Alpe d’Huez Mountain Biking

Alpe d'Huez mountain biking is centred on one of the largest lift-served bike parks in the French Alps, spread across the Oisans region with sectors at Alpe d'Huez, Auris-en-Oisans, Oz-en-Oisans, Vaujany and Villard-Reculas. Around 45 waymarked routes cover roughly 260km of downhill, enduro and family-friendly trails, dropping from the Pic Blanc summit at 3,330m to the valley below. It is best known as the summer home of the Megavalanche, one of the world's biggest mass-start enduro races.

Downhill

• 24 lift-served downhill itineraries cover around 35km, graded from green through to black. Several are reachable directly from the DMC1 gondola.

Enduro

• Eight enduro routes cover around 112km of mixed climbing and descending singletrack across the wider Oisans terrain.
• The Megavalanche is the headline event, a mass-start descent from the glacier that still runs every summer. The 2026 edition ran 10 to 12 July.

Bike Park, Pump Tracks and Family Riding

• Four pump tracks and a flow trail sit alongside four beginner "discovery" loops and four VTT and e-MTB touring routes, giving riders of all levels somewhere to start.
• One of the pump tracks sits at the foot of the DMC gondola, at 1,800m altitude.

Lift Access and Passes

• Most of the downhill and enduro network needs a paid lift pass. Day passes for the bike park started from around 33 euros for the 2026 season, with multi-day and weekly options available. Check current prices on the official pass site.
• Lifts typically run from late June to the end of August each summer (27 June to 30 August for 2026). Confirm exact dates for the season you're visiting.
• Prices were correct at the time of writing but are subject to change, so check current rates before you visit.

Guides, Shuttles and Hire

The DMC1 gondola and the resort's other lifts are the main uplift for the graded downhill and enduro network, so most riders do not need a separate van shuttle to get to the top. Bike hire, coaching and guided sessions are based in the resort centre, with more hire options down in Bourg d'Oisans.

• Alpe Mountain Bike: a mountain bike school offering downhill, enduro and e-MTB coaching and guided rides for all levels, based at 80 Rue du Pic Blanc in the resort centre.
• Ecole MCF Alpe d'Huez: the resort's cycling school, running family, group and private mountain bike lessons plus e-MTB sessions through the summer.
• Richard 3 Sports: mountain bike, e-MTB and kids' bike hire with a workshop offering overnight repairs, based in Alpe d'Huez.
• Sarenne Sports Bike: standard and electric mountain bike hire, including enduro and cross-country e-MTBs, open daily through the summer season at 33 Rue du Pic Blanc.

Richard 3 Sports and Sarenne Sports Bike publish current opening details but little dated evidence beyond that, so contact them before you travel to confirm they're running as usual.

Getting There from the UK

Grenoble is the closest airport, around two hours by road up through Bourg d'Oisans and the resort's famous run of hairpin bends. Lyon Saint-Exupéry is around two and a half hours away and Geneva around three, both with a wider choice of flights from the UK, and Chambéry is around two hours. Shared and private transfers run from all four, and regular buses connect Grenoble with the resort in summer.

By rail, take the Eurostar to Paris or Lille and a TGV on towards Grenoble, changing where needed. Alpe d'Huez has no station of its own, so the onward leg from Grenoble is by bus or taxi, around 90 minutes up the valley and the hairpins. High-speed TGV services on this route do not always take a fully assembled bike, so check whether you need to bag it or route via a regional TER connection instead, which typically carries bikes free, space permitting.

Driving from Calais or the Channel Tunnel is around 950km, roughly nine hours on toll motorways towards Lyon and Grenoble, then up through Bourg d'Oisans to the resort. A car makes it easy to bring your own bikes and to reach the other Oisans bike parks, including neighbouring Les Deux Alpes, which shares the same Grenoble access route.

Once in the resort, the main lift base is the DMC1 gondola in the centre of Alpe d'Huez, where the ticket office and much of the bike hire sit. Bourg d'Oisans, down in the valley, is a common overnight stop with its own bike shops and hire.

When to Go

The lift-served season is short, typically running from late June to the end of August each summer, with the lifts operating daily through that window and closed the rest of the year. Early and late season can mean patchy snow or a shorter open network at the very top, so peak conditions are usually from mid-July onward.

The season falls within the French school summer holidays, and the resort is busiest from mid-July to mid-August. The Megavalanche, the mass-start descent from the glacier that has defined the resort's riding identity since 1995, runs each summer and draws a large crowd of riders and spectators, so book ahead if you're visiting around it.

The top of the network sits above 3,000m near the Pic Blanc summit, so it can be cold and windy up high even on a warm day in the valley below. Afternoon thunderstorms build through the summer and can close the top lifts temporarily, so start early, carry a waterproof layer and check the forecast each morning.

Where to Stay

Alpe d'Huez itself is the natural base, with the DMC1 gondola, the pump track and most of the bike hire and coaching within walking distance of the centre. The wider network also has lift bases in Auris-en-Oisans, Oz-en-Oisans, Vaujany and Villard-Reculas, each a separate village with its own access into the shared network, worth considering for a quieter or cheaper stay with the same trails on your doorstep. Bourg d'Oisans, down in the valley, is a common lower-altitude option with easy road access to the rest of the Oisans.

Accommodation runs from apartment residences and hotels to chalets and campsites down in Bourg d'Oisans. The resort's summer activity card bundles the pool, climbing wall and other non-lift activities and can be added to a lift pass, but check what it covers before relying on it for bike access, since it does not replace an MTB lift pass.

Useful Sites

• Alpe d'Huez official site
• See Alpe d'Huez trail guide
• Bike Oisans, the regional cycling tourism site

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