where to ride in the alps?

explosifpete
explosifpete Posts: 1,327
edited December 2009 in Routes
my partner and I are looking at starting a chalet company next winter but I want to find somewhere that we can offer cycling holidays in the summer.
My first thought was morzine/les gets but this has so many english chalet companys I don't think they need anymore.
Anyone got any ideas?
http://www.iwaxstudio.co.uk/

Comments

  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    Does it have to be Switzerland or France? How about Austria or Italy? The Sud Tirol looks pretty tasty...
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  • compo
    compo Posts: 1,370
    I'm going to Westendorf/Kitzbuhel area in August and it look fab
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  • slimboyjim
    slimboyjim Posts: 367
    Whilst you want to avoid Morzine/Les Gets, any of the Portes du Soleil towns would pretty much guarantee you business for at least some of the year. Yes they would be more expensive but I doubt you'd have much trouble selling up if the worst happened... I don't know the geography of the area too much but are there any local towns that may be linked up in the near future? May be a shrewd purchase if so. Alternatively, it may be worth looking at some of the Alps guidebooks out there - see what towns are near to recommended rides and if there's anything less developed. As an alternative, Bulgaria is undergoing heavy development at the moment and stuff out there is dirt cheap, particularly all the stuff you don't think about like furniture. IMHO it's a bit too undeveloped at the moment (I went skiing there a couple of years back) but I know a lot of money is getting pumped into the tourist trade there and it may suit you... They've got the mountains and, if you invite a couple of mtb instructional companies for a free weekend to check out the area, they may start putting holidays towards you? Not sure about the trail networks there yet though...

    I think it's worth having a think about how you plan to run the business too - if you are going to pick your visitors up from the airport you don't want it too be too far away or you may be spending the best part of the day travelling once a week. If not, will the local transport suffice or will it be a real ballache for your visitors to get there? The nearer you are to the mountains the more likely you are to get skiing trade in the winter - if you are nearer higher resorts / resorts with glaciers then the winter season is longer too...

    I'd have thought that the ski trade would be your main business in the year TBH, and that should be your focus. To operate through the winter with a minimal bike trade is a LONG time. You may need to suppliment it with another job and/or do some sums.

    On a positive note though, this all sounds like a good excuse for an Alpine roadtrip to me - try to seek out some Brits who have done the same and ask them about how it's gone / problems / etc. My parents lived out in Toulouse (France) a couple of years back and the French have this weird thing where once a week the electricity is 15x more expensive (indicated by a traffic light thing in your house) - it's to limit power usage since they have insufficient supply for the whole country if everyone went mad with their kettles :roll: . There will be little things like this that may affect you a lot, but you'd never know without going...
    Finally, since you are going to be living out there it's best to visit first!

    Best of luck!

    James

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