Even though it's impossible to get bored of  the huge amount of riding in Les Portes du Soleil, sometimes there may be another resort that you've just got to check out! Perhaps you've seen a video of Sam Hill tearing up Pila Bike Park, heard of the Loamy goodness in Les Houches or gagging to have a go at Vinny T's "Chill Trail" in Bernex bikepark. There's a whole wide world of smaller mtb resorts in the French, Swiss & Italian Alps situated just a short drive away from Les Portes du Soleil and providing the perfect getaway for a Morzine Summer MTB Day trip.

Most of these resorts are running just a small number of lifts with 5-15 trails to ride, meaning you won't want to spend your holiday there but they provide an epic change of scenery and different style of riding to Les Portes du Soleil making a Morzine Summer MTB day trip a great and memorable addition to your Morzine MTB Holiday.

HOW IT WORKS
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See below a list of our Morzine MTB Day trip destinations but if your "must visit" resort isn't on there, just get in touch with our friendly team and we can get back to you with a quote. One of our friendly transfer team will pick you up in the morning from your accommodation in our comfortable vans with room for 8 guests and  8 bikes in our scratch free rack. It can either be a private van for just you and your party or if you are in a smaller group we will try and gather a number of our guests for mid-week MTB away day to a selected resort each week!  Our van will stay until the lifts are close or until the last rider is done, before being driven back to your Morzine MTB Accommodation.
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Day Trip Destinations

BERNEX BIKE PARK

Cost - £40 per person return trip
Drive time - 45 mins
Number of lifts - 1 chairlift
Number of Trails - 6  see trail map here
Best bits -  One of our favourites and a hidden gem, although the bikepark is only small every trail is epic. Boasting a bermed flowy green, smooth flowing blue, natural red, jump/tech black trails and one of Frances best freeride tracks "Chill Trail" Bernex Bike park is a freeriders heaven. If you like jumps, the trails are full of them and the "Chill Trail" has to be the best freeride trail in France, as well as a dedicated freeride area featuring wooden ramps and a mulch jump.

Samoens Bike Park

Cost - £20 per person each way
Drive time - 20 mins
Number of lifts - 1 gondola, 1 charlift, 1 additional chairlift late july - August
Number of Trails - 9+ see trail map here
Bikepark Info -   The host to numerous EWS rounds Samoens bikepark is an enduro riders dream. With fast, rough, loamy and flow trails that offer a huge amount of descending with each run both you and your bike will be put through your paces. All of the trails are more natural and technical rather than man-made bikepark.
Our drivers can drop you at the top of Le Joux Plane with the opportunity to ride 1000m descent into the Samoen valley via Le Bourgeoise trail. However we recommend researching this trail or hiring a guide for this route as it
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Pila Bike Park

Cost - £60 per person return trip
Drive time - 2 hours
Number of lifts - 1 gondola, 1 charlift, 1 additional chairlift late july - August
Number of Trails - 16 -see trail map here
Bikepark Info -   Pila is the stuff of legend and you'll have seen numerous video edits from here over many decades. With a variety of natural, fast and technical downhill trails, Pila is a must do for any serious mountain biker. There are 9 official gravity trails here as well as some enduro trails and epic ridgelines. Most of the bikepark is concentrated under the mid-level chairlift boasting a number of different trails from Smooth blue flow tracks to the Super Technical flat out IXS downhill trail. Underneath the Gondola there is a is a HUGE descent called Rientro that takes you all the way down the Aosta Valley floor, this super long trail descends 1170m and has a huge amount of varying options to mix things up. There is also an upper chairlift called TS Coulis 1 that runs from late July through August and drops you at the top of an epic enduro ridgeline descent.  On top of all this epic riding, you're in Italy which means the pizza, pasta and delicious food are a plenty!
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Chamonix / Les Houches

Cost - £55 per person return trip
Drive time - 1.5 hours
Number of lifts - 10 Lifts
Number of Trails - 16 -see trail map here
Bikepark Info -   Big Mountain enduro bike heaven! One of Morzine's neighbouring towns is World renowned for its big mountains and impressive mountaineering scene in the Winter and its mountain biking offering is going from strength to strength. With 10 lifts operating most of the year Chamonix offers some incredibly singletrack exploration with most of the trails being technical shared walking tracks, ridglines and epic singletrack. This is definitely not an area for beginners or those seeking flow and jumps, most of the trails are slow, technical and exposed.

Les Houches is fast becoming the centre of riding in the area, with more of a bikepark feel to it compared the explorative single track from the other lifts. Les Houches bike park is mostly based in the dense tree's and offers a number of loamy, steep and fast enduro bike trails, as well as an epic descent to the valley floor at the end of the day. It's an absolute treat riding official trails that are still loamy!

Chamonix/ Les Houches is definitely one for the enduro bike and those keen to explore. If you're wanting to smash laps on your downhill bikes down smooth flow tracks then stick to the PDS or check out our other options.
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La Thuile Bike Park

Cost - £55 per person return trip
Drive time - 1.5 hours
Number of lifts - 2 Chairlifts
Number of Trails - 22 -see trail map here
Bikepark Info -  Technical, natural and steep singletrack heaven! There's no wonder why La Thuile has hosted the Enduro World Series numerous times, it's trails are known for being gnarly, natural and rough but incredibly rewarding when you like them all together. With only 2 blue trails out of 22 trails, it's worth noting that this resort is not for beginners/intermediates or those wanting to ride flow/jumps or smash laps on the downhil bike. La Thuile is more suited to cape-able enduro bikes as some trails have a small amount of pedalling to access them. If you like it natural and rough though, you'll be like a kid in a candy store. With trails like this, plus amazing italian food there's no wonder La Thule is fast becoming one of Italy's must visit destinations.
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Other Morzine Day Trip Destinations

Have another Morzine Day Trip destination in mind? Want to day trip to La Clusaz, Les Carroz or get dropped at Morgins Bike Park? 
Just get in touch with out friendly team using the contact form below and we'll get back to you with a quote.

Frequently Asked Questions

CAN I GO TO A RESORT THATS NOT ON THE LIST? 
Absolutely! Our team can take you to any local French or Italian resort within a few hours drive. Just get in touch for a quote!

HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN COME ON A MORZINE MTB DAY TRIP?
We aim to fill our vans with 8 people and 8 bikes which is what the prices above are based upon. However if there are less than 8 riders we can still run the trip with a small surcharge.  Want to book a private Morzine MTB day trip for a smaller group? Just get in touch.

WE'RE ONLY A SMALL GROUP, CAN WE GO ON A  MORZINE MTB DAY TRIP?
Yep! Get in touch and we can provisionally book you in and try and pair you with other Bike Morzine guests keen to check out there epic resorts.

WHAT TIME DO THE DAY TRIPS LEAVE & GET BACK TO MORZINE?
We want you to make the most of your Morzine MTB away day, so we will usually try to get you to the resort by 9AM, meaning you can be leaving from 7AM onwards.   We'll return once the lifts have closed or when the last riders are finished lapping!

If you have a private away day booked then we can leave and return at whatever time you prefer!

WHAT DAY IS THE BEST DAY FOR A DAY TRIP?
We highly recommend Tuesday or Wednesday for a Morzine away day. It's when the resorts are quietest (smaller resorts can get very busy over the weekends) and when we have the best driver availability.

DO WE NEED A GUIDE OR WILL YOU BE GUIDING US? 
The above prices do not include guiding or lift passes. We can arrange a local guide to show you around at an additional cost.  Some resorts don't require a guide (Pila, Bernex etc) and some other resorts a guide will mean you have a significantly better time. I'd highly recommend a guide for  Chamonix & la Thuile.

WHAT DO I NEED TO BRING?
- Suitable Bike - A high level enduro or Downhill bike that's up to the challenge of a big days riding.
- Helmet, pads, shoes & all your protective gear
- Change of clothes - Incase it's wet or very hot and to protect the vans
- Passport if crossing any boarders
- Multitool, pump and any spares specific to your bike
- Wallet - to buy lift passes, lunches and any spares required
- Valid Travel Insurance
- A good attitude

DO I NEED TRAVEL INSURANCE?
Yes! Travel Insurance is 100% essential to go on a Morzine MTB trip. If you get injured and require evacuation/hospital treatment these bills can quickly rack up to the well into the thousands. If you are required to stay in hospital over night or for a long period of time, we may have to drop the rest of the group back in Morzine meaning you will require your own transport back to Morzine.  After many years of experience we have found that Yellow Jersey Insurance provide the best insurance for your whole MTB Holiday, click here for more info.