Torn between the two. Wanna FR and XC. Prob won't fly bike out so looking to hire and in Austria seems like £25 / day for a half decent FS. Going with my wife but she is not riding but doing the Spa Hotel thing 🙂

Anyone been and any recommendations for a good week in the saddle (as well as walking in the hills? Going around May Time although some of the lifts arn't open in Hinterglen I think.

May not help terribly much but I've been to both in the winter skiing (Saalbach rather than Hinterglen though) and have to say I won't go back to Andorra – getting very commercialised and can't imagine it will be very pretty in the summer. Did see the Hinterglem northshore stuff from the ski lifts though, looked good. Zell am See is just a short bus ride away too for some alternative RnR and there are lots of marked walks from memory (we were in a hotel in Zell).

Cheers fish boy – I did like the look of Saalback/hinterglem and my german is not too bad 😉

I've also been to Soldeu in the winter. Must be one of the ugliest places I've ever been, and that's when it was covered in snow! I wouldn't go back. I've been to Mayrhofen in Austria in the summer and it's absolutely beautiful. Never ridden there but everything I've read sounds good. I know where I'd go.

Cool – cheers everyone. I just got the Mountain Biking Europe book for my birthday 🙂

I was in Montafon, Voralberg last May. A beuatiful area but there can still be a lot of melting snow around in May and you will probably find many of the lifts to the higher summits closed.

I have also been to Leogang/Saalbach in winter for boarding but a good friend of mine went there last summer for a mountainbike holiday and he came back raving about the place. He's an ex downhiller but there was a lot for his inexperienced gf to ride too and also a lot for kids to do out on the trails (treasure hunt type things) if you want to go on a family riding expedition. Be prepared for fast changing weather though as it can get quite wet in Austria very quickly.

Andorra is great in summer, Val Nord has loads of great riding at all levels and has a real buzz. Soldeau/Grand Valira is good (particurlarly the high level blues)but not as good as Val nord. However, here is only 30 mins between the two so you can mix it up a bit.

We are going again this year because the whole family had fun on the trails. If you stay up towards Pal or Ordino it is pretty and there is a camp site just off the main road at Soldeau that is supposedly nice.

There are also resorts about an hour away in France that are good, Les Angles being an excellent location for biking.

cheers guys – got a good deal going in Hinterglemm full board. Prob be doing mostly XC with some DH so lifts not too much of an issue – We have checked out lift opening times and yes a few wille be closed but going mostly for the XC and then link the DH's up if we can climb then descent reward 😉

There's some good riding on both sides of the Saalbach / Hinterglemm valley & over to Leogang. Bike shop in Hinterglemm has walking maps (paths all seem to be OK for riding on & walkers encouraged you rather than object)& they'll show you what's worth doing depending on your likings or equipment levels. Can rain a lot as mentioned above, May might be abit early for the good nightlife in Zell though. Enjoy.

Ta Very Muchly Evesie 🙂

Leogang is lovely. Mrs BigJohn and I hired some Kona Stabs and bought a day's lift pass a couple of years ago. She normally rides a bit of gentle XC but declared the day's downhilling as the best day of the holiday (even though she went over the bars at speed at one point, then had a 40lb d/h rig land on top of her).
We also hired XC bikes for a long day out (maps available at all the hire places, single lift passes also available) – that was great. Also don't discount taking a couple of ornery bikes with mudguards and saddlebags for a lovely day's riding around the cyclepaths around Zell am See and along the valley.