The last four years in a row I have been to Whistler for my holiday. However, it looks like I’m not going to be able to afford it this year, so I was wondering where else there is to go.

Whilst the riding in Whistler is some of the best in the world, the relaxed atmosphere of the place is just as important, and it is something that I look for in a holiday.

I realise that it is a hard example to follow, but where else would you suggest?

Cheers folks.

Well it depends what do you want? How much do you want to spend?

Our 3 favourite MTB holidays so far are:
Cycle Active – Morocco 7 days of phenomenal riding around the Atlas Mountains, there are will be loads of threads on here already where we have posted these pics! Best April-May

MTB Kerala – MTBing through tea plantations in India .. not for the summer thought. Better in the UK winter, we went January this year and was awsomse. riding with Mike is like riding with your mates.

Colorado – we did this ourselves, based in Boulder, did 4 days over in Crested Butte which is about 5 hour drive away. Did a day DHing in Winter Park and it was nothing like the Alps, long swoopy DH’s some with insane drops and jumps (if that’s what you wanted).

Bike Verbier – haven’t been yet, going this summer. Never heard a bad word about them. Can’t wait to go!

Spain – there is a certain company I wouldnt’ go with, look at my posting history and you will discover why! Switchbacks get good reviews thought.

Italy – Bike Riveria, 2 different sets of friends been with them and say they are great. we haven’t been though.

Is this enough to get the brain working? Difficult when not sure what type of hols you want!

Done some seaching for you 😉

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/a-terrific-10-days-with-mountainbikekerala

Take a look at this as well (Morocco pics).

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/biking-holidays-1

Oops, should have said that it would be for some DH riding.

Morzine, Les Arcs, Chamonix, Les Deux Alps. All good for DHing. Get Rowan Sorrell’s book to MTBing around Europe, can be done cheap too.

the relaxed atmosphere of the place is just as important

…rules out Morzine then, unless frantic UK wannabe stormtroopers chill you ou 😉

Sounds like you might like southern Spain or Italy (maybe Lake Garda area – not as expensive as you might think, certainly less than Chamonix for food and drink).

If you wanted to go to North America again, you could do a relatively cheap DIY trip to Utah, flights to Vegas arent too expensive, then camp or stay in cheap motels. Bike hire is cheaper than Europe. Not really DH orientated though.

Greece ought to be chilled and cheap too, but not been there yet.

Wouldn’t go to Greece at the minute!

The thing is that I’m Johnny No Mates when it comes to biking hols so something organised would be preferential.

Bump!! For the evening crowd 😀

Lots of alpine companies .The White Room supposed to be good, just google Alps DH trips.

Yeah, but google doesn’t tell you what they are REALLY like 😀

Morzine would be a good place to stay on your todd for a DH holiday, loads of Brits there and it’s easy to meet people to ride and hang around with. Quite a few people go on their own.

And the DH riding in the PdS area is great of course.

The most recent thread on this sort of question is here – however there are many many threads.

What I would say is that a chalet based holiday can be a chilled as you want it to be, with dinner and free wine and a comfortable place you can simply ride, eat and chill. A guided holiday is by its very nature going to take you away from the crowds, even in Les Gets its easy to get away from the crowds (and frankly it’s not that crowded anyway, not compared to skiing at half term). The companies which focus on vehicle uplifts are going to provide even quieter trails.

I’m planning on doing two weeks (travelling alone) one with Bike Verbier and one with Trail Addiction Destination X – I’d say both of these will be pretty chilled.

The holidays discussed in that thread are all pretty much xc orientated: As stated earlier, I’m more interested in a dh type holiday.

riviera in italy and switchbacks spain are suposed to be good!

I don’t see full on DH and chilled going together

I don’t see full on DH and chilled going together

You’ve obviously never hung out with downhillers then.

Riviera Bike looks pretty good. I’ve never been biking in Italy either.

Any experiences?

http://www.mountainbikeparkchatel.com/ We went DHing here last, was great, its on the same if system as Morzine but less people. We did go to Morzine/les gets for 2 day. Chatel is a chilled out little town but don’t tell anyone. Also good access to the swiss DH stuff. Here’s a map of the area( chatel is in the south): http://www.portesdusoleil.com/images/upload/portfolio_img/Portes-du-Soleil-VTT-2010-V3–HD.PDF

Mmmm, 2000m vertical drop at Lake Garda has to be described as DH really….

DH or XC depends what trails you choose to ride, most of these destinations have plenty of altitude to play with.

I’ll be working for Finalefreeride again in 2 weeks, it really is undiscovered for the Brits as I’ve seen maybe one or two groups. I’d describe it as enduro DH – long fast descents with a mixture of gradients, really good flow, great for practicing your turns as you always seem to be cornering. The town is great – good restaurants and a nice vibe, I can spend pretty much all day drinking coffee in the squares. You can normally get on one of the shuttles but give them some notice. And there’s always people hanging around after riding for a few beers so you’ll make friends and end up having a group to tag along with. Would recommend getting over to RivieraBike too, and though I’ve not been there’s another area called Calizzano close to Finale. The whole area needs a bit of a road trip to do it justice! After a year in Whistler I’d say I prefer it here,