Looking for recommendations for somewhere for a week
Criteria
.. good mountain biking.
.. Pubs and restaurants
.. A swimming pool in the town.

Not Glentress, Dolgellau or Lakes.

I like these but been loads.

Cheers

Hathersage? Ok, not bang on the doorstep for biking but very close (and rideable) to some excellent biking in the Hope Valley.

Two good curry houses, a pub bistro, some more traditional pub food and a restaurant in the George hotel. And one of the nicest heated outdoor pools going.

Book yourself into the Macdonald resort in Aviemore.

We had a great week in Banchory last Summer. Loads of riding and good food. The river was a bit on the cold side.
Did some more riding a bit further up the valley.

Machynlleth / Aberdyfi area

Hatgersage and Babchory both look good
Macdonald’s a bit pricey
Was in Mach last year (in a Macdonald’s resort)

Ilkley

Helmsley. Biking on the moors and Dalby and Sutton bank near for trail centres. Pool is outdoors but I think it is heated.
Other East moors options are Whitby or Scarborough where there is a water park. Also comes with all that is good and bad about English seaside (nice beaches / cold sea, lots of shops and pubs / lots of tat, etc.)

good mountain biking

Depends a bit on what this means to you. It’d be Pitlochry/Dunkeld for me though (and was a month ago…).

Aviemore (would be my choice), Pitlochry, FtWilliam.

Helmsley is nice. But I live in Malton, not much of a holiday away.

Fair comment on Helmsley if you live in Malton but from the user name I was thinking two rivers North.
Mentioned your reply to my wife and she said there is a pool at the lodges at Sandyhills in Dumfries. Bit left field perhaps but cycling distance from Dalbeattie forest and close to Mabie and some of the other Stanes. Good beach, a pub or two. Probably have to drive into Dalbeattie or Castle Douglas for more shops but lots of the villages on the coast have good pubs and cafes. Less driving than the Highlands from Malton too.

Scolty (the hill next to Banchory) is still shut I think from the storms, at least ive not heard of it opening up again.

Blaenau Ffestiniog.

We had such a good week there last July. There is a leisure centre pool but far better, so many streams and rivers.

Great biking in CyB, Antur Stiniog’s, Penmachno, Gwydir centres plus so much natural to explore.

Stunning walks and sublime rock climbing on perfect rock.

We stayed in Tanygrisiau.

how about south west Scotland, basing in Newton Stewart for example, a nice town with good facilities and close to Galloway Forest. Weather could be a bit of an issue in July, potentially rainy but otherwise a lovely part of Scotland and generally cheaper accommodation as it’s less touristy than the highlands.

cheers,

Keith

Brighouse

We have a pool, Meze, Royal Delhi, Crust and Crumb and Brooks for food. The sandwiches at Czerwiks are legendary, as is John, the owner.

Crafty Fox, Market Tavern, Mamil (cycling type bar, even has a workshop) and Millars for beer.

Trailwise we have a set of easy tabletops to play and progress on in Wellhome Park. We have lots of great trails (not all great in the wet though), from steep tech, fast flow to long XC. Its also a short train ride up to Hebden Bridge.

The local riding group is very friendly, you could join them on a Wed from Copley or Mon in Hebden. And if I’m around I’d happily show you some of our good stuff.

Train will also take you to Huddersfield or Halifax in 10 minutes for more choice of food and drink.

Thinking about it Bingley is similar if they still have a pool.

Macdonald’s a bit pricey

Yeah, I wasn’t being all that serious, it’s just that the pool is only open to residents at the moment. Most of us are just swimming in the various lochs.

Macdonald’s a bit pricey

I nearly took mrs_oab last weekend – last minute deal on a ‘better’ room of £50 each.

Ballater would fit the bill, fantastic riding, quite a few pubs/restaurants/cafes (for a wee village). There’s a swimming pool at the local Hilton but as with the MacDonald in Aviemore I think it’s residents and members only still. No idea what staying there would be like for being ‘bike friendly’.

Aboyne also a good shout, great riding, only one pub/restaurant (the boat inn, which is great). There’s a 25m pool at the community centre/Secondary School (great for actual swimming but not sure if you want the relaxing spa holiday vibe rather than 90’s PE lesson?)

These two are the next couple of (big) villages up the valley from Banchory as Tracey alludes to. Scolty is still pretty blighted by fallen trees I believe, I’ve not been in since the storms, I see folk riding there on Strava but i think there’s not much clear.

Any suggestions in the Southwest?

Stroud area

Loads of natural riding.

Plenty of food and drink options.

Awesome farmers market.

Several locals on here to help with routes/guiding.

there is a pool at the lodges at Sandyhills in Dumfries. Bit left field perhaps but cycling distance from Dalbeattie forest and close to Mabie and some of the other Stanes. Good beach, a pub or two. Probably have to drive into Dalbeattie or Castle Douglas for more shops but lots of the villages on the coast have good pubs and cafes

Or just stop in Castle Douglas?

Dunno what the fine dining scene is like, but it ticks all the other boxes.

South Wales? If you based yourself somewhere near Cardiff you have swimming options then and with short ish drives you have Cwmcarn / BPW / Afan / Barry Sidings / Wylie / Risca etc.

I’m in Bristol so within an hours reach of the likes of Risca / Cwmcarn in South Wales – but then you are also about an hour from the Quantocks / 45 mins from the Mendips / hour from Windhill / 45 mins from Flyup 417 / 45 mins from Nibley / hour from the Forest of Dean. Plenty of swimming pool options in Bristol and it’s generally a nice place to visit.

Further South West then there would be options in Devon – I starting investigating this for a 3 day weekend but have resorted to South Wales. Plenty of natural riding in Devon on Exmoor and Dartmoor. Haldon has a bit of trail centre. Gawton for your DH sessioning needs. In July I’d be inclined to beach / sea swim than pool swim around that area.

Another option I looked at was Leeds / Sheffield – not far from the peaks for natural / bridleway riding – but then you have stuff like Lady Cannings / Leeds Urban Bike Park / Wharncliffe / Grenoside etc. Guessing you’d find plenty of swimming options between those 2 cities.

South East Wales. Wye Valley, Forest of Dean, Black mountains, BPW, BMCC, Afan, Cwmcarn and more off piste than you can a shake a stick at. Pools galore and of course the Lido at Lydney.

Abergavenny is the food capital of Wales (so they claim) and we have pubs galore.

More importantly, can you pick the Mother-in-law up on your way here. She’s in Kirbymoorside so an easy collection for you 😀

@daviek – there has been quite a bit of work done on Scolty to re-open a few trails and it is riding really well just now. Bone dry and super quick.

Ballater would fit the bill, fantastic riding, quite a few pubs/restaurants/cafes (for a wee village). There’s a swimming pool at the local Hilton but as with the MacDonald in Aviemore I think it’s residents and members only still. No idea what staying there would be like for being ‘bike friendly’.

Wife and I stayed for a night last year but before booking I rang them and asked about bike storage. They don’t have anything specific but they agreed to let us put them in the office behind reception.

To be fair, from the look on the guys face when we arrived with a couple of big MTB’s, they perhaps hadnt quite realised what they’d agreed to, but they didn’t quibble. They were probably cursing us though having to shuffle past them to get in and out!

Ballater would be a good shout overall though.

Cirencester

Outdoor and indoor pools

Biking in the Cotswolds plus a419 uplift
FOD not too far away
Lakes at south Cerney for swimming
Lots of pubs and restaurants

Or Ballater. You can swim in the river. Loads of stuff on Trailforks