Culinary Trail Tour of the Alps

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The Alps have some of the best trail running in the world. They also have some of the best mountain cafés and restaurants!

Service au bar in the Alps. (Photo: Sam Hill)

Over the years, we’ve enjoyed many stops at these great eateries, sampling the local cuisine. Now, we’ve assembled some of our very favorite mountain cafés and restaurants into a unique trip that features great trail running– and great food and drink, too! This Level 1 trip takes in two of the iconic mountain towns of the Alps: Chamonix, in the Savoyard region of France, and Zermatt, in the Swiss-German region of Switzerland. On this tour we’ll go at a slower running pace and take plenty of breaks. Another important feature of our Level 1 tours is that they have a higher ratio of guides to guests.

A Swiss rösti – one of the popular dishes in Zermatt. (Photo: PatitucciPhoto)

Run the Alps will reserve tables at mountain cafés along each day’s route, so tables will be waiting for us when we arrive. We’ll also do our best to make sure that the desserts and lunches for which each café is known will be ready for us!

Trail running above Zermatt, Switzerland. (Photo: PatitucciPhoto)

The trail running will be equally good, too! Chamonix is the undisputed world capital of trail running, with hundreds of miles of single track that wind through the valley under 4,810-meter high Mont Blanc. In Zermatt, we’ll run flowy single-track on each side of the valley, while the iconic Matterhorn looms 2,870 meters higher above the village. Many days include the option to extend or shorten the day, based on personal interests.

Top photos: Milo Zanecchia, Kim Strom, Mark Brightwell, Sam Hill

For unique trail running clothing, visit Run the Alps partners, Insane Inside.