Europe advice?

I posted this on UK climbing but I don't have much experience with that site so I wanted to see what you guys had to say:

My wife and I have two weeks off (July 14-28) together and want to take a trip somewhere.

I have loads of experience in the mountains of N. America, but none in Europe. Have only gone on climbing trips in Spain and the UK. I do lead 5.11/E2ish, but that won't matter.

My wife has some sport climbing experience and at one point was redpointing 6b's after a few tries. But she has been doing marathons for the past two years now and hasn't climbed much. She does not have experience in the mountains but has done some multipitch climbing. She is in excellent shape and will be able to cope with some exposure.

We are looking for a place with easy (5.8ish and below) multipitch trad that also offers beautiful scenery, moderate approaches and descents, and rest day activities. Four to seven days of climbing will probably do, with the rest being spent trail running or walking and just relaxing. Not interested in anywhere that will be blazing hot, but consistent weather is always a good thing. Sport climbing is OK, but we do enjoy multipitch and trad.

Camping is OK, but since we will probably be flying there, I'd rather not mess w/ a tent and just stay at a B&B or something like that. Cheap is fine (better) as we are used to living simply, but this is our vacation so we'd like to have some privacy. We don't have a huge budget, maybe £40 per night for accommodation... more if we don't have to hire a car. Self catering would be nice and somewhere w/ easy access to a market and cheap food would be nice.

I'm just a bit lost because there are so many options. Places I have thought about but don't know much about include the Dolomites, Pyrenees (France or Spain), Chamonix (recommended after I mentioned that Chamonix might be too much for my wife's first trip to big mountains). What do you guys think of these places and what others should I be looking at?

We are based in London. Thanks in advance!

PS, if anyone is thinking about a similar trip we'd love to share accommodation somewhere, even if the climbing doesn't suit us as well as it might suit you!

Check out Picos de Europa in northern Spain. Easy flight from London. There is a hut right at the base of the climbs. It is trad and has lots of some moderate routes.

Yea, I'm drawn to Picos de Europa because of my prior experiences climbing in Spain - El Chorro has been my paradise since I have been living in London. If northern Spain is similar, we will have a great time. We speak elementary Spanish as well. Any inside info on Picos de Europa would be appreciated.

We also had a great time working in Italy last summer, even though we didn't get to climb any. Does anyone have any info on the Dolomites? Looks like there are routes that my wife would be happy on but it seems like the descents can be not so much fun and the weather is more of a factor as well - that will be new to her. Crowds and more expensive too... but the pictures look amazing!

It isn't trad climbing, but I went to Kalymnos, Greece for two weeks in the summer and it was AMAZING. They have a really good number of multi-pitch routes there, with fabulous single-pitch routes as well. We stayed at the Philoxenia hotel for 30 euro a night and they had a continental breakfast, pool and free internet. It was also a 10 minute walk into town and right below the Grand Grotta, one of the more classic Kalymnos crags (10 minute hike). I heard that this was one of the more expensive places to stay too over there, so you should probably be able to find cheaper. You can also rent a moped for 10 euro a day and get any where on the island. Tons of trails for hiking and trail running too.

You might check out the Vercors in France. There's some info on this site for that area.

Rental car best, but, could be done from a location or two.

Gite would be a great lodging option.

Dolomites would be super, too.

Ecrins in France. You could hit a ton of stuff just based out of
Grenoble.

Corsica.

Be a touch too warm and crowded for me at most beachside climbing areas.

Hey Ryan,
I climbed in the Dolomites a couple of summers ago with my Italian buddy and it was incredible. The rock can be loose and does take some getting use to but the huts are amazing and the food is killer. I gotta look to find the names of where we were but we did a route that Hermann Buhl put up in the 50s i believe that has a hard nine or easy 10 move. Most of the route is much easier but the refuggio is right there and the area is incredible. You can also rap the route. From the valley we also did a variation on a Fritz Weissner route that was amazing! The grade was probably around 9 but most of the route was easier. Hut nearby, a couple raps and then down a via ferrata route to get off. I think the place is amazing and that is just one little part of the entire, gigantic mountain range. I would recommend it over Cham. My experience there is harder grades, more people and the food can't compare. These huts in the dolomites had draft beer. They had chair lifts to bring up the food and supplies.
email me if you want more info markduffy90 at hotmail.
Ciao,
Mark

Thanks Brian, I will look into those areas for sure.

Aaron, I do want to check out Kalymnos, but it is an easy 7 day sport climbing holiday from London... I'd rather save it for cooler temps.

Anywhere else?

Cima Canali, in the Pale di San Martino, has a route by Buhl and one by Wiessner side by side. It is almost 40 years since my last visit to the Pale, but I remember them as a very nice area.