Multiday hiking near Geneva

Transportation, Travel and Trips
1
Hey there

I am looking to do a 2-3 day hike in Switzerland with a friend, preferably near Geneva (Switzerland or France). Probably in March time, and we want to reach a summit. I have a bit of experience with ice axe/crampons but my friend doesn't, so we want something not too technical. We will be wildcamping responsibly and discreetly, with the permission of landowners if we see them to ask.

Does anyone have any tips on circular routes with public transport from Geneva? So far my research has only returned short hikes of no longer than one day.

Any tips gratefully received. Thanks for reading

2
With the Swiss transportation system the hiker's paradise of the Valais is close enough.

The Valais tourist office has a brochure on hiking tours , most (probably all; I have not looked at it recently) are multi-day.

An excellent book is Kev Reynolds' Walking in the Valais. A new fourth edition is expected by mid-April; the third edition is out of print but still available in various eBook formats. In addition to lots of day hikes it has a short section on multi-day tours.

Back to the Swiss transportation system: If a tour seems attractive but appears to require more time than you have check your maps; it is almost certainly possible to leave at at any stage. Since you will be using public transportation there is no need for the route to be circular

3
Hello RetiredInNH

Thank you very much for your reply, much appreciated. We are aiming to do an independent hike, rather than an organised tour, but the brochure you attached certainly gives me some ideas on routes and areas. And you're right, I'm sure we can do a part of one of the routes as they are all longer than we have.

Thanks again :-)

4
Have a look at www.wanderland.ch/en . Loads of ideas, plus a zoomable and printable map showing all the official, waymarked hiking paths.

March is not ideal though... bring snowshoes if you want to do any summits.

5
Thanks very much stephen_NE that's a useful website, I'll have a look through it to get some ideas.

6
There are parts of Tour de Grand Combins and TMB near St Bernard pass which are really beautiful. Its not exactly near Geneva, but Swiss public transport makes it easy place to get to.

wanderland.ch definitely has all sorts of hikes, but geared towards non-technical ones.

7
make a couple of calls to some of the local sports/hiking shops and tell them what you want. they do these things all the time and know exactly what u are looking for.