Where to stay for a Swiss/Austria trip?

[MrChips]

So a couple of years ago myself, a work mate and JohnD a fellow PHer went on a little trip through France/Italy/Switzerland.

We trailered the bikes down and set off from Morzine on a 3day loop to include lake Como, Stelvio, and the furkapass before returning to Morzine.
We're now starting to plan another trip and we're thinking of staying in one place (or maximum 2) and just doing day trips out from there. We loved the furkapass and didn't get time to do Grimsell or any of the other passes that are in they area, but we're also worried that by just doing daytrips we'd lose the variety of roads.

For those that have ridden in that general area (or anywhere else within 8-10hrs drive of Calais).. Where would you go and more specifically where would you stay?

[Andybow]

martigney would be a good place to stay, fantastic cols around the French, Italian , Swiss border, also not far to the furkapass, Switzerland is gonna be more expensive to stay than France though! The problem with morzine its on the wrong side of the mountain that you need to go! For me the best area to stay would be briancon as there are some incredible roads around there! Be very careful now with the Swiss police re speeding, fines are huge!

[Hooli]

We've just booked the best looking cheap place on laterooms.com & generally they seem pretty good.

[hebegb494]

Agree with both above ideas , and would probably not recommend staying in the one location but move around a little ,starting around Mulhouse / Belfort and then cross borders to explore be it Switzerland / Italy during a day. The Simplonpass is superb if you haven't tried it ( Hotel Col on the top )and drops you down nicely for the Furkapass and possibly a night on Lake Maggiore - Verbania ( Europa Palace ?) as a good location, but stay ,as stated above, on the Italian side as opposed to the Swiss side, because it is ridiculous to even breathe the air there, hotels, food,beer,all 3,4,up to 5 times the price and messing about with Swiss Francs instead of Euro is a ballache.

Oh ,and don't get caught overtaking in the St.Gotthard tunnel if ever you need to use it. You will be marched to a cashpoint at the police station and releived of a week's salary..

Edited by hebegb494 on Thursday 18th December 12:38

[HiFiHunter]

I'm not massively familiar with the area, but my wife and I stayed in Mayrhofen one summer many years ago. Was super cheap (1 week, full board flight & transfers for £180 each!) Traditionally a ski resort, but still good in summer for exploring hills, lots of walkers and cyclists. There's also the Hintetux glacier close too, if you do fancy a quick ski. Also close to Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Could be worth investigating.

[black-k1]

Firstly, I'll start by saying that much as I love the roads and scenery, I don't like Switzerland. Too expensive and just a little too anal about petty rules. The Austrians don't appear to be much better but I can't really comment as I've not been to Austria.

Right, with that out of the way, my answer to the question of where to stay is ... Italy! Just as many great roads but much cheaper and considerably more friendly.

We've done a number of "single location" trips (check out www.old-gits.org/TripHistory.htm ) and we've never had a problem with that approach. The advantage of being able to leave the luggage in the hotel room while you enjoy the roads can not be underestimated. If you plan on between 200 and 250 miles per day then even a single location trip will give you a huge choice of roads to ride and means you don't waste an hour each end of the day packing and unpacking.

Either way, enjoy your trip and let us know how you get on.