Where to cycle holiday in Europe for 7 days in September?
Moderators: robbosmans, Moderator Team
Okay, so I am in Paris on the 15th and leave on the 23rd and need help deciding what to do.
I am working in France for the two weeks prior and probably want something with varied daily rides and a changing base camp, but a little more relaxing.
I like climbing.
Dolomites:
- ridden in 2012;
- requires warm clothes.
Flanders:
- enough terrain for seven days?
- relaxing weather?
Scandinavia:
- never been;
- more expensive to travel.
French/Swiss Alps:
- ridden in 2005, 2012;
- requires warm clothes.
Sicily:
- nice and warm;
- Rome is as far south as I have been.
Morocco:
- warm;
- travel may be too tiring;
- potentially hiring a road bike will be difficult.
Croatia:
- cheaper.
Spain:
- where?
Any ideas/alternatives?
I am working in France for the two weeks prior and probably want something with varied daily rides and a changing base camp, but a little more relaxing.
I like climbing.
Dolomites:
- ridden in 2012;
- requires warm clothes.
Flanders:
- enough terrain for seven days?
- relaxing weather?
Scandinavia:
- never been;
- more expensive to travel.
French/Swiss Alps:
- ridden in 2005, 2012;
- requires warm clothes.
Sicily:
- nice and warm;
- Rome is as far south as I have been.
Morocco:
- warm;
- travel may be too tiring;
- potentially hiring a road bike will be difficult.
Croatia:
- cheaper.
Spain:
- where?
Any ideas/alternatives?
Riccò "Of the 10 controls taken, only two were positive. In theory all the tests should have been positive, therefore the method needs to be checked," he said.
Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓ Broad Selection ✓ Worldwide Delivery ✓
www.starbike.com
Morocco is definetly not in Europe ...
one week it's not much, from Paris it takes at least hallf a day to get to the places you listed
I think the best is to stay in France, either the Alps (Grenoble, Annecy, ...) or the Pyrénées (Bagneres de Luchon, ...).
It should be warm enough in september but with a risk or rain.
You can also consider Corsica, weather should be good and you can go to the beach after your rides
one week it's not much, from Paris it takes at least hallf a day to get to the places you listed
I think the best is to stay in France, either the Alps (Grenoble, Annecy, ...) or the Pyrénées (Bagneres de Luchon, ...).
It should be warm enough in september but with a risk or rain.
You can also consider Corsica, weather should be good and you can go to the beach after your rides
I had a long post weighing the benefits of your proposed places against each other.
But if you want to climb, you might just go to Spain and hit the Sierra Nevada. There's a number of fairly quiet roads between Motril, Almeria and the mountain range. Maybe not enough for a whole week, but as you said you wouldn't mind moving camp, you could always explore more places up the shoreline. The Calpe region for example is very popular among pro teams.
But if you want to climb, you might just go to Spain and hit the Sierra Nevada. There's a number of fairly quiet roads between Motril, Almeria and the mountain range. Maybe not enough for a whole week, but as you said you wouldn't mind moving camp, you could always explore more places up the shoreline. The Calpe region for example is very popular among pro teams.
Bikes: Raw Ti, 650b flatbar CX
-
- Posts: 275
- Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2011 9:29 pm
afie wrote:Flanders:
- enough terrain for seven days?
- relaxing weather?
If you like exploring the roads of Ronde van Vlaanderen, Liege-Bastogne-Liege or even Paris-Roubaix you will find enough terrain to tackle during a week. You cant call it climbing of course
About the weather ... it could be sunny and 20 degrees for a week but if you are unlucky it can be rainy as well. If you want to be sure about good weather i'd go to Spain.
Calpe sounds nice...
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/05/roadtripping-calpe/
I'v never ridden anywhere in Europe though, so i'd be happy with any of the places you've listed.
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/05/roadtripping-calpe/
I'v never ridden anywhere in Europe though, so i'd be happy with any of the places you've listed.
I have ridden a lot in the nortern part of Spain, Aragon in the Huesca region. Beautiful climbs, lovely weather especially in September, cheap food and coffe, cheap hostels and good roads. I stay in small town called Areny de Noguera just outside the big mountains but have cat. 2 and cat. 3 5km within my reach. For the HC and cat. 1s I have to ride about 40km to get there. Perfect!
works in the industry
-
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2007 4:36 pm
- Location: Aachen, Germany
You could also fly to the Canary Islands. Either Tenerife or Gran Canaria have plenty of climbing and warm weather. As I've been to GC several times, I know that you can get a rental bike very easily, but they are not cheap. And you can do the notorious Valley of the Tears climb.
it depends on how you wanna get there. if you travel by car with all the stuff (bike, luggage etc) just go south - anywhere near the French coast. or try Genoa (Italy) - close enough, with very, very scenic routes.
Genoa happens to be one of the most beautiful cities (at least on my own personal list) - i've been there this spring, but only managed to get like 3 riding days. FWIW definitely worth staying loger
Genoa happens to be one of the most beautiful cities (at least on my own personal list) - i've been there this spring, but only managed to get like 3 riding days. FWIW definitely worth staying loger
kkibbler wrote: WW remembers.
^^ Genoa is a good idea. Although when we toured through there 25+ years ago, we circled the port area twice before we could figure out how to get out of town without getting on the autostrada. Seems like we eventually had to go through a parking garage in order to get on the right road. You're also only 100k from the Cinque Terre region near La Spezia, as far as changing base camps. The "five villages" probably still isn't a good destination for road cycling, as I believe still only the train goes through. The OP says they like climbing - there's not mountains here really, but pretty rugged coastal hills and inland from Genoa was a very popular canyon climb, as well as inland from Rapallo and La Spezia offering lots of small roads and villages. I'd go back to that area in a heartbeat.
[*]I did Scicily october last year, theres some good climbs out there, and it was pretty warm, too warm at times.
its a bit of a strange place, some bits are really nice... some bits are heaped with rubbish, generally the etna end of the island is nicer and more prosperous,
we were there 8 days and cycled from the airport at palermo > Terrasini > Corleone > San Giovani Gemini > Caltanisetta > Belpasso > over Etna to Randazzo via Linguaglossa > Cesaro > Santa Agata di Militello > Termini > Terrasini > Palermo
its a bit of a strange place, some bits are really nice... some bits are heaped with rubbish, generally the etna end of the island is nicer and more prosperous,
we were there 8 days and cycled from the airport at palermo > Terrasini > Corleone > San Giovani Gemini > Caltanisetta > Belpasso > over Etna to Randazzo via Linguaglossa > Cesaro > Santa Agata di Militello > Termini > Terrasini > Palermo
Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓ Broad Selection ✓ Worldwide Delivery ✓
www.starbike.com