Weight Weenies

I have been in Slovenia this past week (5km away from Jure, unfortunately he was away in Austria and now Eurobike so I couldn't visit him) and I have to say that it is a fantastic country. The capital, Ljubljana is very pretty etc but the riding is incredible. I didn't bring my bike but from walks the forest trails are awesome and the roads are while and well paved with a wide variety of terrain. There is a 12km climb nearby which is very steep. A short drive/ride to Austria or Italy. I can't speak Slovenian but can get buy with English or German. Cool country.

Andalucía is a good choice (the south of Spain). Granada/Malaga/Sevilla. You can get by without speaking the language well and the people are generally kind and approachable.

Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com

+1 on Annecy if the size doesn't matter (there's some nice bike shops as well). I kind of like Lugano as well (on swiss side), seems to have similar vibe to Annecy...
-1 on Nice. Expencive and not as friendly as the non-tourist-driven cities.

How about Chambery? Riding, skiing and of course the possibility to ride a world championship course while you are at it... in a pleasant part of the world that makes trips to Italy and Switzerland feasible also.

probably the best places to live (not just ride...) are cities located nearby 'cycling' areas. Bolzano, Salzburg, Grenoble... you get the whole infrastructure, career opportunities, education options (for yourself or the kids), shopping centers (for your prettier half) etc,etc. and still some of the greatest roads are literally just outside your backyard

I moved to Amsterdam from Chicago last March. First season here. Basically traded one flat windy region for another but I prefer the scenery and dedicated lanes versus the chaos in the city or boredom of Midwest cornfield rollers.