Best European destination for cycling?

rodgers73

I'm thinking of doing some cycling abroad next summer or maybe this autumn and wondered what sort of places would be good for some warm weather cycling with good scenery. My shortlist so far is -

Italy
South of France
Majorca
Gran Canaria
Pyrenees

Any thoughts or experience with these places? Or any other good destinations? I'm planning on hiring a bike out there so will just need a cheap flight/package deal.

Cheers

rdt

For the combination of a good chance of fine (dry, sunny) weather in Autumn, a package deal from loads of different airports, quality road bike hire at your destination, and decent cycling, then Puerto Pollensa on Majorca would be high up my list. There's plenty to keep non-cyclists happy too (nice sheltered bay for swimming, walking, cultural stuff nearby).

Costa Blanca (Benidorm) is another option at that time of the year, but I'm unsure of the road bike hire options there.

If going in the summer, then you'll probably want somewhere cooler, and so France would be top of my list.

MichaelW

Sept is a really good time for S Europe, cooling down and fewer tourists.
I dont think you can go too far wrong with the Pyrenees, loads of great riding on the big passes but plenty of smaller local routes.

There are quite a few road bike hire/holiday specialists, you get them in cycling hot spots but otherwise you will hire a hybrid.

andymiller

It's a bit of an all-sorts selection. It might help if you said a bit more about what sort of touring you were planning to do (eg 'credit card' staying in hotels or camping), are you looking for mountains and scenery etc etc

RonL

Italy would be my personal choice, it has it all, mixed terrain, warm days, fine food and wine. not too far between habitations, loads of variety for sightseeing or people watching and cycling crazy. Coast or inland differ but equally superb. France is a close second and such variety again. I love the local village for cheese, bread, olives and a little wine for lunch sitting in the sun with a coffee stop again in the sun.
As mentioned previously it depends how you plan to travel, loaded touring or credit card convenience. So long as you are on a bike what does it matter.

mz__jo

It will all depend on what sort of bike you can/want to hire and at what price. Bikes worth riding are frequently tied to local training or touring options and the prices can be steep (at least for me). Useable mtbs are a lot easier to find than road bikes but your touring options will be more limited geographically. Sort the bike hire out first, then look for the plane.
There are some good packages available for Italy and also I think for Spain. I am not sure that the french offer is so attractive (and a lot of it is run by english or dutch families, the french don't seem quite as switched on, they prefer Spain or Italy)

FJS

rodgers73 wrote:

Italy
South of France
Majorca
Gran Canaria
Pyrenees

Any thoughts or experience with these places? Or any other good destinations? I'm planning on hiring a bike out there so will just need a cheap flight/package deal.

Cheers

Italy is incredibly diverse, in scenery, climate, culture and cycling terrain - it really depends where in Italy you'd think of going; or to put it the other way around, somewhere in Italy there'll be something you're looking for.

Gran Canaria is great, but very very mountainous ( so good if climbing is what you're after), with year-round sun and warmth (so almost a shame to go there for that reason in summer, but who cares). The South coast around Maspalomas (which is where bikes can be rented) is built-up and ugly costa, but the rest of the island is amazingly beautiful

Don't dismiss Spain - North-West Spain (Galicia, Asturias) for instance has decent weather in late summer (very rainy later in autumn/winter/spring), will be quiet once domestic tourists have finished their summer holidays, and is very beautiful

rodgers73

I'd be wanting a road bike, rather than MTB. I had in mind basing myelf at a single venue and touring around the locale rather than going from A to B. So, islands like Majorca/Canaries appeal.

I've seen the Riccione Bike Hotels in Italy around Rimini and they seem good. Anyone encountrered these? Not sure if they're all over Italy or just that region.

PieterM

The bike hotels are indeed a great option. They are all over Italy. See here: http://www.italybikehotels.it/en/

bobinski

Family and i stayed at the Belvedere Hotel in Rimini last year and had a great time. Fantastic cycling, supported rides, v good Hotel with frankly fantastic food. It is not cheap and some of the other bike hotels are cheaper but if i could afford to go again this year i would.

andymiller

There was also a thread on here recently about a firm offering hire bikes out of Treviso. Italy is a great place to go but check the map before deciding on a destination - Italy is generally pretty hilly but it also has large flat bit (sort of between Rimin and Bologna).

blorg

If you like climbing and will have no/light load, it would be the Pyrenees for me. There is an Irish guy out there, Paddy at www.velopeloton.com, who runs a guest house and provides bike rental. I wasn't a client but met him while doing the Raid and he seemed a very nice guy and very helpful to us even though we were not his customers.

Second best for me would be Sardinia. Quiet, smooth roads, courteous drivers, and some superb cycling and scenery in the virtually untouched hilly interior. Only downside is that it is the only place in Italy I have been where the food isn't great. They can't even cook pasta right. I've also cycled in Sicily which is culturally and gastronomically very rich but not so great for riding a bike IMO.

Other places I would have a soft spot for would be virtually anywhere in France, Northern Spain (both coast and the Camino) and Serbia, which has really friendly people and some great mountains in the south. The Sierra Nevada in Andalucia ,are great for winter training, but I wouldn't go there in summer.

rodgers73

Sardinia eh? Thanks for the tip - never crossed my mind!

ralex

Corsica, probably the best place I've cycled, superb variety and scenery from mountain roads to forests and coastal routes, mostly quiet roads outwith July and August, good weather in September when we went three years in a row. Can easily combine it with Sardinia, and if you've got a lot of time you can also add on Provence and some of Italy too with the various ferry connections.

andymiller

blorg wrote:

Only downside is that it is the only place in Italy I have been where the food isn't great. They can't even cook pasta right. I've also cycled in Sicily which is culturally and gastronomically very rich but not so great for riding a bike

IME, the food in Sardinia is at least as good as anywhere else in Italy.

blorg

andymiller wrote:

IME, the food in Sardinia is at least as good as anywhere else in Italy.

We may just have been unlucky, but we were repeatedly unlucky. Much of the cycle we spent in the interior/national park which wasn't very developed, in a good way. It was developed enough that there were a smattering of small guesthouses in most towns but there weren't a lot of tourists, it was really ideal. To be honest it wasn't that the food was inedible, just that elsewhere in Italy it is so fantastic that I found it a bit underwhelming.

It was a minor issue that would not detract from the overall experience, one of the best places in Europe for cycling IMO.

andymiller

blorg wrote:

andymiller wrote:

IME, the food in Sardinia is at least as good as anywhere else in Italy.

We may just have been unlucky, but we were repeatedly unlucky. Much of the cycle we spent in the interior/national park which wasn't very developed, in a good way. It was developed enough that there were a smattering of small guesthouses in most towns but there weren't a lot of tourists, it was really ideal. To be honest it wasn't that the food was inedible, just that elsewhere in Italy it is so fantastic that I found it a bit underwhelming.

It was a minor issue that would not detract from the overall experience, one of the best places in Europe for cycling IMO.

I think you were unlucky - although I had the advantage that both of my tours on the island were with Skedaddle and the person running their tours there (and now running Skedaddle's Italian operation) knows the island extremely well which must have helped. But that said I went to a Sardinian restaurant in Rome (with a friend who lives there) and it was excellent.

blorg

andymiller wrote:

I think you were unlucky - although I had the advantage that both of my tours on the island were with Skedaddle and the person running their tours there (and now running Skedaddle's Italian operation) knows the island extremely well which must have helped. But that said I went to a Sardinian restaurant in Rome (with a friend who lives there) and it was excellent.

I am sure being there with someone who knows the island would make a big difference, they would know where to go. I didn't mean to suggest that there isn't good Sardianian food; we had some while we were there, in the bigger towns IIRC. The difference was that in other parts of Italy it is very difficult to get bad food even if you don't know the place. In Sardinia it was quite easy.

andymiller

ralex wrote:

Corsica, probably the best place I've cycled, superb variety and scenery from mountain roads to forests and coastal routes, mostly quiet roads outwith July and August, good weather in September when we went three years in a row. Can easily combine it with Sardinia, and if you've got a lot of time you can also add on Provence and some of Italy too with the various ferry connections.

I'd agree, but Corsica packs an awful lot into one small island - so I wouldn't try to do too much in one go.

@blorg I've been living and travelling in Italy for a year now. You can eat well or badly (or at least indifferently) pretty much anywhere: a lot depends on where you eat and what you eat. There are restaurants in most major Italian cities specialising in Sardinian cuisine - and they seem to do pretty well; which suggests to me that Sardinian food and cooking have a good and distinctive reputation amongst Italians.

JeremyintheCzechRepublic

You don't mention how long you have but how about combining the fantastic - and flat Les Landes region of South West France, perfect cycle lanes, completely flat, pine forests and stunning coastline http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/cycling_west_coast_france_1.htm with the wonderful Pyrenees in all their glory. Personally I would go for the Col de Pourtalet. http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/cycling_over_pyrenees_1.htm

jphil

Corsica beats everything for me possibly equal with Scotland which is great but I like to cycle with the sun out generally in summer/autumn!

It's your choice I know mine! 8)

Peter Herold

IME, the food in Sardinia is at least as good as anywhere else in Italy.

We may just have been unlucky, but we were repeatedly unlucky. Much of the cycle we spent in the interior/national park which wasn't very developed, in a good way. It was developed enough that there were a smattering of small guesthouses in most towns but there weren't a lot of tourists, it was really ideal. To be honest it wasn't that the food was inedible, just that elsewhere in Italy it is so fantastic that I found it a bit underwhelming. It was a minor issue that would not detract from the overall experience, one of the best places in Europe for cycling IMO

As a Dutch road and MTB cycling journalist said recently when he visited Sardinia, "In 15 years, this is the place whose government gave me least help to set up a trip to promote their island! BUT this place can be the next Majorca, they just need to improve infrastructure."

We have lived in the least-developed region of Sardinia for 5 years, where you have to fill in old ladies' forms for them in the Post Office and you have to drive for 1 hour to get your fork looked at. However, there is never any shortage of good places to eat, I suspect that you just need a bit of knowhow/Italian to ask people where they are. What you do find, though, is that most bars if you're out riding during the day sell only beer and crisps so we always tell people where the spings are, where the bars with sandwiches are. When we organise a ride we book sarnies at the bar at the end. They are just not used to cycling tourists, though this is gradually changing. We had someone recently ask us for help to approach a UK publisher with a view to writing a road cycling touring guide.

ciao Peter

blorg

Hi Peter, we cycled through Ogliastra while there- crossing over from Arborea to Tortoli. We overnighted in Seui. It was the best part of the trip for me, beautiful mountains and untouched villages. The descent to Tortoli was excellent.

Peter Herold

Hi Peter, we cycled through Ogliastra while there- crossing over from Arborea to Tortoli. We overnighted in Seui. It was the best part of the trip for me, beautiful mountains and untouched villages. The descent to Tortoli was excellent.

This is where we live. Roland, the Dutch journalist, rode from Arzana to Seui along the N of Montarbu and back through Ussassai. From where we live below Baunei, in 30' you reach Arzana and mountain bike riding like this
Brilliant for road cycling and mountain biking!
Glad you had a nice time, but with road and scenery like there is in this bit of Sardinia, you can't go wrong!
ciao Peter

andymiller

Peter Herold wrote:

As a Dutch road and MTB cycling journalist said recently when he visited Sardinia, "In 15 years, this is the place whose government gave me least help to set up a trip to promote their island! BUT this place can be the next Majorca, they just need to improve infrastructure.".

'The next Majorca'. Now who said the Dutch don't have a talent for diplomacy?

Mind you the breakfasts were definitely a bit odd - cake and sponge fingers (although at least the Sardinians don't serve you cornetti with something schifosa hidden inside).

Ai-oh!

rodgers73

The Canaries look tempting for winter - how are the roads over there?

Google maps shows some great looking mountain roads in Gran Canaria - are they well sealed??

mike ives

Jst come back from a week in Sardinia. Superb island: quiet, hardly any tourists, friendly people and probably the best roads in Europe.

Only wish I had taken my bike but I wasn't allowed.

JJC2

The Canaries look tempting for winter - how are the roads over there?

Google maps shows some great looking mountain roads in Gran Canaria - are they well sealed??

I spent two weeks cycle touring around the whole of the island in January, 2010.
All of the roads I encountered throughout the whole of the island were excellent and all were in very, very good condition (unlike the potholed ones over here).
The experience was absolutely superb. The weather was between 24-31 degrees with virtually unbroken sunshine the whole time. The scenery was stunning, particularly up in the mountains. The drivers were extremely courteous and patient. They don't squeeze past you with inches to spare, they are quite happy to follow behind you until there is plenty of room to give you a very wide berth. They sometimes even give a quick hoot to let you know they're coming past.
A destination I can highly recommend and one I can't wait to return to.

KnightOfTheLongTights

I am struggling with a similar dilemma - have last fortnight in September booked off.

Prepared to take my own bike and have panniers, for A-to-B-to-C style touring.

Thinking:

South of France
Mallorca
Andalucia
Tuscany (maybe Lombardy / Piedmont?)

Would also welcome recommendations for outfits that cart your stuff around for you so you can ride unencumbered.

dilemna

A bit of a ridicalous thread really - what is the best place for riding in Europe . Sorry. There are so many and one is not "better" than the other.

Firstly your riding capabilities and experience might be totally different from mine, you might not have the appropriate bike or equipment. Your idea of paradise might be hell on earth to me. You might like hot hot weather such as southern Spain or Italy where as I might like cooler climes of Norwegian fjords or the flatlands of Holland.

Just spend some time looking at a decent road map and atlas of Europe. The Michelin road atlas is brilliant for France.

Sorry to be so dismissive but how can the Alps be better than the Pyrenees in turn better than riding in the south of France along the Cote d'Or, Ligurian or Dalmation coasts in Italy better than riding SW Ireland, Scotland, the Lakes, or Corsica, or riding the over the Sierra Nevada or along the Gorge du Verdon?

First and foremost you get so much more from cycle touring or any holiday in a non English speaking country by being able to speak the language.

KnightOfTheLongTights

well not quite: the roads in Andalucia for instance might be rough and bumpy - so that would cross it off my list, as it's my first cycle tour.

I suspected for instance that Sicily might not be very good cycling country for that reason and because many of the coastal roads are also very busy.

You might also know an excellent outfit in any of the places listed that transports gear etc, which would sway my choice.

I am asking from the POV of a total novice in terms of long-distance cycling, but one who is reasonably fit and used to travelling solo in European countries and therefore 'getting by' by picking up a bit of the language as necessary.

But yes, the big choice I suppose is whether I want mountains or hills or plains.