Best 4 or 5-day hut-to-hut hike in July?

Swiss Alpine Club huts are NOT comfortable: most of them have only dormitories and - of course - no showers or ensuite toilets.
For more comfortable huts (often managed like small hotels), you must go to Italy or Austria.

But there are a lot of isolated mountain hotels all obver the Swiss Alps.

Please tell me
in which month you plan to hike (snow and ice limit, opening period of hotels and cableways)
if you like or hate very long and steep ascents (there exists both: strenous and easy itineraries)
if you preferrather +well signmarked trails por rather small paths which you may only find if you know perfectly to read and to interprete maps
and you will get some proposals with
trail descriptions and links to maps
addresses of hotels and restaurants, timetables of cableways and buses
alternatives for weather changes (be aware that weather is always unpredictble in the Alps).

Please tell me
in which month you plan to hike (snow and ice limit, opening period of hotels and cableways)
if you like or hate very long and steep ascents (there exists both: strenous and easy itineraries)
if you preferrather +well signmarked trails por rather small paths which you may only find if you know perfectly to read and to interprete maps
and you will get some proposals with
trail descriptions and links to maps
addresses of hotels and restaurants, timetables of cableways and buses
alternatives for weather changes (be aware that weather is always unpredictble in the Alps).

Oh, thank you so much! We plan to hike in mid-August. We prefer well-marked routes. Thanks!

and I'd say medium tough itineraries. Some strenuous, some mild OK, overall a medium challenging experience. I do have the Kev Reynolds book and it's somewhat good but it doesn't connect the hikes into a chain of hut-to-hut hiking. I am also amenable to doing Northern Italy or Austria -- it doesn't have to be Switzerland if you don't recommend the lodging there. The most important thing to me is the scenery, followed by comfortable lodging. Thanks!

Hello
meckerdv is the one to listen to.!
If you are keen on Zermatt may I suggest these very doable and most amazing hikes.
There is a circle going up to Flualp via the Zunegga express . One night in the sparten but nice Flualp cabane. Then from there do a lovely hike to Grunsee and circle up to the Gornegrat and down via Riffellsee and stay Grunsee "hotel" ( 6-8 hour amazing hike) . Next night in Zermatt-I loved the Petite Hotel on the cheaper end of things-- this would be a short day hike down . Next night at Trift "hotel" up the Trift gorge( more like a basic cabane) half day hike up. End off with the hike on the Holenbalm (spelling?) either return to Zermatt or all the way to Schwarzee ( this extension is a total of 7-8 hours) for a splurge at the hotel there and next day down to Zermatt after a climb to the Hornli hut.

Also for N Italy 5 days in Val Gardena is superb.

SWISS HIKING TRAILS
Please find in the following posts some legs of the more than 60thousand kms long signmarked Swiss hiking trail network that you can combine to either a continuous itinerary or a puzzle of isolated 1 or 2 day hikes between them you will use your car (the road/rail distances between the different legs are short anyway).

CHECK ALL WITH MAP AND TIMETABLE
Switzerland is easy for hikers, because you will find villages, open hotels, bus- and railway stations (with trains and buses every hour) almost everywhere.
You can download free of charge the whole map of Switzerland (with all foot paths) under http://map.geo.admin.ch/?lang=en (scales from 1:3 million up to 1:1000).
In order to get to your map, you first choose the language (top right hand corner), then you click several times in the map at the place you are interested in (for Zermatt, click into the (green) Swiss border between Berne and Turin). You will first see the names of the villages the roads (in yellow) and the railway lines (in red). If you continue to click into the map or at the + symbol at the top right hand corner, the small agricultural roads (black lines) and the hiking paths (interrupted black lines) swill appear. Zomm as much as youcan in order to get the most infos.
Load down http://www.mapplus.ch/ if you want to see all train and bus stops (click at the train icon on left side of the map and then at the Bahnhoefe/Haltestellen OeV icon which will appear below). In this manner you will get the official names of all train, cableway and bus stops
You may also get infos about restaurants and bus stations by using the site http://map.search.ch/. Enter the name of the village you look for and click on traffic, gastronomy etc. If you click upon a symbol in the map, you get the address of the hotel, the bus timetable, etc.
Switzerland has no numerated GR, except the Jura trail from Regensberg (Zurich airport) to Crassier (Geneva airport), with a spcial yellow-red sign, but no number. A few shorter trails got a name too, like Loetschberg-Suedrampe (Hohtenn – Brigerbad), Europaweg (Graechen – Zermatt), Strada Alta (Airolo – Biasca).
Many other trails have neither names nor numbers. They are signmarked in yellow (very easy walk) or red-white (mountain trail). Frequent yellow signposts indicate the different destinations and the average walking time in minutes. In other words: there are hundreds of small legs that you can combine to a long hike.
Timetables (enter the names found with mapplus):
Point to point: http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html
Full timetables of all lines passing through a certain point: http://www.fahrplanfelder.ch/en/welcome/

SAC-HUTS ON HIKING TRAILS

There are only a few trails in Switzerland (much less than 5 per cent) which get really crowded in July/August, mainly
around Engelberg - Truebsee,
around Interlaken (Beatenberg, Schynige Platte - Faulhorn - Grosse Scheidegg, Kleine Scheidegg - Männlichen, Griesalp - Hohturli - Kandersteg, Kandersteg - Gemmi - Leukerbad),
Loetschberg area (Suedrampe Hohtenn - Eggerberg, Kandersteg - Loetschenpass - Lauchernalp - Fafleralp),
Belalp - Riederalp - Fiescheralp,
around Zermatt,
Sentier du Tour du Mont-Blanc (Val Ferret - Col de Balme)
Strada Alta Airolo - Biasca,
around Flims,
around St. Moritz/Pontresina.

I walk in the Swiss mountains every summer and I'm used to meet more sheep, roes, chamois, marmots and squirrels than human beings, even in August.

Hut to hut walking is typical in Germany and Austria (and in some parts of Italy). Many huts there are like small hotels, with twin bed rooms, restaurants, etc. and can even be reached by car or cableway.

The huts of the Swiss Alpine Club are usually more spartanic, primarily used for ascensions of mountain peaks. Therefore, they are seldom situated along long distance hiking trails.
There are some exceptions from this rule, though. The following (spartanic) huts are on hiking trails: Cabane de Chanrion, Cabane de Prafleuri, Cabane des Dix, Cabane Bella Tola, Wildstrubelhuette, Cabane des Violettes, Bluemlisalphuette,Gspalntenhornhuette, Europahutte, Allmagellerhuette, Binntalhuette, Capanna Corno, Capanna Basodino, Capanna Cristallina, Capanna Cadlimo, Capanna Comarina, Capanna Scaletta, Capanna Motterascio, Capanna Terri, Capanna Tamaro, Chamona Kesch, Chamona Grialetsch, Rifugio Saoseo, Chamona Lischana, Camona Tuoi, Silvrettahuette, Seetalhuette, Carschinahuette, Schesaplanahuette, Enderlinhuette, Pizolhuette, Camona da Segnas, Camona Vorab, Muttseehuette, Claridenhuette, Glattalphuette.
There geograhical position is so different however, that a hut to hut hike between them is almost impossibble.

Swiss long distance hiking trails go often from isolated mountain hotel to isolated mountain hotel or to small villages with one or more small hotels:

Example: Verbier – Prafleury hut – Gde Dixence isolated mountain hotel - Dix hut – Arolla (mountain hotels) – La Sage (mountain hotel) – Zinal (mountain hotels) – (isolated) Hotel Weisshorn – Meiden (isolated mountain hotel) - Toerbel (small hotel) – Gspon (small mountain hotel) – Simplon Pass (3 hotels and nothing else) – Heiligkreuz (small hotel) – Binn (mountain hotel) – Binntal hut – Margaroli hut (Italy) – Zum Steg (small hotels) – Bosco/Gurin (small mountain hotel) ……..

If you look for a not too touristy Alpine Valley with good hiking possibilities and some bus and cableway lines in order to facilitate the hikes, check:
Val d'Anniviers: St-Luc, Chandolin, Zinal
Val d'Herens: Les Hauderes, Evolene
Val du Trient: Les Marecottes
Saastal: Saas Grund
In these valleys, you can take a bus resp cableway up to about 2000m of altitude, walk all the day at more or less the same altitude and use another bus or cable car line in order to go down in the evening.
There are beautiful short hikes like Chandolin bus stop - Tignousa cablecar station or 8 hour hikes up to the upper end of the Valley.
Crossing the mountains on well signmarked trails and go down into the next valley is possible too. All valleys have excellent bus connections with the Lausanne - Brig railway line.
Another good choice may be the Engiadina Bassa (Scuol-Tarasp and surroundings), although there will be more people than in the above mentioned valleys of the Canton of Valais/Wallis.

HIKE MUERREN-ZERMATT

There is a good (partly strenous) hiking trail from Muerren/Gimmelwald to Zermatt
Muerren - Rotstock Hut http://www.rotstockhuette.ch/index.php?id=38 - Sefinenfurgge - Gspaltenhorn Hut http://www.gspaltenhornhuette.ch/index.php?lang=en - Bundalp http://www.bundalp.ch/ - Bluemlisalp Hut http://www.bluemlisalphuette.com/ - Lake Oeschinen chair lift - Kandersteg http://www.kandertal.travel/en/erlebnisse/hiking/routen - Sunnbuehl cableway - Schwarenbach http://www.schwarenbach.ch/en.html - Gemmi Pass http://www.gemmi.ch/en/ - Leukerbad http://www.leukerbad.ch/en/welcome.cfm? - Torrentalp cableway http://www.restaurant-briand.ch/68/English.html - Guttet (small mountain hotel http://www.seniorenoase.ch/) - Erschmatt - Bratsch - Gampel http://www.weibil.ch/feriae/schlafu/bnb/ - Eischoll cableway - Unterbaech cableway - Buerchen http://www.buerchen-unterbaech.ch/infos/ferienorte - Moosalp bus stop https://plus.google.com/photos/116066707853445235821/albums/5752149969873589313 - Schalb cableway - Embd cableway http://www.embd.ch/wandern.html - Kalpetran railway station - Graechen http://www.graechen.ch/sites/index.php/en/summer/mountain-huts - Gasenried bus stop http://www.riederstuebli.ch/images/docu0002.jpg - Europa Hut http://www.zermatt.ch/en/page.cfm/your_stay/accommodation/mountain_cabins - Taeschalp http://www.zermatt.ch/en/page.cfm/your_stay/accommodation/mountain_cabins - Sunnegga cablecar http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/restaurant-sunnegga-2288m.html - Zermatt
The direct trail between Europahuette and Zermatt will probably remain interrupted because of serious earth slides due to the greenhouse effect (smelting permafrost). One has therefore to make the detour via the villages of Randa and Taesch, both with hotels bookable via www.bookng.com.