looking for some advice , i want to go away for a short break , ive seen OTP but is there any recomendations please , cheers.

What sort of riding do you want to do ? Which part of Switzerland (French, German or Italian via which airport or are you driving) ?

Try the search function – a few threads here already.

I just came back from a weekend in Geneva, rode in the Jura a bit and hiked up above Montreux to a spot MTBers use accessed via mountain railway (thread on here). Swiss side of of Portes du Soleil (Morgins/Champery) or Verbier or Zermatt. Then you have the resorts like Flims and Lenzerheide with their bike parks and trails.

OTP are great. Did a week with them in Zermatt some years back. Great riding, great guides.

looking at general xc , not sure about drive or fly , OTP do seem ok.

Zermatt would be fine self guided, we did it in 2008, easy to find a weeks riding from the funniculars & ski lifts, there are some good XC routes down both sides of the valley to Tasch & Grachen & a monster ride up over the top to Saas Fee that gives stunning views as you decend for nearly an hour to the lake, then get the train back that runs up the length of the valley.

Driving gives the most flexibility to try different resorts although if it’s a short break that’s perhaps not relevant. Zermatt is one of the worlds most special places, I’ve been going to the Alps for 35 years and I never cease to be stunned by the sight of the Matterhorn.

I’m in a similar position and have been looking at Zermatt. I guess most resorts in the Alps are going to have some great riding, but can anyone compare it to other places? I’ve never ridden in the Alps before. Been to Morzine a few times in the winter and seems to be the most popular area for biking, but worried that in mid July it would be heaving! Is the riding there that much better than anywhere else? Mostly interested in good XC with a bit of downhill stuff to have a go on if it’s there. Got a week and will be driving.

@robinbetts – Morzine seems to be the most popular with the Brits. As its low and has had a poor snow record with climate change so they embraced biking early. A guided holiday is the most straightforward and generally best value for money, it also means you’ll get to ride in a group which is safer anyway. The bike trails and resorts are much less busy than the ski slopes in peak season. If you want xc away from it all style you might also consider Ttail Addiction Dest-X or one of their back country weeks in Les Arcs. I would say on either of these trips you’ll rarely see other riders on the trails.

jambalaya – can you recommend anyone to stay with/be guided by in Zermatt? A late season trip looks mighty appealing!

Nice one, I’m sure you’ll love it. I’m spending a week with bike verbier at the end of july and hoping to get a day or so exploring zermatt before hand. I’ve also heard the sight of the matterhorn is like a blue light to a fly!

Zermatt is an incredible place – 4000m+ peaks in every direction and the Matterhorn is a truly amazing lump of rock. Be prepared to take out a new mortgage if you want to eat/drink though!

Amazing holidays and world-class riding with http://www.bikeverbier.com No one knows the area like them, and the chalet, grub, guides, hosts, organisation, atmosphere etc all superb. These are seasoned professionals with more than 10 years’ experience under their belts, and it definitely shows. Lots of very satisfied Bike Verbier regulars on this forum.

Another vote for Zermatt. Had a great guide who also worked on the ski side, Foggy Pointon… have a chat with OTP. There was a great article in Singletrack, think the guide was Big Al…

R

Still plenty of snow around in Switzerland and the Alps in general.

The pictures below are from yesterday. We crossed 3 or 4 decent sized snow fields on our way up to 2563m. The decent was mostly clear with only short snow patches. Needless to say, it was an amazing day.