French Alps MTB advice 2025?

Going for basically the month of August. Flying into Geneva and taking a train to Grenoble where we'll rent a minivan for the duration of our trip. Bringing our Enduro/Trail bikes and looking for "Enduro" style (hahaha) riding and bike park. I dont hit big jumps anymore so thats not a priority but I still love small to medium jumps, and tech. I know theres been a fair amount of Euro/France bike talk as recently as last season and I searched but couldn't find super relevant recent threads. We did a month in Switzerland by train/bus two years ago and hit Flims/Laax, Lenzerhide, Belwood, and Airolo, and did some riding around Andermatt and Interlaken/Grindelvald. Awesome trip, we loved it.

So far planning for a week each at Freney D'Oisans near Les Deux Alpes and Morzine near Les Gets.

Lodging we've found around Les Arcs is super pricey, should we prioritize some time there?

What other spots are good?

Were down to pedal and like backcountry riding a too but from our time in Switzerland I know it's always nice to get a lift bump in the Alps.

Any off the beaten path gems you all can recommend?

Gonna make our way over to Andermatt to visit the Lady's brother toward the end so bonus for stuff in that direction.

Thanks Mags!

We're spending a while in Bourg / Les Arcs this summer. Hit me up if you're in the neighborhood.

Of the places I've been previously:

Les Arcs zone. Great because access is super easy with the funicular. Generally speaking, I'd say the trails in the Les Arcs bike park are fine, but not mind blowing. 1 day inside the bike park would probably be enough. There are some great trails outside of the bike park (and there's lots of them). Biggest upside of that area is the ease of access - the funicular out of town is a huge bonus. Pretty easy to bang out 5k vert descents on a wide variety of trails. If you want to do something that's not lift served, Cool Bus is based in Bourg. They're set up to do bike shuttles. They often work with guides, but a lot of the stuff in that zone is on trailforks and you can work out some drop offs / pick ups without paying for a guide. We got Cool Bus to bump us up to near Tignes and then rode back down to Bourg. That was a cool ride.

La Plagne zone (just down valley from Bourg / Les Arcs). The bike park is ok. There's some fun stuff in the main bike park but a 1/2 day there was enough. The backside (Champagny En Vanoise and Mont Jovet areas) has some super cool enduro-y trails; big descents that generally involve a bit of pedaling. Definitely worth a day or two. There's also a bunch of stuff on the frontside below the bike park, but I haven't explored it yet.

Meribel / Le Trois Vallees. Much better bike park trails than Les Arcs or La Plagne. Some great stuff that involves a bit of pedaling too. Did a lot of great riding in this area. The villages feel very resort-y, so I wasn't as excited about staying there.

Aosta Valley. La Thuile is an awesome bike park. No jumps. Just steep rooty gnar. Aosta town is great; been a few years since I was there, but it was cheap and the food was awesome. There are some decent trails both in and out of the bike park at Pila. We also did a day down at Cervinia; the trails were decent, but it gets a significant bump in coolness because you're right under the Matterhorn.

Chamonix. Only rode one day there, but it was fun. More of a hiking town, at least mid-summer. I think there's more options for riding later in the season. My understanding is there's some great under the radar riding a bit outside of town that's not clogged with hikers.

Haven't been yet, but a buddy was in La Grave last summer and it sounds ridiculously awesome. It's on my short list for the summer. Alpe Duez and Le Deux Alps are also in that vicinity and look like solid bike parks with sidecountry access.

Dude awesome thanks! I'll hit you and see if our itineraries will overlap. Would be awesome to get some riding in with ya.Looking at these places now, We'll be close to La Grave so we'll for sure check that out.

If you have a van then hit a load of spots.

Les Arcs/La Plagne: decent park, good outside the park. A guided day on each would be worth the spend then ride on your own another day or two.

La Grave: Big vertical, must ride. Easy enough to follow the trail maps. New trails in the last couple of years.

Les Deux Alpes/3 Vallees/Tignes: Never ridden any of them but meant to be decent park. Surely stuff to pedal to off the lifts too.

La Thuile: Good park, not overbuilt for the most part.

Pila: Excellent park. Leave enough energy in your tank to finish with the upper ridgeline to 21B (about 2000m descending). If the top chair isn't running then push up to it.

Aosta Valley Freeride shuttle days are good. Nice guys. Without shuttles it would mean big pedals on the north side of the valley in August heat and guessing at trails.

Les Saisies: Mellow but fun park trails, good natural stuff to the north and west and bus to return.

Les Houches: OK park as long as it's dry. Good natural stuff to Servoz and Saint Gervais then train to return, or start down there with a train ride. Ask locals get an IGN map app (Geoportail is free I think).

Chamonix (Brevent/Flegere): off-limits to bikes in July & August and too busy with hikers in August to bother riding anyway. Good technical hiking trails otherwise.

Le Tour/Vallorcine: Le Tour park isn't worth spending time on unless you already bought a day ticket and just want to mix things up. Vallorcine's two trails are great. Good hiking trails a shirt pedal/push above Le Tour chairlift into Vallorcine, Chatelard or Trient but start from Croix de Fer to avoid Chamonix trail restrictions and look out for hikers.

Crans Montana: Pretty fun park. The big descent off Plaine Morte is highly rated but I still haven't done it.

Verbier: Great mix of park and natural riding. Hire a guide for a day to make the most of it.

Morzine/Les Gets: Overrated in my opinion, and busy in August. Ride the park a day or two and ask locals what to pedal to from the lifts.

Chatel: Good park, hit it.

Flaine/Samoens/Les Carroz: Worth a ride. Decent park and some hidden stuff, speak to locals.

La Clusaz: Good mix, built-up park trails off the lifts and a short pedal to good tech off the top.

Zermatt: Never ridden it but a guy from North Vancouver I rode a few days with years ago said it was hands-down his favourite spot of his trip. Crazy expensive lift/train tickets though and probably busy with hikers in August.

AWesome thanks for the tips!

Will look into al that stuff.

We intentionally skipped Zermatt on our last Euro trip due to the tourist factor, should prolly check it out some time though. We were there later in the season, bracing for big crowds everywhere this trip.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by beaterdit

bracing for big crowds everywhere this trip.

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When I was in les arcs and le 3 vallees two years ago in August, crowds were negligible. Some restaurants were crowded at prime dinner time, but never waited in a noteworthy lift line and none of the trails seemed overcrowded. The funi from bourg to les arcs was full every time, but we never missed a funi due to fullness.

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OK so this is happening soon! We'll be in the L2A (also La Grave) area from 8/7-8/12ish, then Tignes/Les Arcs from 8/13-8/16ish, Albertville 8/16-18ish, then Tanginges (Les Gets, Morzine) till the 26th. We have a van and are mostly staying down valley from the resorts to save money. Means we'll also be within striking distance of several areas for day trips.After that we head to Switzerland for a few days to meet up with family. Mags post up if you're in those areas and maybe we can hook up!