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There's half a dozen of us and we want to go away on a biking trip for a few days. We usually ride on Cannock Chase on leg-powered full sus bikes but we also go round on eBikes and gravel bikes too, for a change. A couple of times a year we head to Antur Stiniog or or Bike Park Wales for a day's winch & plummet.
We'd like to go away for a few days in Europe. Somebody mentioned Morzine (knowing nothing about it) and I responded with a suggestion that Leogang offered a range of lift-based options from full-on downhill & bike park to some great all-day cross country routes and that got people interested.
So I'm thinking of something a bit structured that will allow us to stay somewhere nice-ish (some of them are used to a level of refinement, will probably travel business class but don't mind seeing what life is like for us plebs) will offer some guided rides with a variety of terrains, with good bike hire and can cater for various levels of fitness.
The two that spring to mind immediately (even though I've never had any direct contact) are Switchbacks in Sierra Nevada and Basque MTB.
But before I get carried away and start wasting their time I'd like other opinions and recommendations. So that's where you lot come in...
Leogang/Saalbach/Hinterglemm/Kaprun is great for DH and enduro, not really a guided ride type place.
Having said that I’ve got a group of 6 riders coming in late June of very mixed abilities and have a decent plan for 4 days which will miss the full on DH and jump lines.
It depends on abilities, if they’re good riders there’s plenty for a week, if not they might struggle to find enough stuff within their comfort zone.
I'm surprised at that - we came a few years ago, had one day downhill and another where we hired a couple of hardtails, went up on the lift again and did a lovely tour around without any particularly tricky bits.
Honestly if you're unfamiliar with the Alps then Morzine is the perfect place to start. It's easy to get to, full of bars, restaurants, bike shops, supermarkets and all kinds of accommodation from self catering bedsits to luxury chalets.
Your lift pass gives you access to a vast riding area and if the marked trails are too tame for you there are endless opportunities for terrifying off-piste adventures.
I've been there about a dozen times and always find something new.
Lots of people on here criticise it because it's the obvious choice but as we all know, STW is home to unique individuals with refined tastes and the PDS is too common for them.
Not been to Morzine in about 20 years, but my impression is that its got increasingly bikeparky - nowt wrong with that if its your cuppa, but its not mine.
Les Arcs/Tarentaise is pretty good. A passable network of waymarked trails to get you around the place, then the good stuff is on Trailforks. Try The Goatshed for simple accommodation and great food. Or the White Room if you want something more guided and backcountryish.
If your budget is bigger and you want more adventurous locations - try Julia @ Endlesstrails. There's a bunch of point to point trips, but also guided holidays based from a single hotel - but in off-the-beaten-track areas. The Queyras riding, for example is epic. Not super technical (unless you want it to be!), but beautiful barely used trails through stunning landscape where you won't see anyone else all day.
If you're looking for guiding I can highly recommend Sam at Bike village. Great variety of trails and the accommodation is lovely.
+1 for Sam at Bike Village. I’ve been several times and it’s always ace. Most consistently good food & accomodation of any bike holiday I’ve been on.
As mentioned, Morzine is the place to start. Huge linked up area with riding for all abilities. Easy to tailor a day to everyone. Extra laps, hard/easy, steep/flowy. Options for coffee stops. Easy to get back to town. The main focus is bike park riding but there really is a bit of everything.
Another +1 for Bike Village. Been twice and both times have been the mountain biking high points of my life! Beautiful and brilliant selection of trails, off the beaten track, great guides, incredible food and accommodation. Do it - you will love it. I'd go back in a heartbeat.
https://www.bikevillage.co.uk/
I'll add another option to the list - Aosta in Italy. Huge variety of trails from bikepark stuff all the way through to exposed mountain pass type stuff and amazing technical singletrack through the woods. Aosta itself is a dead nice place to stay with a huge range of places to eat and drink. If you're staying in the town centre, the lift station is a 5 minute pedal.
Aosta Valley Freeride do airport pickup/drop-off, guiding as well as running a great bike shop/workshop/bar 5 minutes ride from the town centre - a perfect place to finish rides with a cold pint.
Mates went a few years ago and went back (with me) last year and there wasn't really much of a discussion about where to go this year it was that good... Flights for us from Manchester were dirt cheap via Easyjet - fly into Geneva for a transfer through the Mont Blanc tunnel into Italy and then fly home from Milan after 4 days/nights there.
Getting to Leogang would be a bit of a schlep for a short break, especially compared with the French Alps resorts mentioned above. Maybe you need to decide if you want/need a guide for 3 days? I'd suggest you dont if you go to Morzine, but if you're not familiar with those other areas, then you might do for Les Arcs if you want to see the best of the off piste. If your friends wanted some luxury, then you can get some pretty classy stuff in Verbier for not too many CHFs in the Summer. Also fairly easy to get to from Geneva.
When are you going? That might affect your choice of Alps v Spain.
Basque MTB is definitely a guided location. If you were interested in the Pyrenees , you might want to check out Singletrack Safari for a mix of bike park and guided routes.
Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I'll share them with the chaps and try to get something organised.
Bunch of us try to have a trip every year, so experienced several operators;
Bike Village - outstanding, big mountain riding, some uplift, bit of hike-a-bike lots of pedalling
Basquemtb - also outstanding, more uplift, more uplift but still significant pedalling, but less than BV
OTP, (out the park) Bansko, Bulgaria, last years trip, outstanding, vgvfm, lots of uplift, probably more pedalling than basque, but less than BV
Lake Garda/ dolomites with Rebben’s, (this one was a while ago now, probably 15 years or so, but) outstanding riding, less uplift, more pedalling, good vfm
bike verbier are defunct now I think, but there are other operators in the area, as you’d expect, big mountain riding, some uplift but lots of pedalling.
tour de Mont Blanc, I did it with mbmb who are now defunct, but again, other operators do the trip, some uplift, but a lot of pedalling/ hikeabike, great trip! Chamonix area generally brilliant riding generally.
You’ll see there’s a theme with my experience of operators, haven’t had a bad trip tbh, they’ve all been good; food, accommodation, guiding etc.
IME moist companies will tailor trips to what people want, we like the big mountain/ back country stuff mainly, rather than lots of uplifted bike park stuff.
Madeira looks good, as does Molini in Italy.
Morzine is, as others have said, excellent place to ride, and you don't really need guides so much.
As long as you know what you want ( ie more uplift or less) you’ll have a great time
let us all know how you get on!
Morzine is always a good choice for a first Europe trip for all the reasons listed above. You donmt really need a guide all week, but it can always be worth getting one for a day or two to show you some secret trails
Morzine is popular for good reason and you'll find accomodation options for all budgets. However if unless DH / bike park is your priority I think Madeira could tick more boxes.
You should be able to get a minibus to yourselves and riding can be very much tailored to the group. Variety of trails is excellent and it's got a much longer season than the Alps.
What kind of riding do you want from the trip?
Morzine and the PdS is great for self-guided downhill/bikeparky stuff, but possibly more limited for trail riding (I've not been there for about 12 years though).
As mentioned by several posters above, Les Arcs area is one of the best for more "natural" riding - but still with loads of lifts. Huge trail network.
There are tons of other spots in the Alps and elsewhere with amazing riding, but it sounds like your crew might be best with a guiding and accommodation set-up like White Room.
YouTube is almost all you need for checking out some zones. Don't know who this lad is but he's been all over the place and there's lots of stuff away from the marked trails which to be honest can be boring after a few days.
I'd give my left nut to be on the Pleney this weekend.
Has anyone mentioned Sam at Bike Village yet? 😎
Been out with them several times and always had a blast.
Been and go to quite a few other destinations but always go back to visit them every year.
Brilliant setup with Serge and Kerry being outstanding hosts.
Food is fantastic, accommodation is brilliant, guiding is up there with the best we've ever had (Including the mighty Bike Verbier)
and Sam is just such a nice guy. Huge knowledge of a vast area of the whole of the Alps not just the local valley.
They'll split groups no problem if different folks want different stuff and I've even had one to one guiding from them.
We're going out again this year for a week from their base then a second week with Sam guiding us in Aosta.
I can't wait to get back there.