WOW! We’ve been blown away by your response to the launch of our cycling holidays for 2026! The demand for our tours continues to increase year on year, so we’ve already sold over 30% of our places in just a few weeks!
Our new Stelvio & Eastern Switzerland flexible pace tour has already proved to be a hit and if you’ve failed to secure a place on this one, fear not – we’ve another new cycling tour in the Italian Dolomites waiting in the wings, so keep an eye on your inbox as we’ll be dropping all the details of this magical tour VERY soon!
So far we’ve got 26 amazing itineraries to choose from across France, Spain, Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland, and 68 different departures. There’s still plenty to choose from (even though some of our tours have already sold out!), so get in touch soon if you’d like to get the ball rolling. Remember that we can pencil-in your name if you want to look into flight prices before paying your deposit – we aim to be as helpful as possible as you put your cycling holiday plans into place.
Spotlight on Raid Pyrenees
If you’ve never taken on a cycling challenge before, then the iconic Raid Pyrenees is a great place to start. With four and a half days of cycling, it’s slightly more manageable than jumping feet first into Raid Alpine, for example. That said, this is tough cycling (as are all our Raids), and should not be undertaken lightly, and definitely not without adequate training!
Despite the challenging nature of the tour, the route you’ll be riding is 100% epic! The charming landscape as you climb from the Atlantic coast on day 1 is a welcome distraction as your legs begin to warm up and get used to what you’re asking of them. From day 2 onwards, the scenery and the cycling just gets better and better, with classic Tour de France giants like the Col d’Aubisque, Tourmalet, Cols d’Aspin and Peyresourde all on the menu. The final climb of day 3 is the Col du Portet d’Aspet, which is a bit of a sting in the tail, it’s got to be said!
Day 4 serves up the beautiful Col de Port and then you’re on to the stunning Route des Corniches; definitely one of the best rides in the Pyrenees, in our opinion. Before descending towards the Mediterranean plain, however, you’ve got the meaty Col de Jau in the way – it’s a bit of a slog being just shy of 24km, including some 9% sections. At least you can take comfort from the fact this is your last big climb of the trip. You’re likely to have a palpable sense of relief when you reach the col at 1506m!
On to the final day and with a deadline of 1pm, you’ll need to dig deep to cover the last 94km to the finish line in Cerbère. Once there, you’ll enjoy celebrating with your fellow riders, revelling in a post mortem of the last few days, and no doubt heading home with some incredible cycling memories (and tired legs!).
If you’d like to know more about the tour, just head to the webpage for comprehensive details of the full itinerary and our 2026 dates. Our team are super helpful at answering your queries, including whether this is the right tour for, so please don’t hesitate to drop them a line by clicking on the ENQUIRE NOW button.
Cycling tours in the Canary Islands
If you can’t wait until summer 2026 for your next cycling holiday, have you considered a winter cycling tour? We’ve got two wonderful itineraries in the Canary Islands that might be right up your street and that still have some (albeit limited) availability.
At the time of writing, our Tour of Tenerife, departing 4th March 2026 has five places left on it. Why not bag all of these spots with a group of mates?
We have two departures for our recently revamped Tour of Gran Canaria, departing 12th March and 21st March 2026, and each have a handful of places left.
A recent search on Skyscanner for flights to Gran Canaria pulled up an average cost of £143 when we checked four different UK airports, so there are decent prices out there.
These are both wonderful tours, and we can’t recommend them highly enough if you want to shorten your winter, and get in some early season training. Both itineraries have fantastic hotels, most with pools and spa facilities, and you don’t always move on every night so you can really relax and make the most of your time off the bike at the end of the day.
You can check out the full details by clicking on the links above, and then just let us know if you’re interested in reserving one of the last few places.
Recent Cyclist magazine climbs – a cluster of Marmot favourites!
You’ve heard the phrase, “Great minds think alike”. Well, nothing could be closer to the truth, when poring over the two recent summer issues of Cyclist (issues 165 and 166).
Climb the Col d’Izoard
First up is the Izoard – a tough challenge which we include on our Raid Alpine on day four. It’s an epic day, where you’ll already have conquered the Col du Galibier before taking on the Izoard from Briançon, and experiencing its characteristic Casse Déserte. It’s a pretty long slog at 19km and the rocky, sparse landscape does little to distract you. The gradient is steady for the first half of the climb and then picks up for the final 7kms or so, maxing out for a 10% section. You’ll see why Cyclist called this ‘masochistic fun in its purest form’!
The brutal Angliru
Another one of Cyclist‘s summer Big Rides was the infamous (and downright terrifying?!) Alto de l’Angliru, to be found in the Asturias region of northern Spain. You can test your mettle on this monster of a climb on our Picos & Angliru holiday. As this is one of our flexible pace tours, you’ve got a choice of routes each day, so it is entirely optional! You can also ride at whatever pace suits you, stopping when you want, and even hitching a lift in the van, if you completely run out of gas. This is definitely a climb for the dragonslayers among you, ranked up there with the Mortirolo and Zoncolan as being one of – if not the – cruellest of all the Grand Tour climbs.
Now to Cyclist‘s recent Classic Climbs: the spectacular Passo Pordoi, and a cheeky Alpine double: Les Lacets du Montvernier followed by the Col du Chaussy.
How about cycling Passo Pordoi?
The hulking Sass Pordoi is one of the great classic peaks of the Dolomites and the Passo Pordoi is the climb to it and not to be missed. The ride stats are impressive: it’s the second highest pass in the region at 2,239m, it’s 12km long, and has an average gradient of 7% with some cheeky 9% sections. Oh yes, and then there’s the 27 switchbacks. It is steeped in Giro history having appeared 42 times, but also due to Fausto Coppi who was first to the finish line on five occasions, leading it to be referred to as ‘Coppi’s Mountain’. With so much cycling folklore surrounding it, you’ve got to include the Pordoi on your bucket list of climbs if you’ve not done so already.
Such is the magnitude of this ride that we include it on three of our tours: Italian Dolomites & Stelvio, Best of the Dolomites mini-break, and the biggie, Raid Dolomites. Is 2026 the year you follow in the pedal strokes of legends and climb the spectacular Passo Pordoi? Check out the full itineraries of these tours to see which one’s for you, and then get in touch!
Lacets de Montvernier followed by Col de Chaussy
Last but by no means least is the photogenic double: the Lacets de Montvernier followed by the pristine Col de Chaussy, which feature on both our Alpine Classic Cols tour and our Alpine Highlights mini-break.
The aptly named Lacets (laces, for those of you who can’t remember your school French lessons), is an engineering masterpiece. 17 hairpins shoe-horned into just 3.8km and on a sinewy road that leaves no room for crazy Tour de France fans, hence why no spectators get an invite when the climb features on the route. It’s a cruel trick of the climb that you’re unable to see the summit, such is the sheerness of the cliff face to which the road clings. However, the climbing is steady with an 8% gradient so with patience and perseverance on those hairpins, it’s achievable, and made easier knowing you’ve got the beautiful Col de Chaussy with more big sky views ahead of you.
The Chaussy is a favourite of many Marmot Tours clients. It’s a doable 14km, with just under an 8% average, though it does pack some punchy sections maxing out at 12%! Hopefully the bucolic views will be enough to keep you preoccupied, so you can ignore any screaming coming from your quads!
If you’ve not yet done our Alpine Classic Cols tour, then this is an absolute gem of a trip. We’ve got four departures in 2026, plus one of our Alpine Highlights mini-breaks if you’re short on time. Just drop us a line if you’ve got any queries or you’d like to reserve your place.
New Entry/Exit System (EES) to commence in October
The European Union (EU) is introducing two important changes to travel to Europe. These are:
- EU Entry/Exist System (EES)
- European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS)
EU Entry /Exit System (EES)
The EU has confirmed EES will start on 12th October 2025. It will be introduced in phases, building towards being fully operational by 10th April 2026. It is a new electronic system that will replace the physical stamping of passports when you go through passport control when arriving in and departing from your destination. Basically, it will register your movements every time you cross a border in or out of the EU/Schengen area.
Once the system is in place, when you go through passport control on your arrival to and departure from your destination, as well as providing your passport you will also need to have a photo of your face taken and your fingerprints scanned.
Who will it apply to?
It will apply to those travelling for a short stay, from what the EU calls a ‘third country’. This is people who are not a EU citizen or a citizen of the Schengen area, so it will apply to most people from the UK and from countries outside of EU.
A short stay refers to (amongst other things) holidays that have a duration of up to 90 days and are taken within a 180 day period. The vast majority of travel between the UK and other non-EU countries, and Europe will be classed as a short stay.
Irish passport holders are exempt from EES. If you are a British passport holder but have EU residency, you are also exempt from EES.
European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS)
You won’t need an ETIAS for travel this year. The EU is looking to introduce ETIAS towards the end of 2026. We will update you on the latest developments in due course but if you’d like to read more about ETIAS now, you can head to this helpful ABTA webpage.
We’ve had some great feedback from the blog our guide Tom Mutton wrote for us, TOP TIPS: HOW TO PACK YOUR BIKE FOR YOUR NEXT CYCLING TRIP. We’ve got a tonne of tours departing in September, so we thought we’d point you to this again, and hopefully it will help those of you lucky enough to be coming on holiday with us in the next few weeks!
