Portugal
Casas do Coro, Maraialva, Portugal
Luxury refurbished traditional houses grouped around a pool in a beautiful medieval village, an eco spa concept, a vineyard and accreditation to the Portuguese Bikotel bike hotel organisation means the Casas do Coro in the delightfully empty northern Guarda District ticks many boxes. Bikotel membership means a secured bike garage, bike washing facilities, cyclist menus, overnight bike kit laundry, workshop facilities, and bike routes. The Casas do Coro has all these plus graded mountain bike and road routes for GPS self-guiding or with personal guides, as well as several bikes to borrow, so you can explore this historic rolling landscape of castles and vineyards in the Poprtuguese sunshine.
Price: from £127 per room per night. casasdocoro.pt
Spain
Hotel Museu Llegendes de Girona, Catalonia
Set right in the heart of this northeastern Catalonia medieval city, just an hour north of Barcelona, the four-star Hotel Museu is the perfect hub for exploring both the dense cobbled alleyways of Girona and the mountains that start right outside it. Services include bike rental, guided tours, and secure bike storage. Road cycling fans will find the surrounding hills, mountains and nearby coastal roads on the Costa Brava littered with Strava segments from the professional peloton, as many teams were – and still are – based in the city. Mountain bikers are spoiled for options from the city too, with routes into the Pyreneean foothills offering everything from all-day singletrack, to river beds, technical descents, gravel trails and converted railway tracks.
Price: from £96 per room per night. llegendeshotel.com
Switzerland
Deltapark Vitalresort, Gwatt, Interlaken, Switzerland
Opened in 2016, this four-star hotel sits on the edge of Lake Thun in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland, surrounded by nature reserves, authentic Swiss villages and glorious mountain scenery. As well as a holistic spa with indoor salt water pool, saunas, and steam baths for treating tired legs, cyclists can hire bikes and join daily guided tours, use e-bike charging points, a bike workshop and lock up, and even get a full sports science makeover with the hotel’s diagnostic equipment and coaching experts.
Price: from £172 per room per night
Italy
Silva Splendid Bike Hotel, Fiuggi, Lazio, Italy
Deep among a hilly rural landscape of natural reserves, historic pan-tiled towns, castles and vineyards, the Silva Splendid offers a four-star luxury spa hotel base for roadies and mountain bikers just an hour south of Rome. Dedicated cycling services include free bike kit laundry, secure bike room with a mechanic, packed lunches, post-ride sport massages, high-end carbon Bianchi rental road and mountain bikes, GPS loan for self-guided touring and guided routes every day to make the best of the forests, hills and mountains of this fascinating Roman region. The hotel can also provide supported entry into the hugely popular Granfondo Campagnolo Rome sportive ride.
Price: from £74 per room per night. silvasplendid.it
Scotland
Airds Hotel, Port Appin, Argyll, Scotland
This luxury boutique four-star hotel is set in a converted ferry inn on the west coast in the Scottish Highlands, looking out over the ruggedly beautiful Loch Linnhe and its iconic castle. Every road here is a scenic gem, with ever-changing skies (and weather!) framing the western highland landscape of mountains and water. Sustrans route 78 between Benerloch and Ballachulish runs past the hotel along the shoreline of Loch Linnhe and for an even quieter ride you can take the small passenger ferry to the 10-mile-long island of Lismore. Thanks to Scotland’s ‘right to roam’ mountain bikers can explore virtually anywhere there’s a track, with countless trails accessible from the hotel door. For world-class managed trails and downhill courses, Fort William’s World Cup trail centre is just 50 minutes away. The hotel will happily arrange bike hire for you from Port Appin.
Price: From £305 (includes 5-course dinner, room and full Scottish breakfast). airds-hotel.com
England
Appleby Manor Hotel, Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria
With the stunning backdrop of the Eden Valley, the Lake District to the west and the north Pennines to the wast, the four-star Appleby Manor is blessed with epic riding options, right from its front door. The hotel has dozens of pre-planned routes to choose from, with epic climbs and stunning scenery in every direction both on and off road but for those who’d prefer a flatter ride – with the scenery left in – the hotel also hires electric bikes by the day or half day. Capable of 30-40 mile hilly rides, these bikes will help you go further, faster, more easily, while still getting your fill of Lakeland fresh air and pedalling. The hotel also provides helmet, pannier, lock and pump plus a high-visibility vest so you can just turn up and go. Love hills, no matter how much they hurt? Then bring your own bikes and stash them in the free secure bike storage. Packed lunches and bike kit laundry are also available.
Price: from £129 per room per night. applebymanor.co.uk
Wales
Penmaenuchaf Hall Hotel, Snowdonia, Wales
Nestled in North Wales’ stunning Snowdonia National Park, just above Penmaenpool, the Penmaenuchaf Hall Hotel makes up for its tongue-twisting name with the mind-boggling scenery that surrounds it. Sitting just above Penmaenpool, this Victorian country house hotel has gorgeous views of the Mawddach Estuary, the wooded hillsides that circle it and the gorse-topped mountains of Snowdonia beyond. For leisure riding the hotel is surrounded by a network of quiet lanes, with the wonderful traffic-free Mawddach railway trail from Dolgellau to the sea at Barmouth just a couple of minutes’ ride away. The mountain bikers have the bike trail haven of Coed-y-Brenin forest trail centre only a few minutes away on the other side of the estuary, where they’ll find expertly built graded trails for everyone from novice families to expert single-track carvers and downhillers.
Price: from £133 per room per night. penhall.co.uk
South Tyrol, Italy
Alpenheim Spa Hotel, Ortisei di Val Gardena, Italian Dolomites
With the incredible limestone peaks of the South Tyrol Dolomites all around, the Alpenheim Hotel is perfectly placed for two-wheeled mountain adventures at an altitude of 1,236m. All around are riding destinations whose names are part of cycling legend: Sassolungo, Sella, Marmolada, Tofana, Catinaccio, Tre Cime di Lavaredo, with epic downhills, single track safaris, as well as easy forestry trails to explore. Experts will have their sights set on the awesome Sellaronda Mountainbike tour around the Sella massif, which can be done with one of the hotel’s expert guides. Roadies can take on the equally epic passes which litter this truly spectacular mountain range and are closed to road traffic on the awesome Maratona dles Dolomites granfondo and the Sellaronda Bike Day. At the hotel there is secure bike storage, laundry service, bike washing, daily guided bike tours, bike rental and a partnership with the MTB School of Ortisei.
Price: from £71 per room per night. alpenheim.it
France
Château de Massillan Hotel, Uchaux, Provence
Set in 10 hectares of grounds with its own lake, amidst a typically Provencal landscape of lavender fields and Côtes du Rhône and Châteauneuf du Pape vineyards, this four-star restored chateau is a dreamy base for exploring the northern Vaucluse. Close by is the must-visit town of Orange, the capital of Roman Provence, with its Roman theatre. Whether it’s the base for your two-wheeled exploration of Provence or just a luxurious and authentic stopping off place, as a Provence à Vélo partner the Château welcomes all types of cyclists and as well as running its own themed truffle and cycling breaks, and loan bikes, has an outdoor heated pool for relaxing in after hot, dusty rides.
Price: from £101 per room per night. chateaudemassillan.fr
Austria
Aktiv and Family Hotel Alpina, Wagrain, Austria
Mountain bikers will love the location of the Hotel Alpina, as it’s right next to the Wagrain Mountainbike Park, with its huge range of off-road riding, from north-shore trails, to downhill courses, freerider lines, and forest singletrack – all serviced by a high-speed cable car.
Outside the park there are endless options for exploring the lakes, orchards and alpine pastures of this mountainbike paradise, with weekly cross-country mountainbike rides guided by the hotel’s resident bike expert Roland Wiesbacher. Road and leisure cyclists won’t be disappointed either, with over 20 graded tour itineraries on offer from climbs of the notorious Grossglockner to cruises in the Enns valley. Facilities include free bike wash and kit laundry, GPS hire, mtb and e-bike hire, and free daily access to the next door Wagrain Wasserwelt leisure centre. hotelalpina.at
