Half-day hikes in the Alps, four hours or less

Fifteen hikes of four hours or less, from the Rochers de Naye above Montreux to the Piani Resinelli, Lago Vago and the Acquafraggia waterfalls.

Not every day in the mountains begins at dawn, and not every one has to end at sunset. Here we have gathered the hikes that take no more than four hours of walking, breaks excluded: enough to set off after breakfast and be back for lunch, to fit an outing into a trip that is mostly about something else, or to leave a generous margin when the forecast promises afternoon storms. Four hours do not necessarily mean little climbing, though, and several of these hikes gain more than 600 metres in a short distance.

The shortest are Cima di Morissolo above Lake Maggiore and Alpe Giumello above Lake Como, an hour and a half each, followed by the protected path on Monte Barro, Rifugio Cristina in Valmalenco and the igloo bivouac on Monte Due Mani. Around the three-hour mark are some Lombard classics: the Piani Resinelli to Rifugio Rosalba, the Monte San Primo loop, the Acquafraggia waterfalls with Savogno and Dasile, the balconies of Daloo and Lagunc above the Valchiavenna and Lago Vago near Livigno. Right at the four-hour limit are the Rochers de Naye above Montreux, the balcony path from Silvaplana to the Maloja Pass and the Lago Bianco loop on the Pian dei Cavalli, which with 830 metres of ascent is the most demanding of the group.

Good to know

The times we give are actual walking times, without stops, and like all estimates they should be read with some flexibility. The German Alpine Club, DAV, suggests a useful rule of thumb for getting an idea before you set off: in one hour an average hiker climbs about 300 metres, descends 500 or covers 4 kilometres on the flat; you work out the time for distance and the time for height separately, halve the smaller figure and add it to the larger. Applied to a stretch of 6 kilometres with 500 metres of ascent, the rule gives about two and a half hours, which is a good way to check whether a route really fits into the morning you have.

A half day also has a safety advantage. The Sicuri in Montagna campaign, coordinated by the Italian mountain rescue service with the Italian Alpine Club, advises reading the local weather bulletins and setting off early, because in summer thunderstorms form more often in the afternoon: a three-hour hike started early is usually over before the sky changes its mind.