Pirin-Rodopi Trek, Bulgaria

Explore the steep, high Pirin and Rodopi mountains in some of Bulgaria's most remote regions, where until recently many villages had never seen foreign tourists. Staying in a different mountain village each night on this eight-day trek, starting and ending in Sofia, you'll witness a traditional way of life which has barely altered over the centuries, and visit caves and Bachkovo monastery. The trip is tailormade to include 3,4, or 5 star hotels and family pensions and is independent, though you'll have a guide and your luggage will be transported.

· 020-7430 1766, awimaway.com. From £399pp per week. Flights to Sofia with easyjet.com.

French Pyrenees

Cupped by the Bellongue valley, in the foothills of the French Pyrenees, the tiny village of St Lary is a collection of slate-roofed, pale-shuttered buildings, with a river meandering through, that epitomise mountain life. Upland Escapes offers walking holidays based at the simple Auberge de l'Isard. Using route instructions and maps, or setting out with the local manager on one of the three weekly guided tours, you can either have a relaxed ramble through the oak, chestnut and hazel woods, the meadows, orchards and riverbanks of the valley floor, or head up into the upper pastures and rocky peaks of the Mont Vallier massif.

· 01367 851111, uplandescapes.com. From £615pp for seven nights (£335 for three nights), including B&B accommodation, packed lunch and carbon-offset hire car.

Morzine, France

Morzine has become to mountain biking what Chamonix once was to climbing - the place in the French Alps to flock to in the summer. The streets echo to the clack of cleats and the mode du jour is skintight lycra. It has a wealth of terrain for all abilities (but particularly for gnarly riders), and there's a well-marked trail system, so you can travel huge distances without worrying about getting lost or stuck somewhere too tough (or easy) for you. Above all, many of the Portes du Soleil ski lifts stay open in the summer, and are equipped for bike carriage, so a lot of the pesky uphilling is removed.

· Summer Morzine (01932 837 639, summermorzine.com) offers seven nights for £204, with B&B and transfers from Geneva; or £323pp, half-board. Bike hire £40 per day. Extra activities include everything from whitewater sports and zip-wiring to donkey trekking.

The Dolomites, Italy

Walking in the Dolomites is so spectacular that you could probably put up with staying in prefab motels, as long as the windows were big enough to see the light dancing on the stacks and peaks. But Idyllic Places offers a hiking holiday with attractive accommodation - such as the 16th-century, wood-panelled Gasthof Krone; the art nouveau Hotel Kohlern; and the stylish wooden Gasthof Bad Dreikirchen, with its inviting pool. Your luggage is transferred between stopovers as you explore parts of the E5 walking path (from Lake Constance to Venice); climb the Weisshorn; walk through the Bletterbach Canyon; and try to identify the myriad mountain flowers.

· Book through Inntravel (01653 617945, inntravel.co.uk). From £757pp half-board, including luggage transfers, not including flights and transfers (which can also be booked through Inntravel).

Mount Olympus, Greece

Greece's interior is so often ignored in favour of its islands that it's easy to forget that one of the world's best known mountains is on the mainland: Olympus. Walks Worldwide offers an eight-day trip through the Mount Olympus national park that takes in the cliffs and waterfalls of the Vithos and Enipeas gorges, through pine and beech forests, up to a mountain refuge for the night, from where you set out for the high point of Mytikas (2,918m), with its views down to the Aegean. On the way down, you stay in mountain villages, walk in pastures and pay homage to the locals' favourite deity, Dionysus, the god of wine.

· 01524 242000, walksworldwide.com. From £895pp including flights, accommodation, guides and transfers.

Cordoba, Spain

The hills around Cordoba offer some incredibly varied mountain biking terrain - from exciting descents down scree slopes to rolling paths across the scrublands; from speed plunges in rocky gorges to gentle meanders across farmers' terraces in the woods; and from leaps across mountain streams, to freewheeling to a halt on the beach by Lake Iznajar. Joyriders runs mountain bike holidays in Cerro Macho, between Cordoba and Granada, with guided rides for most levels. Accommodation is in an attractive farmhouse which was a winery 300 years ago. It has a pool and a kitchen for self-catering.

· 0034 957 723363, joy-riders.com. From £399pp for six nights' B&B and free bar, including transfer from Malaga, Seville or Granada. Bike hire available from £99 a week.

Transylvania, Romania

The Machine House in the foothills of the Carpathian mountains may not have a romantic past - it was used as an office building during the communist era - but it is now a romantic hideaway on the Count Mikes estate. It has been restored by Countess Mikes and transformed into a picturesque six-bedroom rustic guesthouse. On the estate there's a large lake and a castle dating back to 1400, and beyond that thickly wooded foothills where you can take guided treks. Other activities include a tour of the nearest village, Zabola, in horse and trap (you won't stand out - this is still a common form of transport) and a visit to a natural sulphur cave.

· Black Tomato (020 7610 9008, blacktomato.co.uk). From £599pp for seven nights' B&B, including flights from Heathrow and private transfers.

Swiss Alps

Here's a break from adrenaline-fuelled descents and heart-pumping climbs. Freewheel Holidays has designed cycling routes with a minimum of climbing that still allow you to enjoy the drama of the Alps. The Best of Switzerland route takes you through the Rhone valley (Switzerland's wine region) and pretty villages, allowing detours to the dramatic Aletsch glacier, with its ice grotto, to Zermatt, at the foot of the Matterhorn, and to the St Bernard Pass. With clever route planning, plus judicious use of railways and cable cars, all this comes while you barely raise a sweat.

· 08453 720315, freewheelholidays.co.uk. From £769, including transfers, B&B, guiding and bike hire. Not including flights or train to Geneva.

Jotunheimen, Norway

The mountains of Jotunheimen ("Home of the Giants") national park have always been at the core of Norwegian life and culture. There are the remains of Stone Age hunting camps; it features in Ibsen's Peer Gynt and inspired Delius's symphonic poem On The Mountains; and it is where the Norwegian Mountain Touring Association built its first refuge. Ramblers Worldwide leads a 12-day trip, staying in well-appointed huts, as you scale Norway's highest peak, the 2,469 Galdhøpiggen, walk over glaciers, cross the spectacular Besseggen Ridge, spot reindeer and admire Lake Gjende.

· 01707 331133, ramblersholidays.co.uk. From £1,169, including flights to Oslo, transfers, full board and hut accommodation.

New Frontiers, Montenegro

Despite being a Unesco world heritage site, Durmitor national park is a dormant tourist attraction. The central massif, 2,522m high, is dramatic, but the Tara River Canyon - second largest in the world behind the Grand Canyon - is more stunning still. It is 78km long, up to 1,300m deep, and home to otters (for the natural history-minded) and whitewater rafting (for the adrenaline junkies). Explore offers an eight-day hike through the park and canyon, with optional rafting, plus the medieval city Kotor and its fjords.

· 0845 013 1537, explore.co.uk. From £799pp, departing August 24, including flights to Dubrovnik, transfers, B&B plus some meals, and guiding.