Hi folks,
Can anyone help me choose a short haul location please?
Looking at getting away just after Christmas and before they go back to school. Ideally would like a mix of the above.
Mrs_christ wants to sit by a pool which is fine by me and I want to do a bit of mountain biking with some of my pre-teen kids.
Would something like Tenerife, Madeira or Menorca be good?
Been to Lanzarote a few times which is great but looking for something else.
Menorca is unlikely to be 'by the pool' warm.
Canaries or Madiera are the obvious ones!
If you get away from the bucket+spade hotels on the beach fronts, the canaries are subtly different enough from each other to be worth visiting. There's actually some nice lush green bits on tenerife away from the rocky dry bits interspersed with hotel.
Some decent MTB too.
Ta. Will look into Tenerife.
Is any where short haul pool warm at that time of year ?
....apart from the Alps
Having spent months working there I would say Tenerife, but not the south of the island. North coast for quiet, Santa Cruz for a busier. I was based in Santa Cruz and it is a really nice place to be IMO. To make the most of Tenerife you do need a car.
There’s actually some nice lush green bits on tenerife away from the rocky dry bits interspersed with hotel.
The Spanish were smart with Tenerife, they built the hell hole tourist resort where shit dry useless land was miles away from where the majority of locals live and left the nice parts for the locals
^^^true, and applies to all the islands. But there is a reason that the north sides of the islands tend to be greener as they can be cloudy compared to the south in Jan/Feb. Anyway, Gran Canaria has okay mtb and some nice resorts on the south coast. As I've driven north for surf it just gets cloudier and v occasional rain, the horror...
Madeira?
Haven't been but the biking looks fantastic
Agadir might fulfil the brief. I haven't biked there though but theres a load of nice hotels built in the last couple of years.
Otherwise, depending on budget, phoenix? Loads of decent riding around and pleasant that time of year
Had a family holiday in Gran Canaria earlier this year, was impressed, I took my road bike, but the potential for mtb looks good, but I suspect you’d need to join a shop ride or use a guide to get the best out of it though. Road riding is outstanding.
Guided for six months on Gran Canaria years ago.
Some decent mtb trails, but you'd be either brave or foolhardy trying to ride/find it without a guide. Even I managed to get lost a few times!
Might be different now with Trailforks, but most of the trails I wouldn't consider kiddie friendly unless you just want to ride rough gravel tracks.
Thanks folks. Pricing up the trip now.