in the immediate vicinity of Martigny (Switzerland), Chamonix (France) and Aoste (Italy).
On our Hiking Tour of the Trient valley you can enjoy breathtaking panoramas on the Mont-Blanc, natural, wild and mysterious gorges, mountain lakes, glaciers and impressive waterfalls: let yourself be surprised and seduced by the grandiose landscapes of the Trient valley.
- Type: loop
- Difficulty: T2 and T3 for good walkers (good physical condition required)
- Duration: 6 days / 5 nights
- Distance: 60 km
- Cumulative elevation gain: 4500 meters
- Cumulative negative elevation gain: 4600 meter
Itinerary Hiking Tour of the Trient valley
Day 1: Mountain lake in a spectacular basin
Salvan -Auberge de Salanfe
We meet in the beautiful mountain village of Salvan at 1pm where our hiking tour starts. We’ll have a spectacular hiking start up trough a steep gorge with a wonderful wooden pathway.
Then over alpine meadows and trough a alpine hamlet and up to the Salanfe water reservoir. The path that leads to the idyllic lake of Salanfe and its Inn at the foot of the Dents du Midi crosses beautiful alpine landscapes that will amaze you!
- 13km, + 1077m, -186m
- Night and meal at the Auberge de Salanfe
Day 2: Two mountain passes and the world of the Emosson lake
Cabane de Salanfe – Col d’Emaney – Col de Barberine – Emosson – Vertic Camp
Today you will climb two big alpine passes with magnificent views of the Mont Blanc region and the Valais. In the afternoon, you take these beautiful emotions with you as you descend to the turquoise blue reservoir of Emosson and cross two tunnels.
In the evening, you will enjoy the wild environment, in the shelter of a cocoon on a wooden terrace, with an exceptional view on the mountains. The charm of the place is a promise of delicious moments to savor fully…
You live a unique experience, immersed in a preserved nature, comfortably installed in a dome tent at tree height, in the heart of the forest. Listen to the birds and the wind singing in the trees!
- 14km, +1121m, – 1101m
- Night and dinner in the Vertic camp
Day 3: On the trail of the Dinosaurs
Loop Vieux Emosson – Dinosaur Trail – Giétroz
Today, you will follow this panoramic trail full of history, including traces of reptiles dating back 240 million years, as well as two high dams.
In the Vieux-Emosson region, you can see the footprints of reptiles belonging to the archosaur group. For sure, you will be amazed by the exceptional richness of this geological heritage! A great moment is also waiting for you with the descent by Minifunic, the panoramic train and the steepest double-cabin funicular in the world to Giétroz.
- 13km, +780m, – 780m
- Night and meal at a guesthouse in Gietroz
Day 4: Between “Contrebandiers” and the Giétroz glacier
Gietroz – Col de Balme – Col de Forclaz
Today you hike close to the French border. You will learn that you are walking in the footsteps of the smugglers who used these paths in the past. Transported in the past as well as yesterday with the dinosaurs, you continue your journey in time during the afternoon along the bisse du Trient.
You will learn that the Trient bisse was built at the end of the 18th century and is located on the old railroad line that used to carry the ice extracted from the Trient glacier to the Forclaz pass. This ice was used in the restaurants of the region and exported to Paris.
- 16km, +983m, – 712m
- Night and dinner at the Hotel Col de La Forclaz
Day 5: Le Trient et la piscine taillée dans le roc
Col de La Forclaz – Mont de l’Arpille – Les Marécottes
Today’s hike offers sweeping views of the Rhône valley and Martigny, the Swiss peaks, the Mont Blanc massif and the upper Trient valley. From the summit of Arpille, you descend into the Gorges du Trient and cross the Trient on a bridge. A final effort for the legs, as there’s just one more climb to the pretty mountain village of Les Marécottes. You’ve now earned the right to cool off in the Marécottes swimming pool. This surprisingly poetic pool, carved into the rock, is in complete harmony with the surrounding alpine nature.
• 13km, +830m, – 1423m
• Night at Hotel in Les Marecottes, dinner in town
Day 6: Route des Diligences
Les Marécottes – Gorges du Trient – Martigny
After breakfast, it’s downhill that awaits you: you’ll gain negative altitude as you take the Route des Diligences to Vernayaz. Along the way, this road reveals all its secrets, following in the footsteps of Belle Epoque travellers. At the end of your tour, a special experience awaits you: a visit to the Gorges du Trient. A powerful example of the phenomenon of erosion, they form a deep incision several hundred meters high, at the bottom of which flows the glacial torrent. This impressive fault is crossed by two of Europe’s highest bridges, towering 200 m above the Gorges.At around 2 p.m., you finish your visit at the Martigny train station, your heart full of emotion. Now it’s time to take a trip down memory lane: you’ve come full circle!
Map for Hiking tour of the Trient valley:
Price for Hiking Tour of the Trient valley:
- 8 persons: 898.-CHF / person
- 4 persons: 1301.-CHF / person
Included in the price:
Organization, 6 days with a mountain leader, 5 nights in refuges and gîtes/hotels with half board, Alpic Funicular day 3 (descent), entrance to Gorges du Trient
Not included in the price:
Personal insurance, arrival and return to Martigny, train to Salanfe day 1 and train Vernayaz – Martigny day 6, dinner day 5, picnics, drinks, swimming pool entrance day 5
How to get to Martigny where we start our tour
Martigny, an old roman town with a roman amphitheatre and a castle lies in the Swiss rhone valley. It can be reached by train in 1hr30′ from Geneva airport and in 2hrs45′ from Zürich airport. Check your train table here.
More Information about the Trient valley
Please find here more information about the beautiful Trient valley.
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