So the family_outandabout fancy heading to the Alps or somewhere hilly and warm this next summer.
Can anyone suggest somewhere with suitable biking/walking/activities that is family friendly and with flights from Scotland…
Happy to be off the beaten track – Dolomites/Slovenia etc appeal as much as Switzerland/France.
It will be a house swap as well, seeing as chez_outandabout is rather spiffingly located.
Anyone with experience or suggestions?

Ryanair are starting flights from Edinburgh to Santander. From there you can go to the Picos de Europa or go along the coast to the Basque country, or the other way into Asturias. The Spanish Northern coast is lovely.

Not sure about flights from Scotland but I love the Garda Lake. Northern part of the lake is more for MTBers and rock climbers further south is more family orientated but also lots of mountains for the mtbers/hikers.

Picos are spectacular but aren’t particularly family friendly away from the coast. Transport is pretty crap too I think.

If you can get to Salzburg then a 40 min taxi gets you to Filzmoos, lovely walking in easily accessible ‘proper’ mountains, very family friendly in the valley.

Is anyone who lives in the mountains likely to want to house swap for a place in the UK though?

😆

They would – put an ad up on a home exchange site last night and had two replies already…

You can fly pretty cheap to Bergamo or Verona, hire a car and then be in the Dolomites or the Swiss Alps within a couple of hours.

As someone else said, Garda is good for MTB, and there are some good waterparks/themeparks for the kids at the southern end of the lake.

[quoteThey would – put an ad up on a home exchange site last night and had two replies already…
[/quote]

That should help with deciding where to go then.

One is a no-go, other *might*.

I’m not sure what csb means by the Picos not being family friendly, It’s Spain, everywhere is family friendly.

Slovenia would give you what you want.

Check term times for Slovenia as some places open “summer” specific to tie in with school hols.

Julian Alps very family freindly.

Bohinj or kranjska gora areas would possibly suit.

Slovenians do sport.

We went to Slovakia last year and stayed in a place called Liptovsky Mikulas between the high and low Tatra mountains. Nearest airports are Krakow (Poland) or Bratislava (Slovakia). Either one is a good 2-3 hour transfer though so hiring a car is fairly essential (although we drove from the UK which was an adventure in itself).
Once there, we found plenty to do and it was very cheap to eat out and for family excursions. Mountain biking is more XC then singletrack but there are uplift points at the nearby ski station. Hiking is excellent and there’s a canoe/rafting centre nearby.

We stayed with Chalet Slovakia and can’t praise them highly enough:

Chalet Slovakia

The Picos are great, really under-rated destination and quite unlike any other part of Spain. A bit like Wales or Scotland with sunshine, good food and good wine

But it is not as developed as the Alps and in places is distincly backwards – but this may be an advantage if you want to get away from it all.

I’m thinking of heading to the Alps next summer with the family for alpine adventures and the odd solo escape on the mountain bike.

Slovakia does sound good.
Picos – mmm, wine….

matt_outandabout – Member
Slovakia does sound good.

I was pleasantly surprised. We’ve done a fair bit of travelling around Europe with the kids and it’s always a struggle to find somewhere that’s a reasonable cost with enough for everyone to do. We found that in Slovakia, we could afford to do something every day whereas in the Alps we had to settle for every other day.
The scenery is beautiful and the people were very warm and friendly. There’s plenty of attractions. Check out the link I posted earlier and look under the “summer activities” page for ideas.
Obviously walking and biking are free. Local lake charges a couple of euros for parking but it is very cheap in comparison to the rest of Europe. Not as cheap as Poland but I felt it was more developed for a short touristy visit.
Typically, a meal out for a family of 4 including drinks was 35 euros (pizzas) and around 50 euros for 2-3 course dinners.
We had good weather too which helped.

Failing that, I think Germany is really underated especially the Bavarian Alps and Black Forest regions but again, the cycling is mainly wide XC tracks and it’s more expensive.

If cost is an issue, is driving out the window? Otherwise I’d look at Ryanair destinations, though as soon as you add much baggage I’m not sure how much cheaper they are (BMI were the same for me taking a bike to Brussels last year for instance).

Otherwise I’d be looking at where is cheap to get to for you, or focus on the house-swap.

If cost is an issue, is driving out the window?

No, not at all. Having glanced at it last night, longer ferry crossing Hull-Zeebrugge it is financially not worth it @£500.
Chunnel maybe @ £160.

+1surlynot, been 3 times to Bovec which has the river Soca which is a world canoe and white water rafting venue.
Also been to Lake Bohinj. You can swim in the Lake and there is a ski lift onto a mountain with loads of walking and cafes. Tandem parachuting and boats on the Lake. Biking is basic and mostly on quiet roads and farm tracks lots of small villages with pubs/cafes. Not too busy or over run by Brits 😉 there is a youth hostel if you want a budget hol? Maybe a job 💡
http://www.hostel-podvoglom.com/en
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/slovenia-mtb
http://www.slovenia.info/?kolesarjenje=375