How hut-to-hut booking works

Records: Tour du Mont Blanc (France, three-country walk), GR20 (France / Corsica), Alta Via 1 (Italy), Laugavegur (Iceland). Overnight fees on those records are lodging logistics, not a trail walking permit.

The booking-model spectrum

Tour du Mont Blanc — association portal

Semi-central. Association member huts, rooms, and hotels are bookable through the Autour du Mont Blanc portal. The official TMB page (checked 2026-08-24) does not state a walking permit; overnight booking is logistics. Huts that are not association members are contacted directly — the portal is not the entire corridor.autourdumontblanc.com · 2026-08-24montourdumontblanc.com · 2026-08-24

GR20 — park system

PNRC refuge beds, bat-flancs, and tent pitches are booked online at the park reservation system. No walking permit is stated on the PNRC GR20 page (checked 2026-08-24). Wild camping is prohibited; camping only next to refuges or on marked bivouac areas.pnr.corsica · 2026-08-24pnr-resa.corsica · 2026-08-24

Alta Via 1 — no central authority

Decentralised. This record left the permit field Unverified because no central booking or walking-permit authority was found. Rifugi (CAI and private) are booked one by one; deposits and cash-on-arrival practice are a field logistics note, not a tariff this desk invents. There is no AV1 portal on this record, and this page does not invent one.

Laugavegur — hut club

FÍ describes hut and campsite bookings, including tent spots at designated sites. The walking-permit field stays Unverified: FÍ covers overnight booking, not a trail permit (checked 2026-08-24).fi.is · 2026-08-24fi.is · 2026-08-24

Opening windows

Season strings below are pulled live from each record. Book early for high-demand sectors — a logistics note, not a sell-out statistic this desk measured.

• GR20: Refuge season 16 May–4 Oct 2026; practical late Jun–Sep
• Alta Via 1: Mid-Jun–late Sep (huts open, snow clear)
• Tour du Mont Blanc: Mid-Jun–mid-Sep (refuges progressive)
• Laugavegur: Huts open ~25 Jun–15 Sep (snow/road dependent)

Camping and bivouac

GR20: Wild camping is prohibited; camping only next to refuges or on marked bivouac areas (municipal orders on the same PNRC page, checked 2026-08-24).

Tour du Mont Blanc: Swiss rockfall diversion: the path between Prayon and Branche (Treutsebo) is rerouted from 11 July 2026; the old route is closed. Camping and bivouacking are prohibited in that area (https://www.autourdumontblanc.com/en/, checked 2026-08-24). That sentence is the Swiss diversion area on the record, not a trail-wide camping statute.

Laugavegur: FÍ hut and campsite bookings include tent spots — designated overnighting, not an unsourced wild-camp permission.fi.is · 2026-08-24fi.is · 2026-08-24

Alta Via 1: this record does not state a trail-wide wild-camp rule. Overnighting on the published itinerary is the rifugio system.

Grades, not a ranking

Each line is the record’s grade plus a sourced hazard. No “hardest.”

• GR20: PNRC: one of Europe's most difficult; N très technique · SAC T2–T4 (mapped — no official SAC grade) · YDS 1 The north (Calenzana–Vizzavona) is the hard end: PNRC describes those stages as very technical, with steep, narrow, and slippery ground, rock slabs with handrails on alpine variants, scree, and in places rappel descents; hands may be needed from stage 1. This is scramble terrain, not glacier or T5/T6 climbing (https://www.pnr.corsica/fr/randonnees-decouverte/gr-20-fra-li-monti, checked 2026-08-24).
• Alta Via 1: Cicerone/CAI: Grade 2 / E (optional Marmol VF = EEA) · SAC T2–T3 (mapped — no official SAC grade) · YDS 1 The standard AV1 itinerary does not require via ferrata gear. The optional Via Ferrata Marmol finish to Rifugio 7° Alpini does; hikers without that kit can take the walking descent to La Stanga/La Pissa. Some optional extensions and the Lagazuoi Tunnels descent have iron cables on exposed ground (same page, checked 2026-08-24).
• Tour du Mont Blanc: Standard TMB non-technical; high variants harder · SAC T2–T3 (mapped — no official SAC grade) · YDS 1 Steep cols and long climbs; Cicerone treats this as a summer-only route because of high passes, with some near-vertical ladders that have walking alternatives. Early-season snow can linger. The standard loop is non-technical walking, not a glacier route (https://www.cicerone.co.uk/trekking-the-tour-du-mont-blanc, checked 2026-08-24).
• Laugavegur: FÍ: moderate–challenging (no official SAC) · SAC T2 (mapped — no official SAC grade) · YDS 1 Unbridged river fords: FÍ says at least three rivers must be waded and can rise quickly after rain (https://www.fi.is/en/hiking-trails/trails/laugavegur, checked 2026-08-24).

Also in this desk: Permit & season calendar · How long is the trail?.

Questions