‘You wont find better alpine trails anywhere in Europe’
– What Mountainbike
A Mountain Biking Holiday to France like no other!
Enduro riding on perfect alpine singletrack
Our chalet-based enduro mountain bike holidays in France have been our mainstay for over 20 years.
Epic mountain bike holidays on the most incredible trails in the French Alps – that’s what we love!
Using minibus and chairlift uplifts, BikeVillage doesn’t just run laps of bike park trails in The Alps. Instead we like to head off into the mountains in search of truly inspiring mountain bike singletrack tours and adventures.
And don’t worry – we keep the pedalling limited. This means just enough to reach the best riding, the best views, and lunch spots around.
A few years back someone christened it All Mountain, then it was Backcountry. Now it’s all Enduro, Enduro, Enduro. This is funny because we’ve always just called it mountain biking.
“The trip was nothing short of superb… There can be no better place!”
Andy ‘ McCandlish in MBR Magazine
Luxury 4-star alpine chalet for your dream mountain bike holiday in France
Our enduro mountain bike chalet holiday in France is based at Maison Caramel. This is a beautifully renovated 4-star farmhouse on the forested edge of Landry, in the heart of the French Alps.
You will find it nestled in-between the ski mountains of Les Arcs and La Plagne. Landry is a traditional Savoie village. So it comes complete with a beautiful baroque church, a couple of bars and and four friendly local restaurants. There is also a white water rafting centre and café just a stones’ throw away. And being at the bottom of the valley is something you will come to appreciate. It’s always downhill at the end of the day’s mountain biking!
The town of Bourg St Maurice is just a short ride along the bike path. And in the other direction is the beautiful swimming lake. This is a top spot to chill, eat, sunbathe and people/mountain watch after a ride.
A beautiful alpine chalet
BikeVillage’s MTB holiday accommodation sits on the edge of Landry. One of the best trails down from Les Arcs passes right by the back door of the guesthouse. It really is a ride-in, ride-out kind of a place.
And the guesthouse is the perfect spot for your enduro mountain bike holiday in France. From the bike garage with full workshop to the large open plan lounge for relaxing in the evening. Or go outside where you’ll find a lovely terraced garden. It is planted out with many of the herbs and aromatics you’ll find garnishing your meals. And you might well find yourself drawn to the appeal of the hot tub. It’s the perfect way to enjoy an alpine sunset!
There are seven guest bedrooms. Of these, five are en-suite twin/doubles, one is an en-suite twin/triple and one is a duplex apartment with two twin rooms sharing a bathroom and kitchen area. The latter is ideal for families and larger groups of friends. This enables us to cater for single travellers, groups and couples alike. And if you’d like to book a single room there’s a €395 option to do so on the booking form.
The Food – Mornings
One of the best things about mountain biking is the appetite it gives you! Your hosts Kerry and Serge are passionate about using locally sourced and grown ingredients to create truly delicious meals.
Every day you’ll wake up to the smell of fresh bread from the best bakery in the valley. Then just roll downstairs for as much cereal, porridge (go on, it makes you strong!), freshly chopped fruit, eggs and so on as you can. Wash the whole lot down with plenty of fresh coffee or tea of course. Then you can start to get excited about another perfect day of your enduro mountain biking holiday in France.
The Food – Noon
As if by magic, your lunch is waiting for you to pop into your pack. There’ll be 2 fresh baguette sandwiches, cereal bars and fruit. And out of sight is the stash of Haribos, choccy biccies and madeleine cakes. The guides always carry these to keep themselves popular on the mountain bike tours.
We’ll probably stop twice for lunch – we tend to eat like Hobbits during our enduro mountain bike holidays in France!
The Food – Evenings
When we get back from riding you can tuck into a mug of tea or maybe a sneaky cold beer. Why not add some home-made cake or flapjack and things are feeling very good indeed.
And by the time you’ve showered and had a drink in the garden, Kerry will be ready to talk you through the evenings’ delights. It’ll be time to enjoy a quick canapé and maybe a pre-dinner aperitif in the evening sun. In the meantime, Serge will be busy in the kitchen.
…All that remains is the wine!
France truly is the home of great wine. Whether you fancy a cheeky rosé in the hot tub or a velvety glass of côtes du Rhône on the terrace, we’re not exactly shy with it so get stuck in!
Tea, coffee or a herbal infusion will finish things off. This leaves you free to sit back and look at the stars over the moonlit mountains.
More on the mountain biking in The Alps
The mountain biking around BikeVillage and Les Arcs is ridiculously good. There are so many trails we could ride from our door, and do something different every day for months.
There’s the high level (2000m+) super flowing singletrack above the tree line, with amazing views onto Mt Blanc.
Then there’s the tighter, cheekier singletrack down in the woods below Les Arcs and La Plagne. With more switchbacks than you could possibly count.
Cross to the Beaufortain and it’s a more open feel with more rock slabs and faster flowing trails.
We have reopened and continue to maintain many of the local trails with our friends. In spring we never leave home without a pruning saw, loo roll and a trenching tool.
We’ve been proudly running our mountain bike holidays in The Alps, near Les Arcs for over twenty years. And we still find new trails all the time! Undoubtedly that’s part of the reason so many BikeVillage guests come back on holiday again and again. To mix some old favourites with our latest singletrack discoveries and creations.
Guiding on the mountain bike guided trips
Sam was founding president of European guide organisation EO-MTBing. He is one of the most experienced mountain bike guides in the world.
No gap-year kids here, just (im)mature professionals with a passion and drive based solely around your safety and enjoyment. Each day we’ll talk through the options with you and help you pick the best trail for that day.
And there are 2-3 guides each day to keep the groups small, friendly and adapted to your level.
It might involve a free uplift or a helping chairlift. You’ll always be doing the sort of riding you love best at the sort of pace you love best.
All this really helps mixed groups to share lots of fun together whilst also fulfilling more selfish ride needs!
Female Friendly weeks – all summer
We’ve been offering female friendly weeks since we began in 2001. The idea was to ensure a decent number of female riders in a given week.
Happily, these weeks have become less important over the years. Subsequently even on regular weeks we average 35% female guests.
If you’re a solo female traveller (we have many) then just give us a shout and we’ll point you to the weeks with a better gender ratio. We’re pretty proud to say that that’s most weeks these days.
Younger Rider Weeks
Back for 2025!
Our normal weeks are pretty much adult affairs, even if the chat is often infantile. Our younger rider weeks tend to coincide with our skills weeks. They are aimed at riders who have carelessly procreated over the years and now find themselves in the happy position of having older kids who share their passion for riding.
So a classic profile might be a parent with a 15 year old. Although we don’t specify a minimum age, experience shows that a mature 12ish seems to be roughly as young as you can go whilst still enjoying the riding and holding your own at a fairly adult-oriented dinner table in the evening.
Sam has 3 kids too who often come out riding on these weeks. Indeed you might notice them as the more mature riders in the group 😉
It’s such a pleasure to see younger riders develop their skills and the chance to introduce them to the thick end of mountain biking is a true privilege and one that often truly inspires all the adults in the group too.
Just give us a shout and we’ll let you know which weeks have any other younger riders too.
*there will still be swearing.
Alpine Skills Weeks – fine for ‘normal’ riders too!
A bit like our female friendly weeks, we used to offer dedicated skills progression weeks. The thing is, we love the skills coaching side of our jobs that basically every week involves a huge amount of skills progression and teaching.
It tends to be that there’ll be 2 ride options in a day. Both will ride amazing trails but 1 will spend a bit more time consciously looking at the techniques that make mountain biking awesome.
Riders are free to flip between groups each day or even part way through a day. That’s the beauty of our flexible classic trips.
If you’re a bit nervous about riding in the Alps, just give us a shout and we’ll point you to a suitable week.
“Just do it. You know it makes sense!”
Andy McCandlish in MBR
Finally, If you have any questions about the riding then please do give us a call/email.