Berghutte [mountain huts] with a decent hike beforehand for April

Transportation, Travel and Trips
1
I'm planning my girlfriend's 30th and one idea is do a "hike and hut" style weekend where we get the train max 2.5 hours from Zurich, hike up to an ideally nice mountain hut in a nice setting, have dinner then toddle off back down the hill the next day.

Nothing massively OTT strenous but at the same time we're all relatively young and fit so no problems with it being a decent trek, say 4-5 hours max.

There's obviously hundreds of Berghutte with the SAC to choose from, but from looking at a couple online, it looks like the only have full dinner service during summer (June - September or similar).

Has anyone got any recommendations? There'll be a group of about 10-12 of us.

Thanks in advance

2
The huts that will be open for full board in April will be the ones that are popular for ski touring. All the ones that I have been to that time of the year I can imagine would be quite a chore to get to without skis but there for sure are some that are accessible on foot (look for huts with south-facing approaches or lower altitude ones).

One that I know for sure would be doable on skis as well as foot is the Wiesbadener Hut at the base of the Piz Buin in Austria. I bet you could get to the trailhead in about 2.5 hours via train and bus from Zurich.

3
April is not mountain hiking season - mid-June to early October is. There are alternatives though.

For example:

Arosa: Hike from the village up to Hornli and stay in the hut. It would be nice to take the Gondola over to Lenzerheide and hike down - but unfortunately there aren't any paths that high. The ridge walk from Weisshorn down is very pretty - but you'll have to use gondolas to get over to it.

Both Flims/Laax and Davos should also have similar possibilities, your best bet is to look on their websites, and check out the piste maps for the huts you can stay in - and how they link with the wanderwegs.

Sticking to the marked paths is easiest but conditions can get hard going in Spring as they base layer starts to melt - at this time running on it is very similar to running on sand!! Ensure you have appropriate breathable layers which you can strip off/apply as temperatures, sun direction and wind change.

4
One can hike up to this place from the Goldau train station in about 2 hours. It's where the locals go for good reasonably-priced food served in a modern, clean and friendly environment. Give Urs a call beforehand to let him know you're coming.

http://www.rigi.com/de/rigi-daechli

One can also hike up to the Raten Restaurant in Oberàˆgeri from Rothenthurm.

http://www.raten.ch/

5
Hi Peter

Have a look at http://www.leglerhuette.ch/ its a mix of old with a beautiful new extension. Rooms are good, and the food is very good. They used to do 'specials' with even better food and a hot tub, for birthdays, aniversaries and so on.

Plenty of mountain wanderwegs of different durations, and you can take the cable car up from Kies - Mettmen which is a good start for your trip.

Enjoy the mountains.