What is a rifugio, and how do you plan a hut-to-hut hike?

There are few better ways to spend a summer evening than at a rifugio. You arrive dusty and pleased with yourself, swap your boots for hut slippers, and sit on a terrace with something cold while the light turns pink on the peaks. Then someone brings polenta. Walking from one rifugio to the next for a few days is one of Europe's great travel experiences, and it is more accessible than it sounds.

What a rifugio is

The Treccani dictionary defines a rifugio alpino as a building in the mountains, sited out of the way of avalanches, rockfall and wind, and equipped to give mountaineers and walkers temporary shelter and lodging. In practice, many rifugi range from simple stone huts to rather lovely mountain inns with terraces and wine lists. Some belong to the Club Alpino Italiano (CAI), including, according to Wikipedia, both the Margherita Hut, the highest Alpine hut, and the Rifugio Mario Premuda in Trieste, the lowest; others are run privately.

What you usually find:

• Food and drink all day for passing walkers, often hearty regional cooking.
• Dormitories, sometimes with bunk rooms, sometimes small private rooms.
• Half board (mezza pensione): bed, dinner and breakfast, usually the simplest option.
• Washrooms that range from fine to bracing. Showers may be limited or cost extra.
• A season. Many staffed rifugi open only for part of the year, so check opening dates before you plan. A bivacco is a basic fixed shelter, not a hotel.

Booking

• Book ahead, especially in July and August and at weekends. Many huts take bookings by phone, email or online.
• Tell the hut if you change plans or will be late. Huts plan meals and beds around bookings, and an unexplained no-show can worry staff about a walker who has not arrived.
• Ask about member rates. If you belong to an alpine club, ask the hut whether a members' price applies.
• Bring cash as a backup; card machines and mountain signal do not always cooperate.

Hut etiquette

• Boots off at the door. Most huts have a boot room and slippers or hut shoes; many walkers bring light ones.
• Bring a sleeping-bag liner (sacco lenzuolo). Many huts provide blankets and ask you to sleep in your own liner; check when you book.
• Quiet hours. Dorm life runs early: lights out early, alarms early. Pack your bag the night before so you are not rustling at dawn.
• Take your rubbish down with you, since everything at the hut is carried or flown up.
• Be patient. Staff are feeding a full house at altitude with a small team.

Planning a hut-to-hut route

1. Choose a well-known, waymarked route for your first trip, such as one of the classic Dolomite Alte Vie or a shorter loop. Our guide to a first Dolomites hike is a good start.
2. Plan stages you can walk comfortably, with time for lunch, photos and bad weather. Mountain hours, not flat kilometres, matter.
3. Check for difficult sections. Some routes include exposed paths or via ferrata; know what you are signing up for.
4. Book every night, and note the hut phone numbers.
5. Plan exits: where can you drop to the valley if the weather turns or someone is tired?
6. Pack light: layers, waterproofs, hat and gloves even in summer, sun protection, map, headtorch, liner, a small first-aid kit and snacks. Our guide to carrying a backpack helps.

Safety in the mountains

Check the weather every morning, start early to avoid afternoon storms, and turn back if conditions change. Tell someone your route. In an emergency in Italy, the Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico (CNSAS) advises calling 118 and asking for mountain rescue, or 112 where it is active, and describing your location as precisely as you can. Hut staff know their mountains; ask them about the next day's route and follow their advice.