Need help with European Cycling Base

[texbike]

I LOVE this thread. Great to hear all of the suggestions.

One of my favorites in France is Annecy which has already been mentioned. There are so many small towns in the area that would most likely have lower RE prices than Annecy itself. It's a great area full of ride options, a beautiful lake, great skiing, and not far from Geneva. Wonderful food and the people have been very friendly each time we've gone.

Another that hasn't been mentioned is in Southwest France in the foothills of the Pyrenees. It's a little town called Bagnères-de-Bigorre (only about 10 miles from Lourdes). We've stayed there a couple of times as well. A beautiful little town with great food, architecture, and scenery. Still fairly agrarian. Lot's of great cycling options there as well and skiing close by in the Pyrenees. Great place.

Texbike

[SDJ]

A lot of great places mentioned for living and riding/being active.

It all comes down to personal preferences and what you are used to weatherwise.

I am a Swede who has lived across Europe in Ireland(Dublin), Germany(Munich and Freiburg) and Switzerland(Geneva and Zurich). I have also spent a lot of time vacationing and studying in souther Spain and we now have a small place on the coast in southern Andalucia for those get-aways. I have also visited family friends living at the foot of the Pyrenees in southwestern France on numerous occasions for cycling.

I am trying to ride my bikes all year and in deep winter also go cross-country skiing.

My view on this is:
-Northern Europe (Sweden and Ireland) - weather can be an issue influencing your ability to be active outdoors ALL year long (I will leave it at that...)
-Southern Germany - everything works and people are generally friendly although speaking the language is a huge advantage - weather is generally better than Northern Europe and here you have the advantage that you can be active for longer in summer and with the Alps close by you can go skiing in winter (cycling might still be possible on the "plains" so to speak but very weather dependent) - public transport is quite good for moving around to be active - cost of living etc is ok
-Switzerland - like above with better public transport possibilities to take you into different parts of the country for all activities. Geneva is a bit more stable and warm weather wise - the quality of riding / sports outdoors is very high - cost of doing things and living is high
-Southern Spain - if you want to be 100% sure to be riding all year this is the best place to be in my opinion - roads have been gradually improved the last 20 years - mountain biking is good - gravel opportunities are also very good - drawback is on the coast you have almost no public transport to bring you to other places with a bike/skiis - cost of living is quite low so you get a lot for your money. (southern France on the Med or the Pyrenees offer similar great possibilities but the weather in winter time can be much colder than in souther Spain)

But all this is very personal - if you want culture and "nightlife" you need to live close to bigger cities - if you want to live close to the coast or mountains for weather and activities offerings the cost of housing might go up due to tourism - there are places that can fulfil many wishes and still be affordable but this is something one has to research and "live"/experience before taking the plunge and getting a place.

Feel free to contact me with a PM if you have questions and I will try to help you out.

SDJ

[Johnnysmooth]

Originally Posted by .RJ

I couldnt imagine dealing with the cost of living in austria or switzerland unless you had to.

Didn’t really find that to be the case. Ski lift tix in Austria were a third the cost they are in US. Wine is excellent, plentiful and inexpensive. My medications were a tenth the cost of what they are stateside. Food is slightly more expensive but better quality. Housing is expensive, but have you seen rental costs in NYC or SF?

In the end, all balances out and if anything, for what I appreciate and value, Austria was cheaper that States.

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by Johnnysmooth

Didn’t really find that to be the case. Ski lift tix in Austria were a third the cost they are in US. Wine is excellent, plentiful and inexpensive. My medications were a tenth the cost of what they are stateside. Food is slightly more expensive but better quality. Housing is expensive, but have you seen rental costs in NYC or SF?

In the end, all balances out and if anything, for what I appreciate and value, Austria was cheaper that States.

I don’t know the time spent but that sounds like a vacation. Factor in permanent cost of living things like for example an Apple phone, clothing, bikes, gasoline/diesel and suddenly it becomes a lot more expensive in most EU countries. I find generally day to day things to cost more most places due to VAT I’ve been but as you mentioned some are not.

My wife is CZ and we constantly have friends from her country trying to get us to purchase those items here to save them a very large amount of money. We had people fly here to buy a plane in Arizona, cameras at b&h, etc…

[martl]

Originally Posted by Johnnysmooth

Didn’t really find that to be the case. Ski lift tix in Austria were a third the cost they are in US. Wine is excellent, plentiful and inexpensive. My medications were a tenth the cost of what they are stateside. Food is slightly more expensive but better quality. Housing is expensive, but have you seen rental costs in NYC or SF?

In the end, all balances out and if anything, for what I appreciate and value, Austria was cheaper that States.

to put some data to that, here is an elaborate cost-of-living evaluation across the EU. "106%" means 6% higher thzan the EU average. The differences are quite drastic.

https://de.statista.com/statistik/da...n-eu-laendern/

This does not take into account differences within these countries, which can also be significant. For germany, there are areas where you could get a house for what a garage parking spot would cost in Munich. Similar to SF versus Deepinthaharta, TX i suppose

[elcolombiano]

Originally Posted by martl

to put some data to that, here is an elaborate cost-of-living evaluation across the EU. "106%" means 6% higher thzan the EU average. The differences are quite drastic.

https://de.statista.com/statistik/da...n-eu-laendern/

This does not take into account differences within these countries, which can also be significant. For germany, there are areas where you could get a house for what a garage parking spot would cost in Munich. Similar to SF versus Deepinthaharta, TX i suppose

Thanks - This is good info. Turkey is super cheap compared to Europe but Turkey is an emerging country.

[elcolombiano]

Originally Posted by SDJ

A lot of great places mentioned for living and riding/being active.

It all comes down to personal preferences and what you are used to weatherwise.

I am a Swede who has lived across Europe in Ireland(Dublin), Germany(Munich and Freiburg) and Switzerland(Geneva and Zurich). I have also spent a lot of time vacationing and studying in souther Spain and we now have a small place on the coast in southern Andalucia for those get-aways. I have also visited family friends living at the foot of the Pyrenees in southwestern France on numerous occasions for cycling.

I am trying to ride my bikes all year and in deep winter also go cross-country skiing.

My view on this is:
-Northern Europe (Sweden and Ireland) - weather can be an issue influencing your ability to be active outdoors ALL year long (I will leave it at that...)
-Southern Germany - everything works and people are generally friendly although speaking the language is a huge advantage - weather is generally better than Northern Europe and here you have the advantage that you can be active for longer in summer and with the Alps close by you can go skiing in winter (cycling might still be possible on the "plains" so to speak but very weather dependent) - public transport is quite good for moving around to be active - cost of living etc is ok
-Switzerland - like above with better public transport possibilities to take you into different parts of the country for all activities. Geneva is a bit more stable and warm weather wise - the quality of riding / sports outdoors is very high - cost of doing things and living is high
-Southern Spain - if you want to be 100% sure to be riding all year this is the best place to be in my opinion - roads have been gradually improved the last 20 years - mountain biking is good - gravel opportunities are also very good - drawback is on the coast you have almost no public transport to bring you to other places with a bike/skiis - cost of living is quite low so you get a lot for your money. (southern France on the Med or the Pyrenees offer similar great possibilities but the weather in winter time can be much colder than in souther Spain)

But all this is very personal - if you want culture and "nightlife" you need to live close to bigger cities - if you want to live close to the coast or mountains for weather and activities offerings the cost of housing might go up due to tourism - there are places that can fulfil many wishes and still be affordable but this is something one has to research and "live"/experience before taking the plunge and getting a place.

Feel free to contact me with a PM if you have questions and I will try to help you out.

SDJ

Thanks for the information. I have been to Andalucia in the summer and found the heat intolerable.

[elcolombiano]

Originally Posted by J.Higgins

I spent nine years out of the 1980's decade in Europe, seven of which was in the Rheinland-Pfalz state of Germany. From there, I have worked and lived in every western European nation. If I were going to go back with the parameters established by the OP, my first choice would definitely be Sardinia. If all I wanted to do was to ride and live my life and enjoy the time left on Earth, this is where I would be. Great food. Great weather. Fairly cheap to live. Caveats would be no connecting bridge to the mainland, and a somewhat xenophobic attitude toward outsiders, but you get that with any small area.

If island life isnt the OP's thing, then Naples area would be my second choice. Trailing along behind these choices, would be either Barcelona or Valencia. All good food, people, access to roads and airport, trains into bigger cities and anywhere around Europe really. Darn it, now I want to go back!

The Naples area is spectacular but the drivers, drive like crazy. All the cars parked on every street have all the fenders dented. When you drive they draft a centimeter behind your bumper no matter how fast you are driving.