Cycling / family friendly holiday

[mlocke]

Anybody have any suggestions on resorts in France around the alps

Suitable for wifes and v young kids ie pool, entertainment and/or village within walking distance and adults who want to ride bikes in the mountains for a few hours

Would be looking for a self catering place we can drive to

Cheers

Locky

[Dombo]

Any of the lower ski resorts should be good as they're often proper villages and have some trees unlike the purpose-built places higher up that only look their best under 6 ft of snow.
An example would be Le Praz which is the lowest of the Courchevels at 1300m.
If you go towards Moutiers (Calais to Lyons then hang a left towards Chambery, Albertville, Moutiers) that'll dump you in the valley that all the big resorts go up from. Any of those lower villages are quite pretty in the summer.
Alternatively follow signs to Grenoble from Lyons and from there you can access the valley that serves the big tour cols like Alpe d'huez etc. As a better known cycling place you may find apartments and chalets more geared to cyclists and shops to rent stuff if you don't bring your own.
Drive from Calais should take around 10 hours - do it overnight in 1.5-2 hour stags with the missus and the kids should sleep right through. Plenty of espresso machines at the m-way stops to keep you awake

[Dan_K]

I'm looking for similar ideas myself Mark. I'm thinking that i'll book one of the Eurocamp sites and stay in one of the pre-erected tents or chalets. There's always loads to do for the kids so that everyone will be happy.
Not sure on whether to find somewhere in the heart of the Alps or opt for a bit more family orientated trip to Lake Annecy.

[Mark F]

You could do worse than Les Carroz. Its a small village in its own right with skiing in the winter and other activities in the summer - including some organised cycling events (see their website). For those who wish there is a TT ride - from memory about 13km long and 700m climbing which is on the road to Flaine - marker posts every km saying how far to go, how high and gradient. There is downhill - with one of the ski lifts being used to get up the mountain - and also a number of mountain bike trails. The rides are generally graded for difficulty - like ski pistes.

Alternatively, try a couple of the other villages in the Grand Massif - either Samoens or Morillon. Lower down and have immediate access to other sports such as canoeing.

The Grand Massif is just beyond Geneva and easy to do a day trip to Chamonix (about an hour's drive) and go up the cable car to the Aguille de Midi @ circa 3,800m for the views etc.

Mark F

[Mark F]

... and about an hour's drive to Annecy which is definitely worth a trip for the Old Town and the lake.

[Dombo]

Just don't do what I did and give a bit of Mars bar to the swans on Lake Annecy. The cold toffee sticks to their beaks and makes them very cross.

[Snoop Doug]

we've used eurocamp before (in Italy) and they were very good

[Dan_K]

[quote="Snoop Doug"]we've used eurocamp before (in Italy) and they were very good

[Dombo]

Then there's always the Club Med option. All inclusive unlimited food and drink . They have a good one at Opio in the Alps and I believe some of their prettier ski resorts are also open in the summer.
We found that after you add in accommodation, sundries, meals out when you cannot be arsed to cook, rental of sports kit etc they don't work out much more expensive than self-catering. It only looks like it as you stump up everything up front.But after that there's nothing more to pay.

[John the old'un]

There is a good Eurocamp right at the bottom of Alp d'Huez called Rencontre du Soleil. Very good.
If driving go to Calais then Reims, around Lyon, around Grenoble and head for Bourg d'Oisans and you're there.
I used to catch an 0800 ferry from Dover and arrive by 1900 local time.

[Phil L]

As an alternative to the Alps for a family holiday with some good cycling, I would recommend Beziers or villages/towns around that area in the South of France. It is close to the sea for beaches (which you won't get in the Alps), has a very long stretch of canal with tow path for family cycling. It is only 30k from the mountains (Massif Central) for your own cycling (no mega cols with a milliion and one switch backs, but still challenging). Carcassone is only an hours drive away - and the heart of the Pyrenees is 2+ hours (a bit far).

If you prefer Keycamp, then there seems to be a few in the area - but I have a done several Keycamp holidays from Normandy down to Bordeaux and most have been acceptable, though I found the further south you go the closer the pitches/mobile homes get and the less peaceful they are - so depends what you want. I stayed in a great little peaceful complex in a converted chateaux about 4 years ago [url]http://www.saintapolis.com/[/url] - lots of families with kids and communial pool.

This is the map of the local area showing the mountains:
[url]http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=B%C3%A9ziers,+France&aq=0&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=13.231382,32.475586&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=B%C3%A9ziers,+H%C3%A9rault,+Languedoc,+France&ll=43.350148,3.002014&spn=0.254147,0.769043&t=p&z=11[/url]

Hope this helps.