Where in France…

or Germany? (or Belgium, maybe, it’s a long-shot, but much closer)

for 2 weeks in September.

xc mountain biking
road cycling
canoeing (lake or river descent)
via-ferrata / very easy climbing

will probably be driving from Calais, but open to suggestions…

ideally not the alps, as the problem with the alps, is that sooner or later you have to ride UP an alp, which is definitely a deal-breaker.

inspire me please!

pretty sure you can ride and enjoy the alps without actually riding up an alp. Although if you don’t like riding up hills are you sure cycling is the sport for you? I have nothing useful to add, you could do all that in Wales!

Bourg de oisans has all that I think and you can road ride in a westerly Grenoble direction to avoid big mountains.

Also, watching the tdf last week the ardeche appeared to have great open canoeing where you can hire canoes and go off for days camping at the side of the river, I quite fancied that.

jekkyl – Member
pretty sure you can ride and enjoy the alps without actually riding up an alp. Although if you don’t like riding up hills are you sure cycling is the sport for you?

hills fine.

wife will draw the line at riding up Alps.

you could do all that in Wales!

Weather.

B.A.Nana – Member
the ardeche appeared to have great open canoeing where you can hire canoes and go off for days camping at the side of the river, I quite fancied that.

full marks. The Ardeche is on the list, as Wife used to work as a canoe-river-guide, and would like to go back. We’re open to new ideas though.

Morzine with uplifts I’ve done less climbing than I do in the Surrey Hills. And yes you can do xc stuff with uplifts. The Passportes route is such an example. Road cycling would involve climbs though 😉

If you want flat, Normandy perhaps, or Norfolk 😀 Doubt you’ll find *mountain* biking, but you could xc about on bridleway stuff.

In fact, quick search – http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/apr/18/family-cycling-holiday-normandy-france-le-perche

Okay that’s family stuff.

No idea about rivers. Plenty of roads though.

How easy does the climbing have to be?

martinhutch – Member
How easy does the climbing have to be?

that’s a good question.

we’re both a bit rubbish, me much more than her. mods and diffs (3’s and 4’s ?) with bolts please, if i’m allowed to choose.

we’ve done *some* easy single-pitch stuff at el chorro, and the ailefroide. nothing epic, just good fun.

(climbing equivalent of glentress blue)

That’s 3s and lower 4s in French money. There won’t be that many high quality fully bolted lines at those grades on a lot of French crags. You do get smaller crags bolted for school groups with lots of 4s, which might suit you better.

I was going to suggest the Verdon Gorge and Sainte-Croix Lake next to it, as it ticks all your other boxes, but the cragging will be too intimidating and technically difficult. There are some via ferrata mentioned but I’m not sure about minimum grade requirements.