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15-Jan-2015 5:01:39 PM
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So... I'm heading to Europe for my honeymoon in September and beyond landing in Paris and leaving from Rome 4 weeks later, we have nothing concrete planned.
Now, my soon-to-be wife doesn't really climb, so any climbing spots need to be near some kind of attraction so I can sneak off while she drinks wine and eats cheese.
Besides Font, any other recommendations for a sneaky side trip?
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15-Jan-2015 5:12:56 PM
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Are you planning to take gear, or just wrestle pebbles?
Does she like walking? Go to the Dollomites if she does, and you can run up some Via Ferrata, then meet up again where the paths rejoin.
Go to Arco, there's a big lake she can sit next to and get a skin full, while you go climbing. You'll likely meet other climbers here.
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15-Jan-2015 11:56:38 PM
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Congratulations.
Verdon Gorge is beautiful, and coincidentally surrounded by cliffs. Plenty to do in the valley and lots of climbers around.
You could have a laugh at European beaches while still getting on rock at Finale...
And of course Chamonix & Zermatt are attraction filled while still in close proximity of your drug of choice.... I don't think you'll struggle!
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16-Jan-2015 9:11:46 AM
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If you aren't flying everywhere and want to spare yourself some driving, I'd really recommend a train trip through the Alps, winding up at Milan. There are a couple of "local" trains that don't just tunnel under it all, we went via Poschiavo through to Basel. There are others that go up from the Lucerne end, and I think there is a scenic special that runs across the high valleys. Book these via the Swiss rail website, easy.
There is a lot of pretty walking (and climbing) in the Swiss alpine valleys if you want a stopover in the middle. I wouldn't get over excited about Swiss food however.
You can pick up a rental car in Milan and drive up to Bolzano or Bressanone or thereabouts for a night (or possibly an extra day via Verona) then into the Dolomites. That time of year there is no ski crowd and it is very quiet, Cortina d'Ampezzo is a great place to stay. The cable car up onto Lagazuoi and the old WW1 trails is pretty cool. There are cable cars, via ferrata and routes everywhere.
From there you can easily drive down via Belluno to Venice (if that's a goal) and South. Again, if you're not keen on driving a lot, the Italian trains are pretty good from Venice.
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16-Jan-2015 9:43:16 AM
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On 15/01/2015 Eduardo Slabofvic wrote:
>Are you planning to take gear, or just wrestle pebbles?
Helmet, harness, shoes, draws but probably not a rack. I could use a new rope so I'd likely pick that up over there.
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16-Jan-2015 10:04:21 AM
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On 16/01/2015 ajfclark wrote:
>On 15/01/2015 Eduardo Slabofvic wrote:
>>Are you planning to take gear, or just wrestle pebbles?
>
>Helmet, harness, shoes, draws but probably not a rack. I could use a
>new rope so I'd likely pick that up over there.
So does that means you need to find climbing partners as well?
If so, there's an app you can use, called Grinder. Identify yourself on that site as having a rope and harness, and then you should be able to meet up with interested persons.
...... otherwise, you'll need to target those areas that have a bit of a "scene" happening. Finale has been suggested, Finale Borgo (the little town at the foot of the hills) is nice and you might meet climbers there.
Ticino is another area that has a nice town, lake etc and you might meet climbers there.
Arco would also tick the boxes.
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16-Jan-2015 10:21:33 AM
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On 16/01/2015 Eduardo Slabofvic wrote:
>So does that means you need to find climbing partners as well?
I think she's happy to belay, so single pitch sporty stuff should be fine, but for multi stuff I'd have to find someone I think.
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16-Jan-2015 11:13:31 AM
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On 16/01/2015 ajfclark wrote:
>On 16/01/2015 Eduardo Slabofvic wrote:
>>So does that means you need to find climbing partners as well?
>
>I think she's happy to belay, so single pitch sporty stuff should be fine,
>but for multi stuff I'd have to find someone I think.
You could have a nice day at Finale. We were there in July so it was quite warm. Up really early and do a couple of climbs then beach or tour the coastline.
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16-Jan-2015 11:32:24 AM
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I just got back from a month (most of October) honeymoon in Europe!
We hired a campervanvan (van-it) in Paris an spent three weeks driving around. Camper was a really nice way to get around as long as the aim is not many cities (for Florence, Milan etc it's worth finding a smaller town to stay and commute in on the train for the day)
Top climbing spots were:
Chamonix- a few single pitch sport routes around Cham, or hire a guide or fin a climber at a bar, hire some crampons and an axe and go up Aguille du midi. Even the popular routes like cosmiques arête are really fun and scenic! For the mrs there's good day walks, amazing cheese and wine, lots of souvenir shopping and she can catch the train to mer de glacé and touch a glacier etc...
Dolomites- lots of multi pitches (maybe you could take her up a few?), you'll want a rack of cams for 90% of the easy classics. also lots of single pitch sport but seems quite scattered and hard to find in an English guidebook. Lots of via ferratas which are great as they will keep you interested too. There's lots of infrastructure (lifts and gondys) to take you around the place. For her there's nice walks (drei Zinnen area is good), lotsa shops in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Good food n wine but breads not as good as France.
Arco- nice spot near big lake, loads of climbing, loads of cheap gear shops (that are always closed when you try and look around), shouldn't be too hard to find a partner (try camping zoo campground for enlish speakers). Not a lot to do except sit on the beach or climb. Food is ok.
Switzerland and Austria have nice valleys with well established waking tracks to get up to numerous mountain huts... A good wet day activity is to warm up by slogging up a hill, have a nice hearty soup and a few beers for lunch and then stumble back down the hill.
Unless you're mountaineering, France and Italy have better rock climbing.
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16-Jan-2015 1:15:04 PM
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On 16/01/2015 Timfreddo wrote:
>Top climbing spots were:
>Chamonix- a few single pitch sport routes around Cham, or hire a guide
>Dolomites- lots of multi pitches (maybe you could take her up a few?),
>Arco- nice spot near big lake, loads of climbing, loads of cheap gear
All great (well.. arco was ok I guess) but maybe not great for single pitch stuff.
SE France has loads of cragging destinations that would keep you happy depending on what else you were after (mountains? coast?)
eg
Chatauevert and Gorge du Loup near the coast,
Gorge Du Tarn/Jonte in langedoc (nice gorges, great blue cheese, medievel and prehistoric ruins, cave with a funicular Aven Armand, vultures), Haute provence is great too
Checkout http://www.rockfax.com/databases/
Cote d'Azur, Langedoc, Haute Provence
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16-Jan-2015 4:26:02 PM
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On 16/01/2015 ajfclark wrote:
>>I think she's happy to belay, so single pitch sporty stuff should be fine,
>but for multi stuff I'd have to find someone I think.
In that case, there are thousands of places to climb. I have a book you can borrow that has the directions to just about every crag in France, Spain, Italy and others. Not much info on the routes, but there are so many places to choose from on the single pitch sport rout front that it doesn't really matter where go, there will be a crag nearby.
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