Summer Holiday with Toddler – Biking options?

Hi Everyone,

Looking at summer holiday ideas for next year. Since the little one came along riding opportunities have been a bit limited so would be nice to go somewhere where I can sneak in a ride or two but not neccesarily somewhere that is a mega bike destination. Somewhere like Morzine would be lovely for me but would be hard to get past my non-cycling wife!

Anyone got any suggestions for anywhere suitable for an 18 month old but where dad can try to spend a day or two on a rental bike? Did the lakes last year so happy to look for somewhere in Europe for a bit of variety

Morzine is actually a nice family resort. The pool in avoriaz is fantastic and the one in morzine is very nice. There are quite a few non riding activities. Also with the lift network and central location it’s easy to go for a morning ride and come back, or meet up with a non riding partner for lunch. You don’t need to be apart all day just to get a ride in. Still might be a hard sell but it’s not a crazy option.

If you don’t mean kids school summer hols, Center Parcs isn’t bad for 4 night stay early June. Longleat is a great base for road cycling, they do e-bike hybrid hire now that you can take off campus, you would have to bring your own nice road bike and store it overnight in the villa storage cupboard just inside the villa door.

There’s also an MTB park (Windhill?) on Longleat estate, plus a fair few bridal paths to explore in the area.

If you’re feeling adventerous, instead of sticking to the numerous hills close to Longleat, you could make a day of it by doing a handful of the Mendips hills including Draycott Steep; Cheddar Gorge; Burrington Coombe; Old Bristol Rd etc. in a ~75 mile loop. Did a variation on this in Nov ’17 on my 29ered fatbike equipped with 2.35″ G One Speeds on the first day of our stay, having got train to Warminster at ~1000 and meeting everyone at the villa around 1700 after having fun with my navigation with offline maps back then.

Bourg St Maurice, site has swimming pools and activities. Nice town, things to do in the valley, easy access up the mountain on the Furniture for the family, amazing riding. Works really well.

I’ve been to Morzine about a dozen times but 2024 was the first one with the Mrs and a 3 year old boy. I had no idea how many regular civilian activities there are but everyone loved it and can’t wait to go back next year.

You can use the free bus to get around, there’s a brochure full of family activities. Jr absolutely loved the swimming pool in Avoriaz and the miniature Go-Ape style thing in the woods in the valley.

We would go to whistler when my son was that age (and older) in summer and winter. I like the bike park and my wife likes to ski.

there are fun things to do with children there in the morning while the other parent has their fun in the mountains, then regroup at lunchtime for an afternoon of family fun. The mountain towns and resorts in Europe are probably equally as good.

the good thing about little children is that they’ll have you up in time to get the first lift of the day or be on the trail good and early

Lake Annecy was good at that age.