UKC

Looking for somewhere for a few days biking in Europe....big climbs a must!
Was thinking of Mallorca though i fear it may get a bit toasty there in the summer. That said, was in the French Alps in very high temps a couple of years back.

Pyrenees?
Any other suggestions?

In reply to Kimono:

Switzerland is good. Loads of info online to help with route planning.

In reply to Kimono: Dolomites has lots of very big very steep hills.

In reply to beardy mike:

second this, went few months back was brilliant

In reply to monkey man:
Hmm, good idea...and great food!
Not sooo hot I guess?

Best place as a base? One with bike hire??

Ps switzerlands just too expensive!

In reply to Kimono: I own Casa Alfredino which is in the central Dolomites, 2 hours from Venice. We have had people renting bikes from Corvara which is about an hours drive away and they just book them ahead of time and then go and collect them on the first day...

In reply to Kimono:

You could try the Vosges mountains of Alsace Lorraine. Lots of big hills and doesn't get as hot as the Alps in the summer.

In reply to Kimono:

we rented from two places in the end due to off season availability, one in corvara and one in Badia, both were great, very helpful and recommended

In reply to Kimono:

I've rented road bikes from Kostner Sport in Corvara and they were really helpful. They spent a long time trying to fix my MTB and didn't charge (it needed a part they didn't stock).

There are several bike shops n the town and, since this is a climbing forum, come cracking VF locally.

The Sella Ronda was a great day out, or would have been if it hadn't rained for much of it ;-(

Rob

In reply to LittleRob:
OK some good advice on this tread!
Maybe Corvara itself would be a good base?
Or do you know of somewhere better that's fairly easily accessible by public transport and with good climbs around?

In reply to Kimono:

Corvara was lovely and I would certainly recommend it as a base.

I can't comment on public transport as we made our own way there. However, we stayed with Colletts (in a self catering apartment rather than their hotel) and they certainly can arrange transfers.

Rob

In reply to Kimono: To be honest, to make the most of the area, you want a car. There are masses of really famous road climbs, or are you talking about MTB? You didn't specify? But the main thing is you need to be able to get to the access points for rock climbs and bike routes which are spread across quite a wide area. But bearing in mind that a bus up from venice is about 40 euro each way each person, and that you can get a small rental for less than that... in terms of road biking, the Sellaronda is the most famous of course, but there are loads of others - passo giau, san pellegrino, karrerpass, passo duran, passo fedaia, passo staulanza... just depends on how much you want to hurt yourself. Mountainbiking again there's absolutely masses. There are a few bike parks dotted around the place too, with Alleghe, San Martino di Castrozza, sellaronda of course amongst other rides. Corvara IS a good base, but that said you can only access sellaronda and Passo Valparola/Falzarego and Giau from there as ride without driving unless you're super fit and ride! So if you want to do others you still need to jump in the car...

In reply to beardy mike:

Ok thanks for that full report Mike.
Sounds like car hire may be the way forward. In which case maybe we'll come and stay with you
Ps yes, road biking.
PPs How long a drive is the Stelvio Pass from you?

In reply to Kimono:
Slovenia. Specifically around Triglav National Park. As many hills as you want, quiet roads, lovely villages, relatively cheap (at least compared to Switzerland!) a few off road cycle routes up the busier valleys, stunning scenery and everyone speaks English.

In reply to Kimono:

Oh and cheese strudel which is much better than it sounds.

In reply to DaveHK:


Hmm, think I'll stick to the Italian cuisine :-0

Also speak some languages so English not really an issue

In reply to Kimono:

Wales - its ace

In reply to xyz:
I know....i live there

In reply to Kimono:

I've done a fair bit of touring and road riding in Southern France. Depending how many days you have, Anywhere in the Alps or the Pyrenees are hard to beat. If you have 10 days or so, have you thought about doing Geneva to Nice? If you don't have so much time there are great places like Barcelonnette or St Jean de Maurienne which are both at the foot of umpteen big cols all of which you will have heard of.

I did a bit of riding in the Dolomites in September and wasn't all that wild about it. The roads and of course the scenery were stunning but there was too much traffic. All the roads you ride on in The Dolomites are the main roads between towns whereas in France there is generally a bigger road following a main valley which local and commercial traffic will take. That said, the ride up to the Auronzo refuge was magnificent and bloody hard.

Ardeche and the Cevennes are great for cycling as well, and you can do a brilliant loop round the Gorge du Tarn and Gorge de la Jonte.

In reply to Kimono:
Asturias in Northern Spain. More climbs that you can shake a stick at from classics of La Vuelta: Angliru, Lagos de Covadonga.... to unknown climbs: http://bikeasturias.net/casielles-ea/
Very quiet and certainly will not be hot, in fact it might rain, but you say you live in Wales so you should be used to it .
You should see a fair bit in this site if you can read Spanish: http://www.39x28altimetrias.com/lospuertosylavuelta2.html

I happen to come from there but leave over in the UK, I am not linked to any of the websites I have linked

Joaquin

In reply to Kimono: Stelvio isn't really the Dolomites anymore. From us it's probably the best part of 2.5-3 hours to drive as you have to go to Bolzano, 1.75 hours, then to Merano, another 30 mins, then all the way along the northern edge of the Stelvio national park, which must be anoth 45 minutes? But I've not done it to the pass before. Its a nice drive, what I've done of it though... there's stuff to the north east of us too - up to tre cime for example and Passo valles and rolle to the south west... that's spectacular for sure.

In reply to Kimono:
The Dolomites work for me. I love the Sella Ronda route and adjacent passes.

Me going down hill... vimeo.com/134003796

In reply to Kimono:
Ok, a big thanks to everyone who took the time to reply.
The dollies looks spectacular if a little busy, French Alps were on the las at trip so looking for something new.
Asturias also a possibility....

In reply to JLS:

F@+k me that's some hairy ars@d overtaking, and I used to ride motorbikes....quite quickly. <<<tips hat>>>

In reply to Kimono: Bear in mind with the Dollies that early and late season is cheaper and much less busy. August is italian holiday so every man and their dog descends on the place. September and June and be stellar weatherwise, indeed september is when I tend to go as the place is empty and often its wall to wall sun with lower temps than August but also hardly any storms like you get in August. Worth it if you are freee to travel out of school hols!

In reply to beardy mike:
It's looking like very early July
I wouldn't dream of going to Italy in August

In reply to Kimono:

If you've followed the Tour de France on TV you may have noticed that a lot of the climbs in the Pyrenees follow quite minor roads, rather more so, I would say, than in the Alps, Dolomites, etc. For me that would be a plus, as quieter roads make for a more pleasant ride. Also, if you can find which passes the Tour has followed in recent years you are likely to find the road surfaces in good nick.
I would concur with the person who recommended Asturias. I'm sure you would find plenty of traffic free roads there. When in that area in 2016 we followed one road, quite a significant pass (in a car) for about 20 mins without seeing another vehicle. Lovely scenery, too, nice and green (there's a reason for that).

In reply to RedFive:

Ha, you should have seen the couple of young pros I tried to follow down a hill on another day! They really were mental...

In reply to Kimono:
Asturias, Spain. La Vuelta Spain goes there every year for the Queen stages (Angliru, Lagos de Covadonga, La Farrapona, Ermita de Alba,...). check www.roadcycleasturias.com they organise all kind of cycling holidays in the region. Very quiet, excellent roads and beatiful place and not hot at all in the summer.