UKC

Looking for ideas/suggestions for holiday destination, we want some sports climbing (grades 3/4-6a/6a+), we'll want to do a bit of walking(non glacier stuff), somewhere in europe, going before October. Ideas floating in my mind so far are Arco/Lake Garda, Briancon, Annecy, Slovenia. Somewhere in Switzerland or Austria ideal as not climbed there before

In reply to Andy Hudson:

I may be a tad biased but our Ariège area of the French Pyrenees sounds like it could be perfect. Plenty of crags with many grade 3/4/5 routes, both limestone and granite, fantastic high-level walks to mountain lakes and peaks accessible from various little access roads, and usually very good weather, with options for climbing/walking high or low depending on the time of year and temperature.

http://www.chezarran.com

We've used this location and the area offer everything you want.

http://www.alpineaccomodation.com

Fiona

In reply to john arran:
John
Thanks for link, Is there any sort of guidebook/topo you can buy out there?

In reply to Andy Hudson:

For climbing there are several printed guides available to different parts of the Ariège - it's only a small place but there are so many crags there's no way you could fit it into one guide. There are also plenty of crags not in any printed guide at all, largely because there's a great online topo resource at http://cafma.free.fr/plan.htm

For multi-pitch routes up to about 30 pitches check out the Dent d'Orlu, Sinsat, Bassiès and the Haute Ariège, all of which have sport and trad options up to 6a.
For single-pitch and smaller multi-pitch routes of that grade look at Auzat, Calamès, Sinsat Falaises, Verdun, Appy, etc., which are mostly well-equipped sport crags. The crag choice will depend largely on the time of year, as some are low-lying and get sun all day so are better for cooler months, and some are at higher altitude and/or shady so better for summer.

We have copies of most of the printed guides and printouts of all of the online topos we're happy for guests to borrow.

For walking there are many guides available and again we have a good selection here we're happy for people to borrow.

Hope this helps.

http://www.chezarran.com

In reply to Andy Hudson: Have you considered Sardinia? Very good walking and climbing. The Rother UK guide is out of print but there's the Sunflower guide and the guide to Selvaggio Blu, and of course the several climbing guides. For walking march, april, may, 2nd half Sept, October ideal. Paddy Dillon, who's writing the Cicerone guide, is coming in a couple of weeks' time to finish off what he started last year. ciao Peter

In reply to Andy Hudson: vicosoprano in the swiss Alps has a perfect campsite. Rock climbing is perfect with a great variance in the grading while also having some fantastic walks. There is also a couple of small b&b type places to stay in the little village. However you would need to have the use of a car. It is worth it though if you like driving at all what with top gear declaring the roads there as the best in the world. It is only 25-30mins away from the italian border though so there is plenty more spots there. can be difficult to acces though but i know trains run to st moritz and you can drive from ther - maybe 45mins of a drive