UKC

Hi Guys, Off to France for a week with my girlfriend in late September. Any recommendations as to destinations to do a bit of road/MTB biking walking and general scenery gazing? I would have thought Cham but worried that it will be shutting up shop to prep for the new winter season plus the temperatures may be dropping off...I did have a thought of around Nice and heading into the mountains from there. Any ideas/experiences would be great!

Thanks

James

In reply to Whitt: The Hautes Alpes department is great for multisports, best for weather. Main towns Gap, Embrun, Guillestre, Briancon. The Champsaur plateau behind Gap is a mini area. Camping Alpes Dauphine above Gap has mini-mobilehomes for rent. And a restaurant.

In reply to Whitt:

Enty may be along soon but I would have thought Provence may fit the bill better than the Alps at that time of year.

In reply to Whitt: The Vercors area if worth a look, nice riding and a lovely area, but may be getting a bit wet by that time of year.

In reply to Whitt:

Buis les Baronnies area in Provence. Has good sport climbing, amazing road biking, and some good walking and mtb as well. The local food and wine is of course exceptional. Only downside is that it is a bit of a mission to get down there, so I'd recommend 2 weeks to make the most of it.

In reply to Whitt:
We just got back from Burgundy (Bourgogne) in the centre of the country which was around 5.5 hours drive south of Calais. The area we stayed at was pretty remote (near Clamency), but handy for both the Morvan national park to the east and Loire valley to the west.
The road cycling is peaceful and although I didn't go off-road, I understand there's plenty to go at in the area if that's you bag.
We also squeezed in a day trip to Paris, which is about 2.5 hrs drive/train away.

FAs a final bonus, we managed to come back with around 30 bottles of excellent wine, not bad considering that alongside my wife and I, there were four teenage kids and my bike in the car.

In reply to Whitt: wherever you go just be aware that the French camping season can be quite short and many campsites will be closing up shop.

please ignore this advise if you are not camping