Europe Advice?

So I'll be living in London for 6 months for personal reasons and won't really have a full time job. I figure this is my one chance to explore Europe and would love to see the goods.

Spain and France are obvious but has anyone been to some of the more obscure areas? Armenia, Croatia, Slovenia?

Also interested in Italy.

Any online resources that are in English would be great. Just looking to get some ideas floating around in my head.

Don't really care what kind of climbing but multipitch trad is my favorite.

Obviously the cheaper the better.

Check out the area I posted under my information. It is Bavaria, Germany.

There was a rock and ice issue a few back that had an article about climbing in Armenia. It was called the amazing issue and it definitely lived up to its name.

Thanks guys.

Climbing in Romania?

I've thought about Greece. Pretty much crossed Kalymnos off the list as I've spent the last few years of my life pinching tufas but Meteora has always been a place I'd like to go. Kinda forgot about it though.

Brent that area looks cool... I'll email you if I get a chance to go. Have you been to Eptanstien (spelling?). BTW the description says 150 to 175meters... I think you meant feet.

The Armenia pics in R&I are all I've seen but they look awesome!

Keep the ideas coming!

There is some amazing tower climbing south of Frankfurt. There is a climbing shop in Frankfurt-Mainz by the big cathedral that has a lot of beta, see Mike. The guide book for southern Germany close to Frankfurt is bigger then the Josh books.

hey Travis are you talking about the Südpfalz?
mountainproject.com/v/inter…
summitpost.org/suedpfalz-cl…

Not all that climbing related, but definitely have a junket to Prague just to indulge in the best beers you'll ever try. And the women there are smoking hot too.

Mike Lane wrote:Not all that climbing related, but definitely have a junket to Prague just to indulge in the best beers you'll ever try...

I thought that too until I went to Bamberg, Germany.

Definitely want to check out eastern Europe and all the hot women. I will probably have my wife w/ me (moving to London to get married) but she likes girls too so I guess that's nice.

I have never been there myself, but I have hanging with an excellent climbing from the Czech Republic who was raving about the climbing in Croatia.

mountainproject.com/v/inter…

Theres some climbing in the UK also.....

Go to ukclimbing.com
You will get all the info you need on Europe there.

There is some spectacular long trad routes in Switzerland with relatively easy access. Switzerland has a reputation for being expensive but if you stay in hostels or camp and stay away from tourist traps it is reasonable. It may help that they didn't adopt the Euro as currency. I recommend the Englehorner area. You can get info on many trad rock climbing areas on Summit Post.
Engelhorner on Summit Post

Chamonix
The Dolomites
Piz Badile
Rakiton
Some decent longer climbs (10 p.) around Arco, Italy. Good windsurfing too and a ton of sport climbing. Spent several weeks there long ago.
Verdon Gorge

My wife's best friend lived in London for about 3 yrs. and never much bothered with climbing there, just the gym. It took too long to get to from London and the weather too iffy. If she went climbing, she made sure the weather would cooperate and just went to Spain, France or Greece. If you lived in Manchester, the local climbing would occupy you plenty, mostly because it's right there.

Definitely check out the lake bled area of Slovenia, Its amazing. I'm not sure on what the climbing is like but I know it's there, plus it's insanely cheap as far as any country using the euro is concerned. Croatia is also definitely worth seeing, I'm not sure about the climbing though. If you make it Italy stop in Florence if only for a day or two and stay at Camping Michelangelo, super cheap and simply spectacular. Good luck with your trip!

climb-europe.com/RockClimbi…
climb-europe.com/RockClimbi…

I highly recommend Meteora. Don't be fooled by the guidebooks :) (or it's probably just our bad luck) but we had very shitty weather there (2 wks starting in mid Sept. in '08): rain, rain, rain. I'd take the heat of August next time. Reasonably cheap (vs. western Europe) food & lodging. Friendly locals. Out of this world scenery (IMHO).
Another area is Riglos in Spain. Different flavor - for something that's bolted, it sure was intimidating for us anyway... Here's a small collection of euro tr's

Dolomites climbing is amazing but staying there is not cheap...

Meteora:

Riglos:

For alpine climbing go to Zermatt Switzerland (aka The Matterhorn). There are many great peaks besides the Matterhorn in Zermatt and cheap accommodations can be found at the hotel Tanenhoff ($30) during the summer.

I went to Croatia a few years back and it was a climbing paradise. Climbing directly out of the Adriatic Sea. I would recommend going to any big airport and checking out the travel deals they have posted at the tourism shops. I've seen deals for Mallorca for a week for under 600 Euros. A week of climbing and chilling on the beach with meals for around $600 is a pretty good price for me!!

Cool thanks a lot guys... gives me a lot of research to do!

I've been on UK Climbing and definitely plan to climb in the UK but like I said, this will probably be my only chance to really explore Europe as we're going to be in Aus for a year after England and then back to Asia.

If I do end up back in England I will be either be too poor to travel or working a ton... probably both.

Thanks!

Eric Whitbeck wrote:I really liked Finale Lugare for sport climbing. It is right along the coast and just beautiful. There has been a lot of development there and at neighboring areas. I think they have more than a thousand routes in the general vicinity. Arco is also very cool and sets you up for climbing in the Dolomites. Enjoy.

I've heard of Finale. I think most of the climbing there is 11 and below right? Lot's of 5.10 sport is what I've been told. My g/f would LOVE IT! It is near the coast correct? Would there be some romantic stuff to do for the lady? There has to be right?... it's Italy.

Have you been to Arco or the Dolemites? I've read somewhere that it's not so cheap to stay. Is that the case w/ Finale as well? I assume you'd need to hire a car for any of the places in Italy... or probably most places talked about in this thread need a rental car right?

Thanks!