May be closed: OpenStreetMap marks about 80 m of footway here, just before Macugnaga, as closed after a landslide. The official site gives no notice: follow the signs on the spot. Source, read 26 September 2026
Over the Colle del Turlo, 2,738 m, to Macugnaga. Just before Macugnaga, OpenStreetMap marks about 80 m of footway as closed after a landslide; the official site gives no notice. Follow the signs there.
Best season: Mid-June to mid-September, while the huts and lifts run. The official site gives June to September, weather permitting. In 2026 the Italian huts were open from mid-June to mid-September: Rifugio del Teodulo 13 June to 14 September, Rifugio Pastore 13 June to 13 September. Most lifts stopped on 13 September, and Rifugio Gabiet stayed closed all summer. For 2027, only Rifugio Guide Frachey has published its reopening, after 4 June; the other huts have no 2027 summer dates yet. Before you go
Facts read from the operators' own pages and OpenStreetMap on 26 September 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with the hut before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Rifugio Pastore
Staffed mountain hut · 1,575 m · CAI Varallo; run by Rifugi Monterosa
60 places in total · Half board offered · winter room 60 places in heated rooms of 4 to 6 and a 14-bed dormitory; tent platforms; an unstaffed winter room with 4 beds.
Booking
Book onlineBook online: a deposit is taken by card and the rest paid at the hut, with no refund once paid. In 2026 half board was €70 and bed and breakfast €40, for CAI members; others pay a surcharge. A sleeping-bag liner is required.
Neither operator publishes a walking time for this exact leg. Our estimate for the stage is 7 h 38, computed from the mapped line and its climbing.
Make it your trip
Book each night directly
The Tour Monte Rosa has no central booking: each hut and hotel is booked on its own. The Italian huts close in mid-September. Each night below shows its season and how to book, read from the hut's own page or the regional listing.
Zermatt to Zermatt
The nine official stages round Monte Rosa, anticlockwise: over the Theodul glacier into Italy, and back over the Monte Moro pass and along the Europaweg.
Loading the forecast for low point (1,214 m) and high point (2,735 m)…
Weather by month
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (1,214 m) and the highest point (2,735 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
Monthly climate averages and daylight
Month
Weather
Poor
Poor
Poor
Poor
Poor
Poor
Good
Good
Mixed
Mixed
Poor
Poor
High point, day / night
-4°/-11°
-5°/-11°
-3°/-9°
-1°/-6°
4°/-2°
8°/2°
10°/4°
11°/5°
7°/2°
3°/-1°
-1°/-6°
-3°/-9°
Low point, day / night
5°/-3°
5°/-4°
7°/-2°
10°/1°
14°/6°
19°/9°
21°/12°
21°/12°
17°/9°
13°/6°
9°/1°
6°/-2°
Rain, mm
57
49
60
82
86
82
72
78
75
87
119
65
Snow at high point
Likely
Likely
Likely
Likely
Likely
Likely
–
–
Frost
Possible
Likely
Likely
Daylight
9 h 01
10 h 20
11 h 49
13 h 29
14 h 54
15 h 43
15 h 25
14 h 12
12 h 37
11 h 01
9 h 31
8 h 41
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Prepare for the Tour Monte Rosa
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
The Theodul glacier on the first day
Stage 1 crosses the Theodul glacier to the pass at 3,300 m and is graded T5. The official site says to rope up or go with a mountain guide, and lists crampons, an ice axe, a harness, a helmet and a rope; Zermatt Tourism says not to go onto a glacier without a guide. The Klein Matterhorn cable car shortens the day, but from Testa Grigia the hut is still about 30 minutes over the glacier. If you do not cross it, start from Macugnaga or Saas-Fee instead.
Rifugio Gabiet, at the end of stage 3, did not open all summer. The Europaweg is closed between Springelboden and Eggenstadel, with a signed detour by Täsch. The upper Monte Moro cable car was closed for repairs in July. Ask the huts, the Europaweg and the lift operators before you rely on them in 2027.
Five passes are above 2,700 m: the Theodul, the Colle Superiore delle Cime Bianche, the Passo dei Salati, the Colle del Turlo and the Monte Moro. The official stage pages say snow, ice or a sudden change of weather make them dangerous. Check the forecast, turn back in time, and tell someone your plan. For help, call 144 or Rega on 1414 in Switzerland, and 112 in Italy.
Book each hut directly, by email or phone or on its own site. Rifugio Pastore takes a card deposit online, refunded less €25 if you cancel at least 72 hours ahead. The Europahütte takes bookings by phone and email only. Rifugio del Teodulo takes them by email only.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Zermatt by train
Zermatt is car-free. Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn trains run from Visp and Brig all year; drivers park in Täsch and take the shuttle train, every 20 minutes, about 12 minutes. Randa, below the Europahütte, and St. Niklaus are on the same line.
V.I.T.A. buses run up the Val d'Ayas to Saint-Jacques and up the Gressoney valley to Gressoney-La-Trinité; their summer timetable ran 11 June to 9 September 2026. ATAP line 50 runs from Vercelli and Varallo to Alagna. Comazzi buses run from Domodossola to Macugnaga, on the winter timetable from 14 September 2026.
PostBus 511 runs from Saas-Fee to Visp and Brig all year. Lines 551 and 552 link Grächen with St. Niklaus and Visp, and 554 runs from St. Niklaus to Herbriggen.
Prepare each stage while you still have a connection, and test it offline before you set out: the glacier and the high passes have little or no signal.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Open this trail in the app.Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
About this map
The Verein Tour Monte Rosa walks the tour anticlockwise from Zermatt in nine stages: 173 km and 10,600 m of climbing on its home page, 174 km on its stage pages. The line here is the route as mapped on OpenStreetMap on 21 September 2026, from its nine mapped stages: 164.6 km. Three of its stages end at huts instead of the official villages: stage 2 at Résy, not Saint-Jacques; stage 3 at the Gabiet lake, not Gressoney; and stage 4 at Rifugio Pastore, beyond Alagna. So the official times are shown only for stages 1, 6, 7 and 8, which start and end in the same places. On stage 9 the day takes the official detour round the closed Europaweg: 23.6 km and 8 h 45; its GPX still follows the mapped line, with the closure marked.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 26 September 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.