Mountain Biking in Europe, any thoughts?

I'm looking at going away for a few weeks in the summer to do some Mountain Biking but am a little lost as to destinations.

A few people have suggested Morzine and the Les Gets areas that have a lot of everything, DH, Cross and XC based around a ski town.

Others suggest Chamonix which has the similar riding and a similar feel to the area.

Does anyone have any other suggestions of places to get some good sunny riding in during the summer months? Preferably Europe bound and accessible by train would be good as I'd like to take my own bike, plus the environment would be chuffed!

Cheers ears

I hear Tignes if pretty good for MTB and not very busy!

southern spain
don't know where but i know the scenery is stunning, the mountains are big, food is tasty, beer is cheap, weather will be good and hot, people are friendly and they are a keen cycling nation
flights would be cheap

Chamonix is pretty good for more natural single track trails but it's been 5 years since I was last there on a mtb so a lot of what was once rideable may now be off limits.
I keep hearing very good things about Verbier and have always wanted to go, try these guys if you want it Accomodation + guiding sorted http://www.trailaddiction.com/index.php

Or as Dicki says Southern Spain is pretty amazing, Dirt had great things to say about the trails there and Mike Saunders who runs http://www.switch-backs.com/ is a top guy.

Thanks folks, Dicki and furious, i'm liking the look of southern Spain, really nice looking trails. The prospect of sun, good food, amazing scenery and friendly people is starting to make me think that maybe working in an office in London isn't the way forward!

At the moment it seems to be either doing some serious natural singletrack around Southern Spain and maybe Italy or spending some time in a ski resort and doing some runs on the pistes.

Fuck it, maybe both?

Do Bavaria or Austria. Every man and his dog do France....

trailaddiction. based near bourg st maurice are very good.
some great trails and lift assisted riding, less DH orientated than some areas.
if you do spain then go tubeless. you will get loads of thorn punctures if you don't

Do Bavaria or Austria. Every man and his dog do France....

A couple of years ago I was in Krün near Mittelstadt and Garmisch Partenkirchen.
Beautiful trails there.
Like to go back once more.

This year I will ride the Dolomiti Superbike marathon.
My 1st real ride in the Dolomites.
Still 3 months to go...

Chamonix has brilliant valley access but the lifts are expensive - E150 for a 10 day non-consecutive pass. If you're not using the lifts I would highly recommend it.

Have you thought about the Alps in Slovenia? Much better than Austria, Germany or France both in terms of mountains, trails and beer.

There's a guide in one of this months MTB mags.

I've only done the Dolimites and that was fun.

Th dolomites look incredibly beautiful! Tommy, where abouts did you stay? did you do a guided trip or just turn up and ride by yourself/s? Also am I right in thinking you know Jon(momentum) haven't heard from him for bloody ages and heard he'd moved away? any ideas? Riding with him was always cool and would be good to know where the hell he is!

It was a guided tour with Nelson (I think that was the company name). I was luck as I was the only MTBer so I effectively had a private guide, which meant he took me on a few unofficial routes. I can't remeber (it was some time ago, nearly 10 years!) exactly where it was but it was very near the Marmolada glacier. I did a day hike round there as well. If you are interested in Hiking it's worth taking a day or two off and do some walks. Stunning.

I know Jon, yeap good fun to ride with, he has moved to Paris! Oh la la!

Hi simon - how's it going? Like Tommy said I'm in gay Paris now so no more trips to Dorking for a while! It's all very flat round here as well so I'm not super confident of findign a good replacement, although I'll keep looking.

Like you thinking of a big mountain bike trip in Europe. I read some great things about Slovenia in Singletrack magazine a few months ago and they recommended an operator there - apparently the riding is amazing, everyone is very friendly and it's pretty cheap. I threw away all my magazines when I moved but it might be worth asking on singletrackworld forum? Would be great fun!

Hey mate, ye been a while, was down Dorking the other week and the trails are still going strong, we've been doing a few trips away, think we're planning on Coed y Brenin in couple of weeks if you fancy a quick weekend back in Blighty? Let me know if you fancy anyway.

Nice one on the Slovenia tip, my Gran's from there so maybe she'll know of the best downhills and technical sections!