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Looking to get away from the winter for 3 months. Single, no kids to worry about. (I do have family & kids, but travelling on my own).
Spend a lot of time in Canaries and France so looking for somewhere different.
Looked at AirBnB but prices are high. Happy to fly out before Xmas. Road and gravel riding is important. Will be taking my gravel bike. I will be working for some of the time so decent internet is important. I work for a large global company, I’m based out of New York but can pretty much work from anywhere (yeah I know tax concerns…not fully legal etc…but been doing this for about a decade now with no issues). Have done a lot of Caribbean and South / Central America so fancy Europe, also close to family should I need to get back.
1 bedroom flat is ok, as long as there is work space. Not overly bothered about kitchen equipment, but needs the basics.
Marbella / P.Banus and Alicante have piqued my interest but open to other areas. Any other suggestions? Not expecting hot weather, just comfortable riding weather. Definitely no where cold or too wet. Has to be fairly busy, shops and restaurants open etc. but again, I’m realistic and understand it’s out of season.
Budget, probably about £1600 with all bills if possible…
Cyprus. Specifically the west side. Loads of gravel, and some nice road cycling. Decent winter climate. My dad lives in the hills above Paphos…he’d be more than happy to show you some 50-75k gravel loops. Lots of hills though!
FYI. As me and the mrs have been looking I found this, maybe not what you want
Malaga. nice big town, big hills on the doorstep. ace food everywhere. cheap lodgings to be had right in the town.
and a stonking craft beer place.
Cyprus is a good call. Much cheaper than Spain.
@paino, any idea what Universal area of Paphos is like? Distance to the main part of town etc?
A good few of the road / gravel / bike folk I follow o YouTube seem to reside for the winter in Girona. Seems a huge cycling and expat sports folk place.
@w00dster Only been to Paphos centre twice in the last few years. It’s not a particularly touristy location, they generally stay on some of the larger hotel complexes further north towards Coral Bay or south of the town. There’s a lovely old town with some ace local cafes and a small waterfront marina with bars/restaurants etc.
It’s only a relatively small town, you could get from the city centre to the airport in 20 mins, into the hills in 15 (by car).
Whilst there’s lots of small quiet roads, they’re very badly maintained meaning most folk stick to the main roads and the lack of maintenance leads them to become gravel tracks. The main drags are pretty unappealing and industrial. Up in the hills the majority of ROW are farm tracks…but they are everywhere! Not sure if it’s still running but there’s an annual bike race from PaPhos up into the Trodos hills and on to Mount Olympia. That said, there doesn’t seem to be a big cycling community so there’s not much in the way of bike repair/maintenance. Most of my dad’s maintenance skills require imported parts from CRC!
Apart from cycling, there’s a good running club in Paphos (mostly expats) and the sea/beaches up around Coral Bay are clean and warm all year for swimming.
One thing I really like is the complete lack of fast food style restaurants…instead the locals use the 24hour bakeries that are all over the place.
Just a quick FYI, in case you didn't know.
Cyprus isn't subject to the 90 day rule (on the off chance you fancy staying a bit longer)
Thanks Andy. I thought it still was subject to the 90 days, though not Schengen I was under the impression UK visitors could only stay for 90 days without needing a 180 day Visa?
I don’t want to get a visa as I’d need to get a letter from my employer, which I definitely don’t want to do.
Andy, I think you may have misunderstood the rules. As Cyprus is not in the Schengen area any time spent in Schengen countries does not count towards the 90 day total but the limit is still 90 days.
From the gov.uk website;
Cyprus is not part of the Schengen area, Visits to Cyprus do not count towards your 90-day visa-free limit in the Schengen area.
Visits to other EU or Schengen countries do not count towards your 90-day visa-free limit in Cyprus.
You can travel to Cyprus for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. This applies if you travel as a tourist, to visit for family or friends, to attend business meetings, cultural or sports events, or for short-term studies or training.
Thanks doomanic, that’s my understanding as well. I can stay in Cyprus for a maximum of 90 days, staying any longer would require me to get a visa.
But a good bonus is that it doesn’t hinder my travel to Schengen countries afterwards (gf and family live in France so it means I can visit them).
We’ve got a house in the hills above Episkopi and the roads (and drivers) around it are mostly abysmal; battered tarmac and equally battered pick ups being driven by drunk old farmers. There are a few gems, like the climb from Pissouri to Ayios Nicolaos which is a snaking ribbon of fresh tarmac with some amazing views.
Middlesborough is nice at this time of year.
Cheap too.
I’ve got a mate who lives near Larnaca, he loved it so much he retired early there. He says the cycling is excellent.
Middlesborough is nice at this time of year.
Cheap too.
You may mock but from the South side of town there is a network of quiet lanes that make for excellent road cycling and lead onto the North York Moors where there is great gravel riding.
Unfortunately the weather is a bit cold and grey in winter but generally much less wet than West of the Pennines.
Probably better as a summer venue when Cyprus gets too hot 😉
Sicily
Somewhere in southern Italy? India or NZ??
Large pile of dry leaves pack them into a sheltered space and hibernate.
It works for hedgehogs.
I would be looking at Crete
Curve ball and not been there myself, but I was talking to someone recently who had spent some time in Albania and was singing its' praises very highly. might be worth some research?
Grand Canaria ? Warm, roads, gravel, MTB.
New Mexico, given you have US residence
Sagres in southern Portugal? We were there a few years back in January and it was great. We flew in with kayaks for some surfing but some of the group hired bikes. Lots of costal roads, beaches, good food etc.
Following this thread since I’m seeki be the same, except ideally in Italy for work reasons. I had a recommendation of the west coast of Puglia from an Italian I met last night in NZ. Which I guess means the west side of the pointy bit. Otherwise, I happily stay in Syracuse or Sardinia for three months. I’m guessing the Apennines around Perugia are pretty wintry in winter.
Andy, I think you may have misunderstood the rules. As Cyprus is not in the Schengen area any time spent in Schengen countries does not count towards the 90 day total but the limit is still 90 days.
This Brexit/Schengen/EU shit-show just keeps on giving 👍
I'd vote for Malaga or Granada. Spent our winter there last year. Lot's to do and see. Marbella is so tacky and full of fat Brits.
Curve ball and not been there myself, but I was talking to someone recently who had spent some time in Albania and was singing its’ praises very highly. might be worth some research?
I was in Tirana last month and will be back over there a few times next year. Albania is a place that, imho, will be on the up as people discover it but at present it is still quite under-developed. Away from Tirana it is quite rudimentary. It will be cheap and the food and restaurants in Tirana were quite good.
Pulsi Beratit was quite an acceptable local white wine, Albanian and Macedonian home made, over-proof raki should be avoided at all costs!
The negatives, there are shops but there’s very very little worth buying (that was on the official advise from the embassy!) and that would translate to bike spares and kit as well.
No way would I road cycle there and even driving requires a completely different mind set - they are appalling drivers. However friends toured through it on bikes and said it was ok.
The people seemed very friendly and Tirana is safer than London.
I rarely become envious of others... but right now... lol!
Sorry, no suggestions, although I thoroughly enjoyed spending a Summer month in Croatia 14 year's ago.
Have a great Winter.
I think I am the albania-phile to which welshfarmer refers.
No way would I road cycle there and even driving requires a completely different mind set – they are appalling drivers. However friends toured through it on bikes and said it was ok.
That's certainly not my experience we bike toured for three weeks with the kids and loved it.
That said I'm not sure it's the venue for relaxing live work winter sun. I think the perpetual power cuts etc would soon get tiring
That’s certainly not my experience we bike toured for three weeks with the kids and loved it.
I think Tirana might be an exception, it was like wacky races! Lots of quite mad overtaking, best being an army truck overtaking a car on a blind bend going down a hill - even the Albanian guy we were with winced at that one.