Best place for cycling on holiday?
markhewitt1978
Posts: 7,614
Looking to go somewhere in Europe for a weeks holiday next year, but preferably somewhere where I can do a couple of half days cycling too; will just be myself and my wife and 3 year old child so all day so the focus is on a family holiday with beaches and restaurants etc, so no all day 100 mile rides, but getting out for 2-3 hours would be ok.
We've been to Mallorca twice in the last 3 years, so that's out. So somewhere that's on a par, if that's even possible?
We've been looking at Menorca, Barcelona coast, the Algarve etc.
We've been to Mallorca twice in the last 3 years, so that's out. So somewhere that's on a par, if that's even possible?
We've been looking at Menorca, Barcelona coast, the Algarve etc.
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NiceI'm sorry you don't believe in miracles0
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SloppySchleckonds wrote:Nice
Yeah, possibly. We've been there before, only drawback is the lack of package deal type hotels.0 -
Costa Blanca, resort type hotels and the riding around Muria is meant to be pretty good. I think the pro Tour of Murcia does 5 stages all in a small area so must have some decent roads.
The Algarve is OK but to get along the coast there are two roads. A motorway and the N125 also known as the road of death due to the high number of fatalities.There is something on the |Touring section about it.
A quick check and Portugal has 9.7 road deaths per year per 100,000 people. In the UK it's 3.5 and Spain it's 4.1.0 -
Brittany.. big roads.. little traffic... small roads .. no traffic.. a place where shadows are shadows and not potholes like in the UK.
Food, wine and beaches.0 -
South of France? had great success in family holidays with a bit of cycling in Annecy and around Ventoux. Annecy is particularly good, and there are plenty of places within cycling distance that are slightly cheaper than next to the lake.0
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Sounds like your after a package deal and you are hiring a bike? have a think about Cyprus.0
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+ for Cyprus. Wonderful cycling in the Troodos mountains and smooth roads. Is a long flight though.
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mamba80 wrote:Sounds like your after a package deal and you are hiring a bike? have a think about Cyprus.
Yes hiring a bike for a day or two. Hadn't considered Cyprus, I'll check it out.0 -
SloppySchleckonds wrote:Nice
Yup - very nice. Should be lovely hols.
How about Pescara and that coastline. If the riding is good enough for the Giro/Ironman Italia, the town and area is lovely, on the seaside but mountains 45 minutes drive away, fantastic food, wine, women, perfectly safe life guarded beaches (man made sand banks all along the coast so it's never more than a meter deep for 50 meters out, perfectly flat and like walking into a bath).
Did I mention the food, wine, women, scenery, culture, art, surrounding mountains, cheap flights in.........Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honoursmithy21 wrote:
He's right you know.0 -
JGSI wrote:Brittany.. big roads.. little traffic... small roads .. no traffic.. a place where shadows are shadows and not potholes like in the UK.
Food, wine and beaches.
The cheque's in the post......0 -
bernithebiker wrote:JGSI wrote:Brittany.. big roads.. little traffic... small roads .. no traffic.. a place where shadows are shadows and not potholes like in the UK.
Food, wine and beaches.
The cheque's in the post......
Weather can be dodgy though. Italy winning........Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honoursmithy21 wrote:
He's right you know.0 -
Not a package holiday but...
Depends on when you are going but my last few summers have been spent in Les Gets/Morzine in the Alps. Only an hour from Geneva, great cycling on the doorstep e.g. Col de Joux plan. Hire a ski chalet, lots of good restaurants, mountain biking as well. Nice parks Our son was about 2 when we started going. Day trips to Chamonix, Annecy. Peace and quiet. Ski lifts open from mid June for walking or sightseeing or mountain bikes.0 -
Matthewfalle wrote:bernithebiker wrote:JGSI wrote:Brittany.. big roads.. little traffic... small roads .. no traffic.. a place where shadows are shadows and not potholes like in the UK.
Food, wine and beaches.
The cheque's in the post......
Weather can be dodgy though. Italy winning........
oui, dodgy weather didnt put le Badger off though.. the answer is both places then. Nearly forgot, the Tour makes an appearance there next year.0 -
JGSI wrote:Matthewfalle wrote:bernithebiker wrote:JGSI wrote:Brittany.. big roads.. little traffic... small roads .. no traffic.. a place where shadows are shadows and not potholes like in the UK.
Food, wine and beaches.
The cheque's in the post......
Weather can be dodgy though. Italy winning........
oui, dodgy weather didnt put le Badger off though.. the answer is both places then. Nearly forgot, the Tour makes an appearance there next year.
Le Badger didn't have a wife moaning about the weather and a child going stir crazy in the accomodation as its hissing down outside and freezing cold. Tour will be there, yes, but for one day.
Alternatively, Bologna and the surrounding area is stunning, women, wine, food, homer history than you can shake a stick at, spa towns for the wife to go and get pampered as a trade off for riding days, really friendly cycle population, fantastic women, easy transport links to the UK, wonderful women.......... Brilliant anarcho/politico/student atmosphere........
Italia it is then.Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honoursmithy21 wrote:
He's right you know.0 -
Went to Nice once and it was like a horribly humid Llandudno. Steer well clear.0
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I would strongly recommend Tenerife, because the cycling from sea level, which is where all the hotels are, is excellent - straight up 1000m in 10km, quiet roads, excellent and reliable climate, incredibly courteous drivers. If you only have time for short rides, you might as well make them count by getting in some height reasonably quickly. It is package holiday territory, so plenty for the family, and not too hard on the pocket. Very helpful bike rental shops with decent bikes. And if you are allowed a day off, then you can have a climb up Mount Teide - 55km of climbing, of which only the first 10km is challenging, not even boring as the landscape changes so much. There is nowhere for food at the top though, so don't do as I did and only take 1 banana!0
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https://www.holidaywatchdog.com/12644-South_Holland-Duinrell_Holiday_Park-Holiday-Review.html
Probably not the cycling holiday you are looking for, but we went for a family holiday there when the children were small. We hired out some Dutch bikes from the site, sturdy child seats or trailer bikes to ferry your three year old around on are available.
My wife is no cyclist but she loved riding in Holland. We took the car on the ferry to get there but then hardly used it because we went everywhere on the bikes.0 -
jaxf wrote:I would strongly recommend Tenerife, because the cycling from sea level, which is where all the hotels are, is excellent - straight up 1000m in 10km, quiet roads, excellent and reliable climate, incredibly courteous drivers. If you only have time for short rides, you might as well make them count by getting in some height reasonably quickly. It is package holiday territory, so plenty for the family, and not too hard on the pocket. Very helpful bike rental shops with decent bikes. And if you are allowed a day off, then you can have a climb up Mount Teide - 55km of climbing, of which only the first 10km is challenging, not even boring as the landscape changes so much. There is nowhere for food at the top though, so don't do as I did and only take 1 banana!
That's a thought as it's along the lines of the Spanish islands. What's the climate like there compared with Mallorca as we went there in late April and it varied between being quite hot sitting on the beach weather to having to wear our coats. We'd be looking to go mid May probably.
And yeah climbing up a big massive hill does appeal 0 -
Do Tenerife and instead of doing a couple of shorter rides just do the red one here:-
http://clubactivoroadcycling.com/teidenorthtour/
Epic doesn't cover it! Would really recommend this company, nothing was too much trouble for them.0 -
Tenerife - the weather is remarkably consistent year round, and not too hot either, just lovely for actually doing things without feeling the stupor of being too hot. There is a definite difference between sea level and the end of the 2400m climb to Teide. However, not between Alacala and Santiago del Teide or Chio. I took a gilet for Teide, of which I was glad. Arm warmers would have been good for a few km, but fortunately I'm so greedy I was mainly concentrating in getting the 30km descent done as fast as possible to get to the lunch spot I'd checked out. There are ice warnings on the road near the top, but I usually cycle in the Alps (just down the road from Annecy, and I wouldn't really recommend it for the age you mentioned for your family, owing to the expense, and the lack of things for young children to do, especially if the weather is anything like it was again this summer) and the weather contrast valley to col is nothing like as great as that. I nearly had hypothermia again on the Rapha 100 going up to the Col du Petit St Bernard, with the snow and sleet in July. They can get snow on Teide, but it is an infrequent event.
I like Tenerife for cycling so much, I have gone every year since 2011, I really like the contrast with the short sharp Scottish hills, and the Savoie Alps and Italian Aosta, with the attractive climbs and swooping descents, which is where I spend most of my time.0
