Where for a weeks cycling? (alternative to the alps!)

nicknick
nicknick Posts: 535
edited September 2012 in Tour & expedition
I spent a week cycling in the Alps in July seeing the tour etc. I desperately want to go back but getting to Geneva from a local airport in the summer is near impossible living up north! Travelling to the major airports down south is added hassle and expense that I want to avoid as I'll be travelling alone. So I was thinking of an alternative getaway for 5-7 days in September, and was thinking Spain but I have no idea what the best area would be for some big mountain climbs. Ideally I'd like to fly to a popular airport with cheap flights. I want to keep the cost to a minimum! Any advice on Spain would be great, or any other suggestions would be good too :)

Comments

  • Hoopdriver
    Hoopdriver Posts: 2,023
    What about Wales?
  • random man
    random man Posts: 1,518
    I'd be tempted to see how much a trip to Corsica would be. Easyjet fly from Manchester and September should be fairly quiet.
    It's one of my favourite places with some stunning scenery.
  • nicknick
    nicknick Posts: 535
    As much as I like Wales I want somewhere sunny and warm!

    Corsica is an interesting suggestion, don't know much about that Island. Will check that out...
  • bila
    bila Posts: 1
    if you are searching for cheap flights you might use travelfox.com/flights is a travel search system where you can search and compare thousands of travel websites for the lowest prices airline tickets in just very few mouse clicks.
  • i did an organised trip of sardinia ... very varied, with some relatively long climbs if you stay in the south east ish area. more mallorca like than alps. if interested, can pull together the routes we did.

    went in mid october, and was relatively sunny and warm.

    and i second wales; even with almost every ride i did in pouring rain, still fabulous.
  • Majorca?

    I met an older couple who were cycling around 50 years and said that Majorca is a cycling paradise. Worth a crack.
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    nicknick wrote:
    I spent a week cycling in the Alps in July seeing the tour etc. I desperately want to go back but getting to Geneva from a local airport in the summer is near impossible living up north! Travelling to the major airports down south is added hassle and expense that I want to avoid as I'll be travelling alone. So I was thinking of an alternative getaway for 5-7 days in September, and was thinking Spain but I have no idea what the best area would be for some big mountain climbs. Ideally I'd like to fly to a popular airport with cheap flights. I want to keep the cost to a minimum! Any advice on Spain would be great, or any other suggestions would be good too :)
    Gran Canaria and Tenerife have climbing to rival the Alps and direct flights from everywhere in the UK. Great scenery too. Perhaps a bit hot in September still?
    Flying to Barcelona or Girona and doing the Catalan side of the Pyrenees. There's some good climbing around Ripoll, Andorra is not too far and the Montseny climbs between Vic and the coast is great. No big name cols though, but certainly more 'big mountain climbs' than Mallorca
    There's loads of flights to Malaga, and good riding there and West of Ronda, but apart from one or two bigger climbs more like a sunny hot version of Wales than the Alps in terms of climbing.
    Galicia and Asturias are beautiful and great for climbing too, but i think only with direct flights from the south east
  • garyspain
    garyspain Posts: 105
    We're based in las Alpujarras, in the Sierra Nevada, southern Spain. Mountain climbing to rival the Alps, smooth quiet roads and stunning scenery. Small business with personal service and transfers from Malaga, Almeria and Granada.
    Have a look at our website
    www.vamoscycling.com

    Sarah
  • nicknick
    nicknick Posts: 535
    Thanks all for the suggestions guys (except the spam!) plenty to look at.

    Garyspain-I've never been keen on organised trips but yours looks a bit different. I may be in touch!
  • dodgy
    dodgy Posts: 2,890
    nicknick wrote:
    Thanks all for the suggestions guys (except the spam!) plenty to look at.

    Garyspain-I've never been keen on organised trips but yours looks a bit different. I may be in touch!

    Not exactly spam, you asked for information and you received a tailored response from someone who just happens to run a business. If you'd received an email from some bloke with a business uninvited to your mailbox, that would be spam imo.
  • nicknick
    nicknick Posts: 535
    dodgy wrote:

    Not exactly spam, you asked for information and you received a tailored response from someone who just happens to run a business. If you'd received an email from some bloke with a business uninvited to your mailbox, that would be spam imo.

    I wasn't referring to the post from Garyspain-read my reply again, I said I may be in touch. I was referring to a post above by 'bila' saying

    "if you are searching for cheap flights you might use travelfox.com/flights is a travel search system where you can search and compare thousands of travel websites for the lowest prices airline tickets in just very few mouse clicks."
  • Fly to Lourdes with Ryanair, move to Pau and ride the big Pyrenean cols... Aubisque, Tourmalet, Sulour, Aspin, Peyresourde, Marie Blanque, they're all round there
    left the forum March 2023