UKC

Hi everyone,

I'm a dutch climber and I would love to go climbing for 3-6 months. I have a gap year from September 2024 until July 2025. I am thinking about buying a van and driving around Europe. I am going alone, so I need to meet people to climb with...

I love bouldering and sport climbing and im open to try new things such as trad climbing or mountaineering. Does anyone have any advise, about where to go? And what is the best time to go? I don't have much planned so all suggestions are welcome!

Leonidio is a good place to go solo in winter and meet up with climbing partners. Significant tension building up there though between locals and inconsiderate van campers, so make sure you're not part of that problem.

Val de Mello has a good scene and a busy campsite where you should be able to find partners. Mix of bouldering and multipitch rock, with big mountain routes within close reach. Some sport routes too. Theres a MelloBlocco bouldering festival there each year in May which might be a good time to land?

Aillefroide in the Ecrins also has a great climbers campground, the size of a small village, and I found partners there after rocking up on my own. Its also high altitude, so the hight of summer is best.

Céüse is another good summer venue (stays cool), the van parkups are free (or were when I visited) and generally very sociable.

Riglos has some of the most mind blowing 'sport' routes. The scene there is not so big as the previous suggestions but there is basically one bar in town where its easy to meet people and partner up. Parking up was relaxed, in the village.

Fontainbleau is apparently worth a look too

There will be loads of solo van travellers sport climbing in Catalonia around September, they'll tend to drift south to places like Chulilla and Costa blanca over winter (and Albercin for bouldering) back into Catalonia in spring, and up to the Alps over the summer, which makes for a pretty good trip. If you go that way, you'll make connections quite quickly and you'll meet people who fancy a bit of trad or alpinism too.

Hi, thank you for all the replies. I am going to look in to a good route to drive. How long should I plan my stay be in every area?

Head to Wirksworth in England. Great routes around there with a fantastic arts scene and good pubs. You'll never want to leave...

You should maybe fill in your profile a bit what sort of grades are we talking about?

As a sport climber, the South of France and Spain will obviously be on your agenda, but you could consider a detour getting there via the Frankenjura in Bavaria and the Elbsandstein on the German/Czech border. Both quite unique, hugely historical and with very different climbing traditions and ethics. Hooking up with partners shouldn´t be difficult for the Frankenjura, there are several groups and websites; Saxony is more difficult, but if dates and proposed grades fit I´d be very happy to meet up there for a few days and show you around (I´m in Berlin).