I’d say the Dolomites would suit, the area around Cortina is excellent for the road passes and the Via Ferrata. The mtb’ing is good too, but you’d need to buy a local topo map and start exploring. If you’ll be camping there’s a nice site a handful of km’s north of Cortina which is fantastic value.

Plan is to head for Eastern Swiss or the Tirol (wherever has the best weather at the time 8) ), so will be heading towards Belgium then Germany so the scenery will be less monotonous.

Green Park Cagnes – Green, Riviera and Provence
Sportcamp Woferlgut Campsite Zell Am See, Austria
Bella Tola Susten, Switzerland

The above all from the Eurocamp website, with excellent riding nearby. The French and Austrian options would be better value, i’d suspect, and have a lake and the Med to hand if your kids need that. Mind you, this late in the year availability might be an issue.
Good luck!

Is that the RivieraBike in Finale i.e French/Italy border – not the area you specify 😕 Anyway, didn’t find the trails particularly gnarly there and they assess you on the first day to check your riding level.
Not ridden with White Room but have ridden that area and if you loved that then i’d not worry about Finale being too tough. If you want easier trailriding check out Mountain Edge (or Upanddownhill) in Kitzbuhel, lovely area and more your required area?

He’s hardly the Maverick anymore, seems happier with a pipe and slippers. They shouldn’t try to revisit the past – it was a product of the time (and a special time it was). Saying that i’d watch it out of curiosity 😉

Sounds to me that you could pick any Alpine resort as a base and just buy a decent map and explore.
PdS would work esp staying in the less popular villages with the advantage of lift-access to gain heaps of singletrack.
Or how about basing yourself in a resort and having a couple of 2-3 day loops staying at mountainhuts – gives you great flexibility where to stay and often you’d be the only bikers there, Austria/Switz particularly well equipped for such a trip.

Garda is a really relaxed place to spend time in – been twice now and just gets better as i started exploring with a good map, with some of the most techy trails i’ve met with more on the shortlist for next time. Heaps of good value camping with other riders all over the gaff… if you don’t mind all the Germanic types it’s spot-on! Generally good weather, too, it’s a climactic gateway to the Med/Adriatic.

Ballsy move OP, have done the same thing over the past few years (but do Enduro rather than pure DH-type stuff).
I’d take a pedally bike too if space allows with lifts often being closed until summer kicks in properly in a month or so – as you’ve alluded to.
Weather in the northern/central alps is often grim at the mo so perhaps look to the southern/maritime alps for some sun, then head north later.
Garda’s a choice place with shuttle uplifts aplenty…

OP, i may be going out on a limb here but i suspect i detect a general consensus of opinion WRT taking said Panda… 😉
Whereabouts in Italy are you heading, reason i ask is if you’re on a tight budget then avoiding the main Alpine tunnels might be advisable (Eur44/55rtn) so if you’re heading over to the North East you could take the A road (it’s low-level) over the Brenner Pass for nowt.

Have the Panda serviced/checked over before you go and assuming all’s well just get driving…
You’ll likely remember the trip because of the seeming ridiculousness of the car – it’s no worse than camping trips on a lower-power motorbike and i’ve done heaps of those to Italy over the years.

Your payment reference is: INC02527384

Hope it helps, enjoyed my trip there several years ago.

As above, the bike needed a wash after riding Sun/Mon but my riding kit hardly needed a scrub 😀

Spent this weekend catching up with Afan – Blade is new to me since my last trip and it’s excellent, got the wheels off the ground and everything! And to cap off a great trip just caught up with Poldark on the iplayer… what’s not to like?

+1 for Solden, awesome techy trails through the trees (mainly) but lifts aren’t cheap (28euro/day last summer if i recall correctly). And you can ride from the top of the Timmelsjoch to Solden which is quite a ride, apparently. Zillertal had a couple of excellent bike-only trails but didn’t inspire otherwise, mind you the weather at the time didn’t help. Heaps for the family to do in the valley…

I’ve had two pairs of Impacts over the years and neither have lasted more than a year, the soles/midsoles just fall apart… It’s Salomon all the way now – a quality brand that’s impressed me over the decades and continues to do so (currently using Eskape’s).

Putin clearing the decks for some good ol’ hardline despotism on the way to further expansionism and a resumption of a new Cold War, imho of course 😯

Ta for the replies, folks. Just booked the flights and planning to do the independent-thing i.e. rent a car and see what occurs. Brushing up on my Sigur Ros now 8)

Been looking at the area myself for later this year…

some ideas

Had a couple of days there last summer, primarily for the Courchevel area but Meribel was heaps more impressive. The Enduro track from Saulire goes on on forever and the dh stuff on the opposite side of the valley was ace… Camped down in Bozel but had a car.Seemed quiet considering it was peak season so i’d imagine accom should be easy enough to source.

+1 for the Davos/Klosters area. Planning to do some Hut-to-hutting later this year there myself, as had a ball in the area last summer. Check out the possibilities up along the Austria/Lichtenstein border although lifts there are doubtful if i recall from my experience several years back, but those lifts outlined above are really useful with free person use (with nominal bike fee) if you stay in the valley (including the Rinerlodge campsite just south of Davos).

Was there last summer, but first time with a bike having spent a bit of time there over the years hiking and skiing etc. Not brilliant riding imho but Kleinwalsertal is nice especially from Riezlern to Baad anticlockwise. Don’t think bikes are allowed on the main cablecars, though they are on the lower-level Sollereckbahn (hardly worth it considering the height gain). Lovely resort with an ace Sauna in the Hallenbad, mind.

Last summer i spent 10 weeks doing an Alpine roadtrip with the original intention of staying in a compact area and thoroughly exploring it. However, with the abysmal weather in the entire region i ended up chasing weather windows from Garda to Sospel so mainly stayed on top of the general grimness. The weather these days can’t be relied upon (you’ve mentioned the PdS already)so make sure you have internet to hand to make informed decisions, you don’t want to lose any of that 2 weeks!

if you think a std LR is bad, try doing 140 miles in a snatch!

…how about 460miles in one (Detmold to Stubai Glacier, Austria), towing a trailer with the Batt’s SkiTeam kit – in one hit!
Happy days (i think… :wink:)

Hmmm, planning a revisit this year after last years’ rainfest there curtailled my riding…

*watching thread with interest*

A few minutes into a sauna session, alone in the cabin, when in comes a vision of Austrian womanhood (blonde, pneumatic, hourglass figure etc) and plants herself on the bench beside the door… i’m on the top bench opposite – you try to be nonchalant but Prof Jnr has other ideas. I nearly melted in there before she left, i tell ya!

Rode up through the Balkans in ’07 on my trusty xt600, from Greek Macedonia through Macedonia/Serbia/Bosnia/Croatia.
Crossing borders no probs but got stung with buying local insurance – Serbia and Bos in particular.
Serbia – a bit underdeveloped compared with its neighbours but really friendly/helpful folk who seemed to welcome a lone Brit visiting (English widely spoken).Skirted the Kosovo border as a bit iffy at the time but bumped into a couple of military checkpoints who weren’t so friendly.
Bosnia – really enjoyed my visit but chatting to folk highlighted the underlying tensions. Beautiful country and Sarajevo a highlight.
Croatia – expensive and beautiful, away from the coast eyeopening with minefields etc.
Overall really enjoyed the region.

Still a goto-listen when in the car, makes me tingle…

+1 for GnR Coma

More recent Rik madness, excellent … nay, Bang On :D! RIP

Bapass, have you tried the conversion and if so what was the result – looking to buying some spare forks for my Alpine and some 27.5’s may be the way forward.

@Alpin,

i had a guide from a german mag. will have a look for it when home if you want it.

…sounds good! My email’s in my profile 8)

where abouts in Allgau? spent my first year in the Vaterland there. Immenstadt/Mittagberg is a good starting point. Or a little further east.. lots of trials between Garmisch and Inntal (my stomping/play ground)

Hi Alpin. Oberstdorf and Sonthofen (Gunzesried-Sage specifically), and would like to ride around Kleinwalsertal over to Einodsbach area. Spent a week last year hut-to-hutting in the Karwendelgebirge on the bike – awesome week!).

^
Excuse my ignorance, and happy to be corrected (forgot Germany was Federal 😳 ). Looking to revisit old haunts in the Allgau this summer with my bike for the first time so hopefully Bayern is more open to biking.

and probabyl much the same in Canton in Switzerland, and similarly in Austria.

– Graubunden is probike (apparently) whereas Bern is more strict, so some time planned in Davos/Klosters too.

How about…
This
From my understanding, Germany doesn’t do singletrack as we know it (the law stipulates a minimum width which basically means a fireroad-type-thing).
With reference to the Vosges above, check out This
Only camped at the Titisee which was nice, enjoy the Torte and Wiessbier 😉

Bees are absolutely vital to the health of the ecosystem and generally pose little threat afaik (unless they’re giant African killer bees 😀 ). Is there a void space in the wall they are inhabiting, if so i’d call the council or ask a local beekeeper for advice as swarms can be relocated to a more suitable location.

Not a steam train normally, just special occasions.

must have been a special occasion as i was there… 😆 (or just special!{thought i’d say it before some wag here 😉 })

Been there a long time ago hiking but not with a bike. Planning on taking mine so the hardware shouldn’t be a problem. Does the train (steam, if I recall? ) allow bikes on board?

I echo much of the above, travel/backpacking is fascinating but it wasn’t the game-changer i wanted it to be. However, taking up mtb’ing has had a much more profound effect on me over the years. If you want to tour the continent by bike then why not do that – get kitted out for bikepacking perhaps and head out to where the weather’s good.

You could try this
but don’t discount fresh snow this late in the season… 😕

Should read this, sorry…
http://www.supertrail-map.com