nearest place in europe

looking to go away next year but not driving 13 hours again!! so looking for some advice on where to look at.
i want to go over to Europe but where would be the nearest place to ride good size mountains.
i would be looking for lift assisted holiday with plenty of flowing trail.
any help would be great

fly to geneva and hire a car? some really good riding throughout the portes du soleil which is very easy distance from geneva.
or fly there and get an airport transfer to your desired resort and back again. that way you’re not paying for a car that you wont touch while you’re there.

Scotland, think its still in Europe 😉

cheaper for me to drive otherwise i would fly

Not if we have our way!!

not driving 13 hours again!!

where did you go last time?

Don’t be lazy and ride up some hills.

or

Don’t be lazy and drive 13 hours to the alps.

Don’t be lazy and drive 13 hours to the alps.

Depends where you live in the UK, the alps is 9 hours I you live in kent.

Ferry Portsmouth-Santander, then bike with Doug off here?

Brucey-bonus: there’s a beach there too.

Ferry to Kristiansand, drive to Bergen, long crossing, short drive.

Eifel mountains in Belgium / Germany? Think they top-out at about 800m though and I don’t recall seeing any lifts.

24hr Ferry to Santander then three hour drive to the Pyrenees?

Fort Bill?

Realistically, we live quite a long way from proper mountains with lifts.

Ferry Portsmouth-Santander

Ferry to Kristiansand,

Both really good locations for riding but not the cheapest ferry crossings.

And the Kristiansand ferry went bye byes about two years ago.

Fly or drive to Ireland ?

not many mountains* in Ireland

* not alp/Rockies/Himalayas sized mountains anyway

I’m not sure but I think Snowdonia is in Europe .
Plenty of mountains and uplifts to fill your boots.

@iolo – uplifts in Snowdonia ?

There are a few bike parks in germany and lac blanc in northern france, you’d not spend a week at any of them but could do a tour of a number of them. Bad wild bad, todtnau, winterberg etc.

Antur Stiniog, Bike Park Wales, Revolution Bike Park.

Morzine is only 8 hours from Calais.
Easy drive in one hit. Have done it many times in winter without a second driver.

It’s even easier in summer.

from calais?

you have to drive right past the Vosges to get to Morzine.

wouldn’t rule out any of those Belgian/German hills, but depends what you like to ride. Not ridden in the Swiss Jura yet. Plan on a quick blat there next month when there for other purposes.

@andytherocketeer – lifts in Metabief open early / shut late vs most of the rest of Alps.

OP – if you want uplifts you really need to work on the drive out logistics, perhaps take an overnight stop. I’ve taken a late Eurotunnel then stopped in the Formule1 by the tunnel exit, that way you get a night’s kip then up early and in the resorts by mid afternoon.

I done les arcs area this year, just thinking of something closer and only doing 4 days.

I live 2 mins from cwmcarn so bpw, cwmcarn, FoD, antor all done. I just wondered if there was something a little closer than morzine

Tenerife. Lavatrax bike guides. Drop you at the edge of a volcano crater at 2300m then 30 miles mostly downhill as some is undulating. Across lava flows and through lava formations, superb.

£60 there and back with Thomas cook to take your own bike.

Owners direct to book accommodation. Much cheapness to be had.

@cubemap – not really if you want uplift. Metabief in the Jura is slightly closer in terms of dostance but possibly not in time and much less riding than the normal spots.

@cubemeup- a few of us from Swansea/ Llanelli/ Carmarthenshire are thinking about a Morzine trip next summer. We plan to share costs, driving etc. We’ve done it quite a few times before, some people prefer flying, I prefer to drive because I really enjoy driving and love the independence of travel. So it also allows me to visit family elsewhere in France.

I’m in a lucky place having a very long summer break (teacher) so I’m happy to take my time on the drive. However I’ve done the drive from Morzine to home in one hit loads of times now. To be honest, unless you can arrive in the resort prior to lift closing time there is no real advantage to flying that I can see. It’s more hassle, expensive etc.

Haggis

Have you biked in Tenerife? Was looking at it earlier and am considering it for a first ever bike trip abroad, the upshot is that the Mrs would be half interested in such a location.

Anyone try This or This[/url] an option?

Yes, have you seen the cost? I once priced up going from s-Hertegbosch to the Turkish border with the KTM. It was getting on for £500 one way, each!

Fly to Geneva then http://www.bikeverbier.com – amazing trails, brilliant holidays, loads on here will testify.

Get the plane to Geneva, or get the train down (need a bike bag for this) or fly to Spain

I didn’t get as far as the price as a car share came up for last years holiday & I flew this year.
Was thinking Lake Garda for next year.

Ooh nice, the dolomites are beautiful. Fly to Verona & ride up?

If you are going on cost, anything other than dover-calais and a short drive (accounting for fuel and tolls) is going to cost more than flying, even with a hire car at the other end, as long as you book well in advance. I hate driving too, but hate flying more so just suck it up and make sure that if I’m doing a shedload of driving it’s for a 2 week holiday minimum with at least a week or more when the car can be abandoned completely.

Auvergne? 2parks near Lioran and one at superbesse and some gnarly old school stuff at la bourboule (all lift accessed)

Lac blanc/vosge is good but it’s still a fairly long drive and the park stuff is pretty short.