It appears that I’ll be dropping my eldest off in Paris near the end of May and having to wait round for a week to pick him up and bring him home which made me think about going riding for the week.
I’m not expecting to find anywhere with uplifts open at that time so anyone got any suggestions for a destination that has decent riding accessible without lifts that’s not at the bottom of France (Pyrenees etc) as that’s too far away. I’m thinking something not high altitude because of snow but a place where I can spend 4-5 hours a day riding up and down fun trails.

Thanks.

Montmorency and other nearby forests will offer you the best mountain biking near Paris, if you want to stay close. There are other forests around (Fontainebleau and Rambouillet will likely get a mention) but Montmorency, Carnelle, l’Isle Adam you could probably ride for week and never have to ride the same trail twice.

Maybe the Vosges region. Not too high and not too far.

It depends if you want to stay near Paris (1 hour or so) or go further. Would agree with the Vosges, but that’s still a few hour’s drive at least.

The Jura region may be worth a look – I was rock climbing there last year and it looked like it would likely be ace for mtbing.

lac blanc, la bresse etc may well be open?

plenty of great riding around if you head towards Colmar in the alsace. everything from flowy/fast to steep and tec. beautiful too.

Some good suggestions thanks. I’m liking the sound of the stuff round Paris and it also appears that la bresse bike park may be open late May.

I’ve also realised I’ve got a group of friends down in finale at the same time so I could give them my bike to take down and fly down for a few days.

Hmm, choices.

Around Annecy. Loads to do in the area. We were there in late May last year, the peaks were still covered in snow, but loads of riding available lower down. There hasnt been so much snow this year.

This site is one of the best for looking for routes in France, https://www.utagawavtt.com/

We have a slot if you Fancy riding from Sospel to Molini (italy) then the med…

Perhaps a bit far (7ish hours from Paris by Google), Winterberg in Germany ?

Appears it opens in May usually, possibly earlier depending on conditions (snow or lack of).

https://www.vtt-suisse-normande.fr/les-circuits-vtt

https://www.vtt-suisse-normande.fr/les-circuits-vtt

And if you’re heading towards Normandy (kind of) take a look round Saint Leonard des Bois – some good MTB in the Alpes Mancelles.

EDIT : and around Sillé le Guillaume. In fact with the Suisse Normande, Alpes Mancelles and Foret de Sillé you could put together quite a nice varied week of riding around a base camp somewhere in the middle.