Hi all,

So Alps-Trip planning time again!

Would love to hear from people that have done Morzine, and also other places in a similar vein.

We’re after:

A weeks worth of riding, pref in one place, without having to drive.

A decent town with cafes/restaurants/etc.

Self-catering chalet.

Self-guided backcountry enduro riding would be good too, although not averse to getting a guide for a day or two.

So just like the PdS, but somewhere new, as we’ve done it 5 times already.

Any suggestions would be great…

Thanks.

I’ll start with the obvious choice (to me at least); Les Arcs though stop in Bourg St Maurice, you’ll have access to La Plagne and a few uplift companies too, and depending if you’ve got you’re own transport you can do day(s) at Tignes too.

Following with interest as in very similar situation myself.

Been to Morzine 4 times so fancy somewhere else next year.

White Room are potentials – these are meant to be good in a great area…

Potential alternative is Finale Ligure in Italy.

Sorry for the slight hijack OP but keen to get answers to similar questions to you 😉

Don’t think you’ll find anything with the full package in such close proximity as morzine. Other resorts tend to be more spread out. There are plenty of other good locations, just nothing quite like the PdS and it’s super easy access

All the other places I’ve been to (Verbier, St. Gervais, Alp d’Huez, Les deux Alpes, Finale, various parts of Provence) basically need a guide to get the best out of them. Except perhaps Alp d’Huez but you don’t need a week there and Les Deux Alpes which wasn’t that good really.

PdS just has so much which you can access with a trail map, rather than dropping ££ on guides.

Lake Garda would fit the bill i reckon,bar the self-catering chalet which i’m not sure is a thing there. Get a minibus shuttle to the main trailheads then head back to the lake, some places on the lake allowing return to the start point using the ferries  ;0)

I’ve tried a few times for ‘Morzine but different’ I haven’t found another resort that can offer anything close to the amount and variety of trails or indeed anything but half-dead ghost towns, not in Europe anyway.

Whistler isn’t the same, the Bike Park as big and famous was it is, can’t offer the huge valley to valley stuff you can do in PDS, but it is amazing and the trails outside the park are equally great, you just need to earn your descents, it’s also a bit spendy.

Also a relevant post for me.  Morzine is hard to beat for the overall package but also consider using it as a base as well e.g.

– take a drive to Samoens, via Les Gets and spend a day there (approx. 30-45minute drive as I recall) – from Samoens you can also explore Lez Carroz

– or you could ride/take lifts from Morzine to Les Gets, then descend to Samoens, ride there and book a taxi to take you back up to the top at Les Gets.

– if you’re really adventurous you could drive down to Chamonix from Morzine to ride some very different terrain for a day.

– try going out to the fringes of the PDS area and explore Switzerland.

Wild card….The U.S.A. / Canada ?

I’ll start with the obvious choice (to me at least); Les Arcs though stop in Bourg St Maurice, you’ll have access to La Plagne and a few uplift companies too, and depending if you’ve got you’re own transport you can do day(s) at Tignes too.

I’d second this. Form Bourg you can get easily Les Arc and La Plagne for some great riding, but by either driving or getting bike friendly taxi services you can access Tignes & Val d’Isere or pop over the border to La Thuile. The best way explore this whole area is with guides. For the full all-in holiday White Room MTB did us proud this year, definitely worth a look.

Canada +1

Any of these locations would fit the bill.

Squamish / Whistler

Calgary (pm for details as I live there but I’ve done a couple of holidays just riding for a week locally)

Fernie / Crowsnest pass area

Nelson area

Golden / Revelstoke area

Yeah give Bourg St Maurice a try.

If you have a vehicle you can get to La Thuile, Pila and Verbier quite quickly too.

Thanks for the responses so far all…   Interesting to hear people say they’ve tried (and sorta failed) to find a rival for the PdS…

We have never made it over to the swiss parts, or done Samoens, so made thatst a good call..

Thanks for the responses so far all…   Interesting to hear people say they’ve tried (and sorta failed) to find a rival for the PdS…

I’d go so far as saying the riding in the Isere valley is better (way better) in terms of quality when compared to the PdS. Just my opinion though.

Leogang – it’s linked with Salbach & Hinterglem. Lots of variety of trail – from World Cup DH to Enduro. Don’t need a guide.

There’s some good riding (+ bike park) over Chatel way (still French) and over the Swiss side of the Mosettes, enough to give you a whole new week of fun in the PDS. Very accessible from Morz & LG by lift and trails.

Depends on budget, like many of these things.

I’ve done Morzine/PDS many times, but probably won’t ever go back. I guess the one redeeming feature is its quite cheap & you don’t really need a guide.

For quality of riding in the local area for a week, Les Arcs or Verbier are both significantly better, but like most alpine towns, fairly ghostly in the summer & you will need guiding. Still in Europe, Finale Ligure totally blows away the PDS in my opinion. Take into account the town is on the beach, and it’s actually a busy, normal town, it’s a very different experience. I think there are more braking craters in one corner of one trail on the PDS than I rode in a whole week of Finale, earlier this month.

Further afield, Whistler/Squamish/Pemberton. Just because. It’s like Disneyland for bikers (and outdoor enthusiasts).

Surrey hills, with swinley only a short drive and even the woods behind national wide are day tripable you have all bases covered.

@OP, it depends on what you mean by ‘Morzine’.

I’ve been multiple times and love it although always looking for somewhere else to go. I get all the way around the lift system though and head off to the places mentioned above including Chatel, Mossettes,Swiss National DH course and the other side of that mountain etc.i.e. basically the whole of the PDS lift system.

However I do often bump into riders that only ride a single resort. For example July this year we bumped into some northern lads who were staying in Les Gets and that was literally all they had ridden the whole week. They were trying to find this mystical other place called Chatel so we guided them over there and pointed out the other places they could access but this was their last day’s riding so they had missed 80% of the available riding.

whistler ticks every box in your wishlist in a big way, can be expanded with helitrips, float planes, squarmish, north shore or smaller resorts if they take your fancy

Another vote for whistler. You dont even need to buy a lift pass as there is so muhc good stuff outside the park if you are happy to pedal. Trailforks is a brilliant guide on your phone if you want to self guide or hire one. We only bought lift passes for 2 days out of 10

Have a look at Serre Chevalier, the bike park is good (Hope have had a hand in it) and there are several other marked trails. Some epic road riding if that’s your bag, a lovely old town of Briancon. But I can’t compare it Morzine as I’ve not been there

edit: Also a spa if you’re going with the family

We are also looking for OAB 2019 holiday. There’s 5 of us, three teens.

Looking for MTB, hill or mountain walking and some easy road ride touring. Maybe beach or that Les Gets a-like lake…

Budget is real budget – Europe, self catered, drive or cheap flights.

Happy to look at uplifts and riding uphill at bit, not just gnar uplifted riding.

First two weeks of July.

Ainsa?

Dolomites?

Slovenia?

Czechia?

Les Arcs as above

@matt_outandabout – Tignes?

@matt_outandabout – Tignes?

Tignes has a good mix of bike park and enduro trails, it can be a little quiet even compared to Bourg though from memory. And the lift pass is no longer free as it was a few years back.

Tignes lift pass is free if staying in Tignes/ Val  and only 10 euros if not. Not sure they would notice if you did not have one at all as we were the only ones with a tag to prove we paid and it was same colour every day.

Thanks for tge responses all…

Anybody know if there are restrictions on e-bikes in the PdS?

A potential addition to the group only has an e-bike (Spec Turbo Levo iirc)..  do they allow them on the chairlifts, so he could ride with the rest of us?

Any trail restrictions?

PdS just has so much which you can access with a trail map, rather than dropping ££ on guides.

I think that is just it, nothing does but other places with guides and lifts can give a fantastic riding experience.

Finale for example was guided with lunch and coffee stops sorted, a van to whisk you up and around to different hillsides without big long pedal transfers

White room seem to be able to mix up loads and compliment lifts

Factored into the price guides can make sense of the maze of trails and have the combo’s that work really well

Tignes lift pass is free if staying in Tignes/ Val  and only 10 euros if not

Not quite – many rental places pay into the Office de tourisme scheme where it is free, but many more don’t.  Depends who you rent your accomodation with.  I got weekly passes in Val this year that were 40 something euros a week for an adult but that included unlimited swimming pool access and taster sessions of a bunch of random other activities.  Still pretty damn good value for money.

no e-bike restrictions anywhere in the PDS. No problem having them on the lifts and theyre really quite a common sight now.