From Lake Geneva to the Côte d'Azur, this French Alps crossing is a must for Alpine trail riders and enduro friends. The trip combines a hand-picked selection of some of the best singletrack with an experience of the most beautiful bits and pieces of the Western Alps: broadleaf trees, firs, spruces and green pastures in the northern part, and pines, larches, boxwood and golden grass in the southern part. The trails we ride on our way to the south are simply spectacular and satisfy all types of riders: from easy and flowy to steep and technical. You will be amazed by the unspoiled mountain landscapes which parade one by one: Chablais, Mont-Blanc, Beaufortain, Haute Tarentaise and Haute Maurienne, Briançonnais, Queyras, Mercantour, Vésubie and the Sospel area in the hinterland of Nice. If you like singletrack descents and the Alps, our Alpissimo trip is for you.
Thanks to our support vehicle, we have great flexibility on the daily stages. We can adapt the routes according to the level of the group, the trail conditions and the weather. For this reason, we do not provide mileages and altitude gain in the programme below, but only a range linked to the level of the circuit. Each day, we cover 35 to 50 kilometres, with a maximum of 1,000 metres of cumulated climbing and 1,500 to 3,000 metres of cumulated descents.
Enduro mountain bikes are available for rent for the guided and self-guided versions of this tour.
The bike will be provided by your guide or the driver on the first day of the tour.
Model: Scott Genius 740 (subject to availability) or equivalent : 520€
Please indicate your height when completing the booking form.
You are a group of friends, a family, a company or a cycling club and you would like to organise a private cycling tour on the dates of your choice. This option is available for guided and self-guided tours.
For more information or to receive a quote, please contact us by phone at +33 458 140 435 or by email at info@france-bike-trips.com.
In order to make a booking please fill in the online booking form on the "booking" page of your chosen tour. At the end of the booking process you will be transferred to our bank's secure payment page in order to pay a 30 % deposit.
All self-guided bookings made within 21 days of tour departure will incur a surcharge of 15 € per person.
A dedicated team of travel specialists is available to offer you expert advice Monday to Friday from 9 am to 6 pm (French time) by phone - +33 458 140 435 or by mail - info@france-bike-trips.com.
In order to confirm our guided tours, we need to reach a minimum number of participants (usually 5 persons are necessary). Therefore booking a guided tour does not necessarily mean the tour is confirmed. In the unlikely event that we are unable to confirm your chosen tour, we will offer you the opportunity (no less than 21 days before departure) of switching to another (confirmed) tour, or receiving a full refund.
Self-guided or custom tours: We confirm bookings of self-guided tours and custom tours directly after booking.
In both cases, please await our final booking confirmation before making any travel arrangements.
Tour balance payment must be made no less than 30 days before tour departure. Your travel documents will be sent to you once we have received your balance payment. Road books and maps will be sent to you 3 weeks before departure.
In the event that you are obliged to cancel your tour France Bike Trips will reimburse the entire sum paid for the tour, minus the following cancellation charges:
Full details of our sales conditions are available here
It is important to be correctly insured when embarking on a cycling holiday. We recommend checking the details of your travel insurance (if you have one) and, if necessary, subscribing to our contract below. Please note that France Bike Trips is simply an intermediary between you and the insurance company.
You can choose between these travel insurance contracts while completing your booking form:
Recommendation: |
For those looking to make the most of the singletrack trails and the descents, but without too much climbing. Our enduro tours offer:
We offer two "Enduro" trip formulas:
For guided trips we limit the size of our groups from 5 (min) to 12 (max) persons in order to ensure security and conviviality.
You will be guided by English-speaking French mountain bike guides.
By train: From Paris Gare de Lyon train station to Thonon-les-Bains train station (about 5h by TGV train).
https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/
By plane:
By car:
Route planner: en.mappy.com
Coming back:
You can return to Menton by taking the train from Thonon-les-bains (about 9h) : https://www.sncf-connect.com/en-en/
We favour comfortable accommodation with warm hospitality. For more details, please see the "Costs and services" section.
For private groups and self-guided tours it is possible to choose alternative accommodation (upgrade) depending on availability.
"L'art de la table"
We pay very careful attention to the quality and the variety of your meals. Fresh and local produce will be served wherever possible.
If you decide to bring your own bike, be aware that transporting a bike by plane or train is no longer an issue. However a few simple guidelines help to optimise the transport and avoid potential damages that could occur.
Your bike must be transported in a designated bike bag (standard size 120x90cm). This maximal size allows you to travel with your bike as "hand luggage" in any TGV and SNCF trains.
It is very important that you protect your bike in the bag. After having deflated the tires, removed the wheels (by removing the quick release mechanisms), pedals and rear derailleur (which is left hanging on the chain), we recommend you wrap your bike inside the bag in a sheet of dense foam (thickness of 3 to 5 cm). A piece of cardboard or rigid plastic positioned between the foam and the inside of the cover can be beneficial to provide more rigidity.
Once folded up the bike bag will take up very little space and will be transported by the assistance vehicle during your tour.
Bike bags are available directly from France Bike Trips at a cost of 70 euros, plus postage.
During the day you carry only a daypack for additional clothing, water, food, camera, etc. The rest of your baggage is transferred each day to the following nights accommodation.
We strongly recommend having a medical check-up before your holiday.
- A "group" tour: If you join a guided tour, you will be part of a group for several days. This is a superb opportunity to meet new people and share some magical moments. However, a group tour requires that each person show friendliness, openness and mutual respect for their fellow travellers.
- An "adventure" tour: despite the most careful preparation, adventure tours can present unforeseen events. Accepting these risks will help you enjoy your trip to the full, in the knowledge that your guide, our local partners and the entire France Bike Trips team will offer you the most suitable solutions to any given situation.
A full suspension bike is highly recommended for our "all mountain/enduro" trips.
All your luggage must fit in two bags: a daypack and a travel bag.
This is the bag you will keep with you each day whilst riding. This bag should not be too large (up to 30 litres).
It will contain: a picnic lunch, camera, waterproof, extra clothing, sunglasses...
Each day, your guide will advise you on what to bring in your bag according to the route and the weather.
This is the bag that will be transported from one accommodation to the next by vehicle. It should contain all the belongings you will not use during the day.
Please note: Your luggage transported from one accommodation to the next must fit in a single bag and must not exceed 20kg maximum - or less if stated otherwise in the included services).
If you rent your MTB from France Bike Trips, this material is not necessary.
We offer a self-guided formula for some of our enduro trips. This formula includes, throughout the trip:
You carry only your daypack. Anything you don't need during the day is stored in the support vehicle. For centre-based tours, your belongings will of course remain at the accommodation. Each day, our driver and your group will agree on the organisation of the day:
The number of return trips of our support vehicle is unlimited. The sector of the day is fixed by the tour programme. Any modification of the sector is subject to acceptance by our driver.
The driver is equipped can be reached at any time of the day in case of a major problem, or simply to adjust a schedule (mobile phone). Based on the maps and GPS tracks, the group is autonomous regarding navigation and can therefore ride at its own pace.
The trip can be booked any time from mid-June to end of September.
Price per person for a group of:
A single room supplement will be applied for all odd-numbered groups.
If you choose to book a self-guided tour, we provide the GPS tracks of the route. You will be able to download the GPX type files from your France Bike Trips user account once you receive our travel documents by email. They are compatible with all current GPS software applications and editors.
These tracks have been created using professional mapping software. There may be slight differences between the GPS track and the reality on the terrain. The GPS tracks should thus be considered a "plus" to help you find your way. However, they are by no means a substitute for orientation with the help of the highlighted map material.
The distances and altitude gain in the tour's programme remain the reference. Indeed, real-world altitude and mileages can be different and vary significantly from the data shown in GPS software applications.
We ask you not to publish these GPS tracks on any website, social network or anywhere else. Their elaboration required many hours of hard work, both to create the track in the field, but also in our software applications. The non-respect of this ethic would force us to remove these valuable tool from our offer.
We offer digital map material with highlighted tracks for our self-guided tours by default. These are printable (A4, pdf format).
On request, we can provide you with analogue maps containing the highlighted itinerary and route infos (official French maps at a scale of 1:25,000). Shipment will be made to the accommodation of your extra night before the tour.
Price of this option incl. shipping within France: see supplementary services
Please let us know in the booking form if you would like this option. Please also give us an accommodation address for shipping if you do not book an extra night through us before the tour.
In order to achieve the planned tour programme, you must:
Self-guided tours are undertaken without a guide and at your own risk. France Bike Trips cannot be held liable for any route error, misconduct, personal imprudence, inadequate planning or inappropriate reactions in the event of incidents.
Any programme change of your own initiative is under your responsibility and at your expense.
Having said this, with our advice and good preparation, you should be able to look forward to a wonderful, trouble free holiday. Enjoy your trip!
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A dedicated team of travel specialists is available to offer you expert advice Monday to Friday from 9 to 12:30 AM and 13:30 to 6 PM (French time) on the phone, or by email.
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