5 Day trip through the French Alps - Advice Please

dannz77
dannz77 Posts: 3
edited March 2008 in Tour & expedition
Hi Everyone,

Me and a couple of mates are thinking about cranking up a few mountians in the alps for a few days. Rather than go from village to village it may be best to base ourselves out of one town. Any thoughts on the best place and bike hire?

Cheers

Dan

Comments

  • pneumatic
    pneumatic Posts: 1,989
    The obvious candidate is Bourg D'Oisans from which you can do the Marmotte circuit and the Alpe d'Huez as many times as you want to. There's also a great road off one of the turns (16?) that takes you along a precipice above the town.

    However, there are other less obvious but really spectacular options:

    For example, if you base yourselves in Grenoble (which is a really fun city), you can go up the Vercors (gorges, tunnels and achingly beautiful terrain), the Belledone (up and down circuit to the ski resort at Chamrousse) and the Chartreuse (vertiginous wonders like the Fort St Eynard).

    If you want a more bucolic experience, I would strongly recommend Le Grand Bornand from which you can do a teasing little circuit made popular by the Prince of Wales (no, not the current one, the Edwardian version). You can reach Le Grand Bo from Geneva airport in an afternoon and it is a nice ride.

    Hope that helps. Makes my knees itch just thinking about it!

    Fast and Bulbous
    Peregrinations
    Eddingtons: 80 (Metric); 60 (Imperial)
  • dannz77
    dannz77 Posts: 3
    Thanks mate great advice.
  • ecrinslodge
    ecrinslodge Posts: 45
    If your looking for a base near Le Bourg D'Oisans, check out our web site. We have recently opened and are looking to expand into the Cycling market, thanks to our perfect situation in the valley floor near many of the classic Alpine mountain passes. Take a look and see what you think. www.ecrinslodge.com
    Specialists in Bike Holidays

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