15 hikes

Hikes in the Alps in May

May hikes before the high huts open: Monte Grona and Bregagno above Lake Como, the Boletto and Bolettone ridges, Valchiavenna and Lago di Cama.

May is the transitional month par excellence: the Prealps are in full spring, with long days and flowering meadows, while above two thousand metres the paths are often still under snow and most high mountain huts have yet to open. That is why our list stays anchored to the lakes and the lower valleys, and it is not a fallback: these are hikes that turn hot and sticky in high summer and are at their best right now. The closer you get to June, the more you can push the altitude, always checking that year's snow.

At the top we put the grassy ridge between Monte Grona and Monte Bregagno, six hours face to face with Lake Como, and the Monte San Primo loop with the Rifugio Martina. The Boletto and Bolettone loop above Albavilla, fifteen kilometres of ridges between plain and lake, and Monte Moregallo above Valmadrera make full days for trained legs. Further north, Valchiavenna offers the Tracciolino, the Cardinello and the Acquafraggia waterfalls, while in Switzerland Lago di Cama becomes a more reliable destination in May than in April.

Good to know

Tradition has mountain huts opening around 20 June and closing around 20 September, but many hut keepers now start earlier: in Trentino, for instance, several huts open between late May and mid June, and some stay open almost all year. In May, then, the rule is to phone ahead, because the opening depends on snow on the access path as much as on the keeper's calendar.

It is also the time when herds begin to move up to the summer pastures, a seasonal movement as old as the paths we walk: transhumance was added to UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage in 2019, on a joint nomination by Italy, Austria and Greece. Meeting a herd on a narrow mule track is normal; the rule is to give it room, never to walk between mothers and calves, and to keep your dog on a lead.