Gspon · Switzerland · Europe
Simplon Pass to Saas Fee: no room at the inn in Gspon
Two days on the Alpine Passes Trail – and what to do when every bed in Gspon is taken.
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simplon-pass-saas-fee
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Simplon Pass to Saas Fee: no room at the inn in Gspon
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inspire
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Switzerland & the Alps
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switzerland
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alpine passes trail simplon pass saas fee
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Two days on the Alpine Passes Trail from Simplon Pass to Saas Fee, and what happens when every bed in Gspon is booked out.
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Simplon Pass to Saas Fee: no room at the inn in Gspon
The Alpine Passes Trail runs the length of Switzerland in stages, and stage 19 and 20 pick up at Simplon Pass, on the border with Italy, and end two days later in Saas Fee.
We caught an early train out of Zurich, on time as always, and had a late breakfast at the restaurant right on the pass before starting to walk. The path to Gspon is easy to follow and the views open up fast: still-snowy peaks, sheep grazing closer to the village, full summer sun. That sun turned into a problem by midday. I burned through water faster than planned and was glad I had packed sunscreen. We stopped for lunch by a stream, and I slipped on the wet rocks, walked away with a bruised hand and nothing worse.
We reached Gspon just before 6pm, tired and ready to stop. The plan was Hotel Alpenblick. Fully booked. No other rooms in the village.
The fix was the gondola, still running down to Stalden. We booked a random hotel there instead of cancelling the second day, and the next morning rode the same gondola back up to Gspon to pick up exactly where we had stopped.
Day two was cloudy, which after a full day of sun felt like relief rather than disappointment. As we got close to Saas Fee we could hear zip-liners overhead. Two days in, legs done, that one is staying on the list for next time. Saas Fee itself was full of weekend hikers, cozy and busy in the way mountain towns get on a Saturday.
We had nothing left. Straight onto a bus back to Zurich.
The lesson that stuck: on a trail with limited beds, always have a plan B that does not involve giving up the day.
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