Piz Bernina (right) from the south (photo: Jonathan Williams)

      It’s enormously rewarding to circle a giant of the Alps, entirely under your own steam, and return to where you started. Thanks to this new long-distance route – the Tour of the Bernina – glorious day after glorious day can be spent on foot around the Bernina, an awesome glaciated massif belonging to the Rhaetian Alps and straddling the Swiss-Italian border. Global warming notwithstanding, bevvies of magnificent peaks are still draped with vast frozen rivers of ice that are sliding silently downhill and shaping a succession of scooped-out glens as they go.

      Stunning variety comes into play as the trek progresses. In the words of RLG Irving, ‘No part of the frontier Alps offers a more striking illustration of the contrast between the snowy beauties of the northern slopes and the great bare walls that extend along the south side of the watershed’ (The Alps, 1938). Walkers will have ample opportunities to test this out. The trek is as exciting and as scenic as the immensely popular Tour of Mont Blanc, but without the crowds.

      And there’s more good news: as a bonus, the multi-day Alta Via Valmalenco trek is also described here. This is a circular route round the southernmost valley, in close contact with another awesome icy giant – Monte Disgrazia.

      Both of these superb treks meander on clear marked paths through glaciated valleys, sweet-smelling forests alive with squirrels, and meadows brilliant with wildflowers. They also visit serene pastoral landscapes dotted with traditional stone-roofed hamlets and tiny age-old alpine farms, still very much active in the 21st century, where cows and goats are milked by hand and delicious cheeses are crafted.

      While the Tour of the Bernina is a great choice for first-time alpine trekkers, preferably with some basic experience, the Alta Via Valmalenco includes several tougher stages requiring a surer foot. However, for both, enthusiasm is the main requisite – although that is hardly going to be in short supply once you’ve glimpsed the scenery. A string of excellent refuges is perched on belvedere ridges at convenient points the whole way round, so that long spells can be enjoyed in these awe-inspiring surroundings. Alongside cosy village guesthouses and hotels, they offer hospitality and meals to walkers, who can set out with minimum baggage. Almost every stage of both treks can be accessed from a valley floor and public transport, opening the door to multiple variants, excellent short walks and memorable bespoke walking holidays.

The Tour of the Bernina

      Lovely views over Val Roseg during the ascent to Fuorcla Surlej (TB, Stage 1)

      Starting near the swish resort of St Moritz in Switzerland, the tour heads without delay up a pristine glacial valley for superb views of the Bernina massif. Cutting west, it makes a high traverse over the elongated Swiss valley of the Upper Engadine, which features orderly villages set beside medium-altitude lakes. A historic col that has witnessed the passage of smugglers, traders and refugees over the centuries then links with neighbouring Italy. This leads south into rugged Valmalenco, which accounts for the Bernina’s plunging southern flanks. A drawn-out traverse through dramatic glens incorporates a thrilling sortie into the high altitude heart of the massif, on a stretch that overlaps with the Alta Via Valmalenco trek. The concluding stages see the Tour of the Bernina head back into Switzerland and Val Poschiavo to end in the company of the spectacular St Moritz–Tirano railway line and a memorable lookout.

      In all, the trek covers 119km in nine stages, which correspond to nine fantastic days on the move, with five days spent in Switzerland and four in Italy. However, a number of inviting extensions and detours are described, and to follow them all means adding at least two days to the total – warmly recommended! On the other hand, so as to squeeze the whole of the Tour of the Bernina into a shorter holiday, a six-day version is given.

      In terms of difficulty it rates an overall average (Grade 2), and alternatives are provided for the handful of harder Grade 3 bits on rough terrain. While the highest point reached is 3002m, there are no glacier crossings en route.

      The trek is described anti-clockwise here, with stage timings given in the information boxes, as well as times between key points in blue bold text throughout the route descriptions. Naturally it is also feasible in the reverse direction, and relevant approximate times for each stage when walked clockwise are also provided in the stage information boxes. Accommodation is in seven alpine refuges, one hostel and a hotel.

      The start/finish of Pontresina was chosen for its convenient location as it is well served by trains from all of Switzerland as well as from northern Italy. Naturally, you could begin anywhere you like, as all the villages can be reached by handy public transport – see the introduction to the Tour of the Bernina chapter for details.

      The name ‘The Tour of the Bernina’ has been coined for the purposes of this guide.

The Alta Via Valmalenco

      Alpe Prabello and Rifugio Cristina are dominated by Pizzo Scalino (AVV, Stage 7)

      This well-established long-distance trek begins in the depths of Italy’s Valmalenco, whose middle reaches host modest quarries for roofing tiles and attractive green-veined serpentinite. From Torre di Santa Maria it makes its way northwest through strikingly beautiful and desolate stretches for an encounter with a major landmark – glaciated Monte Disgrazia. A loop via an unmissable belvedere concludes at the route’s only village – hospitable Chiareggio. Now in common with the Tour of the Bernina, it heads into the lofty southern realms

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