Cycling Vacation Recs

Oct 4, 17 10:17

Post #1 of 19 (2229 views)

My wife and I are planning our big annual vacation and want it to be in a really good, maybe exotic cycling destination. We're from Chicago originally but moved to San Francisco a year ago and can't believe how good cycling is here. Since moving here we've really started appreciating big climbs, descents, etc.
What's the best (outside of the US) cycling you've done, and would you recommend someone took a vacation there just to experience the cycling?

Right now the front runner is Majorca. I read a while ago on a cycling forum that it has some of the best in the world. I'm looking for big climbs, well-kept roads, big twisty descents, and epic views.

I'm more of a cyclist than my wife, so I imagine I'd go out on my own for most of a day on some of the days, other days ride together. In that case I'd like there to be other things in the area for her to do. Some kind of history, beach, museum/culture, etc.

We're looking to go sometime early to mid 2018, probably somewhere between Feb-May.
Please let me know

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [cbr shadow] [ In reply to ]

Oct 4, 17 10:27

Post #2 of 19 (2215 views)

I've had a lot of luck with trektravel trips in the past... may want to check those out

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [cbr shadow] [ In reply to ]

Oct 4, 17 10:45

Post #3 of 19 (2190 views)

I've only heard good things about this place in Italy. http://www.belvederericcione.com/...hotel-italy/1-0.html

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [cbr shadow] [ In reply to ]

Oct 4, 17 10:56

Post #4 of 19 (2178 views)

Check out Aspen Cycling Tours. The owner is great and they do trips to Mallorca, New Zealand, Colorado, California, and Wyoming. As soon (if ever) I get the approval from the wife, I'll be doing one! Reasonably priced compared to most (still not cheap).

https://twitter.com/mungub

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [dcohen24] [ In reply to ]

Oct 4, 17 11:15

Post #5 of 19 (2168 views)

Second on the Trektravel rec. Doing Provence next summer!

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [cbr shadow] [ In reply to ]

Oct 4, 17 11:56

Post #6 of 19 (2134 views)

I've done three trips with Thomson Bike Tours (France, Italy and Austria) and likely doing a 4th one next summer (Spain). Can't go wrong with them.

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [cbr shadow] [ In reply to ]

Oct 4, 17 12:09

Post #7 of 19 (2122 views)

Gran Canaria:.farther south, hotter weather, water that's warm enough to swim in.

Andalusia probably offers more for your wife and would be cheaper than the islands and still has mind blowing cycling. Málaga would be a good base.

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [cbr shadow] [ In reply to ]

Oct 4, 17 14:59

Post #8 of 19 (2052 views)

For part of our honeymoon my wife and I did a cycling tour in France through Custom Getaways. They are a Tour de France 'operator', so we rode parts of the stages (in the morning) that the teams would ride later that day, had access to the warmup area and seating at the start or finish lines for the stages, depending on the stage. Cost included hotel, meals, transportation to / from airports, and bus after the day's ride to the hotel the next night. There was an option to rent nice road bikes (which we used, as shipping / insuring our bikes was more expensive) but you could bring your bike along. We were very impressed with how well things went.

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [cbr shadow] [ In reply to ]

Oct 4, 17 16:38

Post #9 of 19 (2014 views)

Lake Annecy area of France

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [Zenmaster28] [ In reply to ]

Oct 4, 17 16:54

Post #10 of 19 (2003 views)

Zenmaster28 wrote:

I've only heard good things about this place in Italy. http://www.belvederericcione.com/...hotel-italy/1-0.html

I did hotel Dory in Riccione. Organized rides with guides. A trip to the owner’s farm for lunch one day. Rode to Pesaro and then through a state park along the Adriatic another day. Rode to and up Monte Carpegna (Pantani’s old training grounds). If your wife isn’t a cyclist, they have various activities/expeditions for her while you ride. Highly recommend.

Last edited by: afrizzledfry: Oct 4, 17 16:55

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [cbr shadow] [ In reply to ]

Oct 4, 17 17:19

Post #11 of 19 (1988 views)

the Blue Ridge Parkway, ride the whole thing.

or

Luz-Saint-Sauveur

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [cbr shadow] [ In reply to ]

Oct 4, 17 20:39

Post #12 of 19 (1930 views)

Girona, Spain was pretty nice. Ride to the Costa Brava one day, then climbing the next. Not huge mountain climbs but enough to be interesting. A bit farther south, the area north of Alicante was also really nice, with lots of climbing.

Spent 10 days riding in Tuscany, riding from the Bolgheri area. This was beautiful ... and good wine! This might be my choice.

Rode in the French Alps this past summer. Can't go wrong there either. Classic climbs from the TdF, etc.

Northern Italy, doing famous Giro climbs in the Dolomites ... or Como ... or area around Bergamo.

conclusion: there are so many great places to ride! Pick one, don't fret it, then try another next time.

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [BrianB] [ In reply to ]

Oct 4, 17 21:13

Post #13 of 19 (1915 views)

Riding the Pyrenees left to right was the best cycling I've done, outside of the US. I've heard the dolomites are pretty nice also.

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [cbr shadow] [ In reply to ]

Oct 5, 17 0:06

Post #14 of 19 (1880 views)

I live in Provence, just outside Grasse.

We could argue about where best is endlessly but for quiet roads, great surfaces and the ability to climb and descend for hours i think you would be hard pressed to beat this.

There is a reason why Pro's live here.

That said Majorca or here, or haute alpes, or Girona all offer similar access to incredible cycling.

Edit to add: the thing that i think is unclear until you get to these places is the amount of riding thats just not well publicised.

All you need to do is get a map extending from cannes to monaco and look at elevation gain in to Verdon and in to mercantour.

You can climb from coast to 1500-2000m and more and be back for dinner on the promenade.

Mercantour and col d brouis is the most amazing place i have been through down here. Sospel is fantastic.

Col ecre, eze, vence, brouis - there must be hundreds of climbs and variants that get you massive vertical in limited km

My usual rides are 6-850m of climbing and descending for every 30km

Last edited by: Andrewmc: Oct 5, 17 0:21

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [cbr shadow] [ In reply to ]

Oct 5, 17 4:34

Post #15 of 19 (1838 views)

Just to add to my rec. I was in the Bormio area and western Dolomites this past summer: very beautiful but lots of traffic. I personally prefer quiet side roads with lots of climbing and Annecy outclasses northern Italy for me in this regard. But no doubt the Dolomites are incredibly beautiful.

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [robabeatle] [ In reply to ]

Oct 5, 17 8:36

Post #16 of 19 (1777 views)

This might be a bit contrarien as most people wouldn't consider it a cycling destination.
But Maui has some amazing riding and obviously is a beautiful place to vacation.
Haleakla and the West Maui loop are some of the best riding I have ever done.

----------------------------
http://www.instagram.com/cyclewise

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [robabeatle] [ In reply to ]

Oct 5, 17 11:12

Post #17 of 19 (1732 views)

Another spot off the beaten path is Taiwan. Lots of mountains, bike paths in Taipei, and very cheap good food. Very easy to rent a bike at the Giant dealers there, were you can pick up at one location and drop off at a different one.

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [cbr shadow] [ In reply to ]

Oct 5, 17 15:29

Post #18 of 19 (1676 views)

I spent a couple of weeks cycling in the Pyrenees this year. They are spectacular. If you are a TDF fan you will recognise the names of many of the climbs.

Most days we avoided the area where the TDF was, to miss the crowds. On the last day we went and watched a stage - fantastic day, great fun.

Re: Cycling Vacation Recs [Andrewmc] [ In reply to ]

Oct 5, 17 16:04

Post #19 of 19 (1659 views)

Andrewmc wrote:

I live in Provence, just outside Grasse.

We could argue about where best is endlessly but for quiet roads, great surfaces and the ability to climb and descend for hours i think you would be hard pressed to beat this.

There is a reason why Pro's live here.

That said Majorca or here, or haute alpes, or Girona all offer similar access to incredible cycling.

Edit to add: the thing that i think is unclear until you get to these places is the amount of riding thats just not well publicised.

All you need to do is get a map extending from cannes to monaco and look at elevation gain in to Verdon and in to mercantour.

You can climb from coast to 1500-2000m and more and be back for dinner on the promenade.

Mercantour and col d brouis is the most amazing place i have been through down here. Sospel is fantastic.

Col ecre, eze, vence, brouis - there must be hundreds of climbs and variants that get you massive vertical in limited km

My usual rides are 6-850m of climbing and descending for every 30km

Seriously. Been in Nice the last few days and doing day trips out to Eze, Monaco, Antibes and etc. outerlying areas (by car) and every road I've been on I think "damn, wish I had my bike out here!" Very jealous of all the locals I've seen zipping around.

Our Partners

transition-DOT-area-AT-slowtwitch-DOT-com

Advertise with us

©1999-2024 Slowtwitch, Inc., and Slowtwitch.com
Reproduction of material from any Slowtwitch.com page
without written permission is strictly prohibited.