By ‘we’ I mean my girlfriend and I. We’ve got a week booked in Morzine for the end of August but we’re both off work already and itching to get away.

We’re driving but we’ve downgraded from a van to a Fiat Panda. We can’t just stop and sleep anywhere so we’ll need actual accommodation with bike storage. We’ve got a tent but I’m over camping in heat waves. Airbnb is much preferable.

Where could we go for the first week, maybe ten days, not a million miles from Morzine? I haven’t actually been to many other bike orientated resorts so thought I’d ask here.

We’d like somewhere with a bit of scenery, stuff to do other than bikes, but obviously a good trail network. I’m dying to ride Pila bike park so I’m thinking Aosta valley but not sure what else is there. I’m allowed to go off and ride gnarly stuff on my own for a bit. Maybe Livigno, or some Swiss options? Just shout some names and I’ll check them out.

Cheers

https://www.whiteroommtb.com/riding

Go see Stevo for a week all inclusive

Thanks but we don’t have the money for that! Sorry should have said. We’ve gone for the all inclusive option in Morzine, everything else will have to be quite a bit cheaper.

They’re on my radar though it looks amazing. Maybe next year.

Samoens, have a look for accommodation to suit your budget but the resort itself is lovely. otherwise try Chatel

Bourge Saint Maurice, Airbnb Refuges en Ville and grab a day pass at the funicular for Les Arcs.

Hit Marsupilami, roll into Woodstock, go over to 2000 and run Yellowstone (lots but watch the gap)

Rock n arrolles is evil for the “rock” part and borderline red….

They all star from Legend as a warm up though.

Maybe a few days in the Jura on the way then get to morzine and have extra time there, or split there and nearby like samoens. Do some of the other activities like walking, rafting, via ferata, etc and a bit more riding.

Les Arc. It’s got some gnar.

Thread resurrection…

We’re getting the ferry on Thursday morning. We’ve also packed our trusty old tent and bought a luxurious new double sleeping mat! This will save us a few hundred quid over our original plan of Airbnb.

We’ve decided to head to La Bresse first. Just because it’s less than 6 hours from Dunkirk and Livigno is over 11. There’s a campsite at the bottom of the bike park but that’s the extent of our knowledge apart from a few youtube videos.

From there we’re heading down to a campsite just outside Aosta. From there we should be able to ride Pila and La Thuille plus whatever else we can find.

If anyone has any hot tips for these two areas please share. I’m happy bombing around in a bike park but we need to find longer, scenic rides that we can enjoy together. Maybe some wild swimming.

Bizness as usual once we hit Morzine.

I’m already really missing my van. The little Panda is bursting at the seams.

Go further up the road to Tinges / Val disere.

Great trail network, and dirt cheap lift passes 10EU per day.

Tignes is on the list but maybe next year when we’ve got more time and probably a van again. We would have had an extra week but the person who bought my van didn’t come up with the cash in time.

We’re gonna stick to this little triangle of destinations for now.

From La Bresse head over to xonrupt and swim in the big lake (lots of grassy spots around the shore) it’s usually pretty warm.

longer more scenic rides definitely possible from there- the VTT tracks are good for this, maps online or from tourist info.

For Pila

The main runs around the bike park are pretty blown out. Instead:

get the gondola up from aosta

get the chair up after the gondola

ride down the fire road on the right and get the old rickety 2 man chair right up to the summit

head right and terrifying yourself on the ridgeline until you get to the mountain refuge hut

follow the trail back down that’s marked on the map. Yellow tape shows the way to go

At the bottom of the main chairlift, ride over the ramp with the Italian flag on it and take the number 10 trail all the way back own to Aosta. It’s absolutely fantastic. Nothing too mental. Some steep bits, small drops etc but it’s very long

If you’re heading as far south as Aosta before heading back to Morzine and you have the flexibity of a car and tent I would definitley recommend a small diversion to Bourg-sant Maurice for a couple of days. The opportunity to ride Les Arc should not be passed over.

Woodstock, Yellow Stone and La 8 are all great Les Arc trails, but my all time favourite is Elle Chablatte. Do it!

Thanks for the tips everyone.

We just survived 3 days in La Bresse, which was a bit too long to be fair. Didn’t realise how small a place the bikepark is and there’s not much else around. One the first day, just after we bought our lift passes the lifts were closed by thunderstorms and we spent the rest of the day in the tent hiding from the kind of rain you only see in the Alps. Torrential, sustained, downpours with big chunks of ice.

The trails are also pretty severe. Even the blue runs have lots of stuff to trip you up. The girlfriend swears she enjoyed it anyway but I did a lot of solo runs.

Just landed in Aosta. Every other car is a Panda so we blend right in. The owner of the campsite is a mountain biker and got excited when he saw the bikes. He’s started spilling the beans straight away so I think we’ll be alright for directions.

Just booked 3 nights here leaving Thursday and Friday free for something else. Maybe Les Arcs…

Oh, so far just split one brand new rear tyre but no injuries.