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Any suggestions, please?
Have been looking at Mallorca and Tenerife but once you start adding in the airline charges for hold luggage and bikes, prices start to climb pretty high. There'll be 4 of us, so driving would slash the cost right down compared to 4 people flying.
Thanks-in-advance.
The roc d'azur is driveable in a day in october on the south coast of france, especially if you use the tunnel and share the driving:
[url= https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Calais,+France/Fr%C3%A9jus,+France/ @47.08884,-0.1089449,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x47dc3f75d7f1e363:0xacbed9e08cd279f4!2m2!1d1.858686!2d50.95129!1m5!1m1!1s0x12ce983498604e77:0x40819a5fd8fccf0!2m2!1d6.737034!2d43.433152!3e0]calais to frejus[/url]
What about Switzerland? Verbier? Should still be warm(ish) in Oct, quite a bit less driving too.
There'll be 4 of us, so driving would slash the cost right down compared to 4 people flying.
Would driving really cut the costs that much?
Flights will be approx £200 per person with bikes, so £800 total.
I'm guessing you'll need two cars to take 4 people + 4 bikes. Its about 1000 miles to south of france, so there and back = 2000 miles , at 40mpg thats 50 gallons of fuel per car, so 100 gallons in total = ~£500 worth of petrol (@£1.1 per litre), plus £100 per car of tolls takes the total to £700, plus a channel tunnel crossing per car of £100 each equals £900 total.
So depending on the fuel economy of the car and exctly where in the uk you are starting from, it will be marginal as to whether its cheaper or more expensive than flying, whats certain is that it will be more hassle and take loads longer.
I'd just fly if I were you.
You wouldn't need 2 cars! One reasonable sized car is plenty big enough. We did 8 people in 2 cars, 5 bikes(!) on a Touran and 3 on a Golf. Golf would have taken another bike with a bit of manouvering. Everything for a weeks riding was in the boot(s), nothing in the cabin so everyone was comfortable. Don't forget you can use clubcard tokens (£10 = £30) on the tunnel.
[i]You wouldn't need 2 cars! One reasonable sized car is plenty big enough. We did 8 people in 2 cars, 5 bikes(!) on a Touran and 3 on a Golf. Golf would have taken another bike with a bit of manouvering. Everything for a weeks riding was in the boot(s), nothing in the cabin so everyone was comfortable.[/i]
Eh, I can barely get a w/e's worth of luggage for my wife in large boot, how little did you take to get 4 people's worth of luggage in a Golf boot?
Just to add we'll have a van to use, and looking at 4-5 people going
The Alps weather forecast looks a bit rubbish, infact the weather in Scotland looks better, if slightly colder.
how little did you take to get 4 people's worth of luggage in a Golf boot?
Golf estate - boot was bigger than my current Passat! But then again I've just had 10 days in Spain with the family (5 of us, 3 kids 6 and under), we had one suitcase and one carry on bag between us. Pack light! 🙂
I seem to have gone ! crazy, sorry about that 🙂
Finale Ligure.
Perfect time of year for there.
Often get really nice autumn T-Shirt weather in the Vosges Mnts, The Jura, The Black Forest, French Massif Central, Vercours etc. All a relatively easy day drive from UK. All with plenty of riding.
Disclaimer: As with all hilly areas there is always a risk of bad weather and that increases the further into Oct-Nov you get.
If you want proper warm then look at price of ferries to Northern Spain and ride Pyrennees or Picos.
I have been thinking about the Portsmouth - Bilbao ferry for a bit of Autumn heat....looks like the Ferry is ca £400 in Sept ca £300 in Oct but that's only for 1car & 2 passengers
Usually takes me 2 tanks of fuel to get to my sisters in the pyrenees from Leeds, so thats about £150. Tolls are about £50 each way and tunnel crossings can be had for £75ish so about £550-£600 return will get you to SoF or spain.
Not sure whether lifts are still open in the pyrenees in Oct but the weather can still be good into Nov. Obviously the above disclaimer is still valid though.
Roc D'Azur was great weather last year
I guess many of the races are now full but some will have places free & of course the riding is great anyway
In addition you get a great free MTB expo 🙂
As for costs, I benchmark £400 to get from Cardiff to Morzine and Back again which includes, diesel, ferry and tolls, it might be as low as £350 now that the £ is stronger and diesel a little cheaper. Veriber would be about the same I guess.
Finale Ligure. is about 3 hours on top of Morzine so 16 hours door to door for me and maybe an extra £100 tops, that's where I'd go.
I had a quick look at Ferries to Santander as this is something I'd fancy doing in Oct, but it's £600 + and take 24 hours + you might as well fly, I'd rather crawl than spend 24 hours on a bloody ferry.
Yep - looking at the Ferry & stuff; driving to Morzine is much more feasible.
Just checked and it is only about 100 km further than Morzine (650 miles instead of 580 from the Channel) to go down to the Italian Lakes (Como & Maggiore) and not much further then to Lake Garda. Fantastic riding there and will still be really nice weather through October.
Sorry to jump in, can anyone provide any more info on Morzine please? Could I take the family here including our nearly r year old? Or is it simply more technical oriented trails?
That should have said nearly 4 year old..