Best European Cycling location

Was in Marbella about two years ago. Very disappointing. The usual problem with being based on the coast is getting out of town. Marbella was a total nightmare…. a long cycle along a dual carriageway, negotiate two nasty interchanges and then straight up into the hills (that bit was ok). It was nerve wracking and I wasn't there in low season. Bike rental disappointing too….. few options other than Freemotion.

Perhaps if you stay in a small village further up the coast or inland as the previous poster noted, but definitely not the likes of Fuengirola, Torremolinos etc.

I think @Alexzont did a trip down around those parts recently ..

Did indeed spend 2 weeks there recently. I absolutely love Malaga and we're heading back there in October. Key thing was to stay in the East side of the city. There's an area called Victoria which is a great location as 10 mins walk from the city centre but also very little hassle to get straight into the mountains. You can either go straight up Puerto del Leon (12km 7%) or head along the coast East and head up any number of hills.

I cycled through the city out West twice and it was shite. Even once out into the country side the roads weren't half as good as the hilly mountains you get to the East. If you do want to head West for any reason there's a few ways you can cheese it but the traffic and lights just doesn't make it worth it whereas going East is zero hassle.

Here's a couple of routes (have profile set to private btw which may affect visibility?):

Up the coast: https://www.strava.com/activities/11164618873

East and mountains: https://www.strava.com/activities/11111722483

More mountains: https://www.strava.com/activities/11148710553

Coast + mountain: https://www.strava.com/activities/11140699345

I just quickly made those routes on strava route builder and you couldn't really go wrong. All the hills out East very very quite for the most part. Would highly recommend. Lived in Mallorca for 9 months in Palma and wasn't half as good. The group rides are a bit more lacklustre however…

Has anyone based themselves near Mont Ventoux? Looks like there are plenty of options for both hilly and flatter/more rolling days? Any advice if so? Thanks!

OMG. Jealous. Ventoux and the surrounds are frickin' awesome. We did it last summer for a few days after the Marmotte. Bedoin is a deadly town, we did the Ventoux 3 ways spin which was hard off course but very doable. I definitely want to go back and spend longer there cycling around the area more.

-We stayed one time in St Jeans de Maurienne for 5 weeks at the foot of the alps and we got to know a local fella, mad keen cyclist. So here's a lad with a plethora of world famous cols at his feet. I asked him one time where he goes on his cycling holidays and he said "Bedoin"! Has a camper van and goes there every year with his bike. So I'm be confident that the lowlands there are as epic as the climb.