St Gervais - anyone been?

nasahapley
nasahapley Posts: 717
edited January 2008 in The bottom bracket
Hi all,

I've been looking for a place to stay for a week in August somewhere in the French Alps; I won't be doing loads of cycling but would like to do a couple of big rides, preferably including some noted climbs (my knowledge of French geography and the big climbs is pretty poor). Has anyone been to/stayed in St Gervais or the surrounding area?

From a bit of internet research it's apparent that it's tops for skiing and mountain biking, but can anyone give me the lowdown on what the roads are like? A few holiday company websites say it's a good location for cycling, but I'd much prefer to hear from forumites who have actually been!

Cheers,
N

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Comments

  • spen666
    spen666 Posts: 17,709
    I saw the title and though Ricky Gervais' popularity had increased
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  • djmc
    djmc Posts: 38
    I've been through St Gervais twice in summer. I have no idea what it is like in winter. It is basically a spa town. Away from that season it was totally dead, a ghost town. i would have thought Argentieres or Chamonix would have been better.
  • pneumatic
    pneumatic Posts: 1,989
    Just back from the Chamonix valley. I know St Gervais a little and there are good rides around there if you want some not too outrageous climbs.

    Personally, in that area, I would recommend Le Grand Bornand (tdf finish and start last year). I was there on Wednesday and picked up their brochure for Summer activities. Some nice road rides suggested (Gorges de La Borne is really good ride and not hard going up, Col des Aravis is also good). They recommend a couple of 60km circuits to take in both. If you want to test yourself, you can do the Col de Colombiere out of the town, too.

    Chamonix itself is definitely worth a visit at least. This time yesterday, I was standing on a platform 2000m up, gazing out over the Vallee Blanche and it's huge blue glacier. Awesome!

    Beaufort is also really pretty and you have the Cols de Saisies and the Cormet de Roselend to do from there.


    Fast and Bulbous
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    Eddingtons: 80 (Metric); 60 (Imperial)

  • mrushton
    mrushton Posts: 5,182
    Small spa town, prob. v.quiet in Summer but less than 1 hour from Geneva and it's at the foot of the Chamonix valley so you can ride out to Sallanches/Passy etc which is 'flattish' or head up to Chamonix via Les Houches or over to Megeve and Flumet and do either or Les Saisies or the Aravis. The latter is good because it's a nice ride to Megeve either on the main road (busy) or the back route via Chedde and both the Aravis and Les saisies climbs are great (opp.sides of the valley)
    M.Rushton

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