Hey everyone, looking at doing a trip in winter of 2019/2020. Due to my work I'm only able to get away in the winter months (Nov to March). I've been exploring flying my bike from Canada to Morocco, then riding from there along the north coast of the Mediterranean through Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Albania and ending up in Athens to fly back home. Biggest question is weather along this route in winter, I know it's a long way from being warm but I'm more concerned about ice, rain, snow etc.... Anyone else done a route similar to this in winter with any advice?

Hello, and welcome to the HUBB.

You won't have any problem riding along the Med coastline in Spain (from about Gibraltar to up near Barcelona) - it's quite warm there during the day in the winter, about 20°.

Similarly, it's fairly warm in the southern part of the Adriatic, from about Albania south to Greece.

From Barcelona east along the Med coast to Rome, you might encounter some cooler temperatures. Southern Italy will be temperate during the winter, as long as you stay along the coast.

Keep in mind that you will be confined a bit to coastal areas in Morocco - once you get up into the mountains, you will find snow on the roads at this time of year. Even along the coast, it can get darn cold at night (temperatures near freezing), even though daytime temperatures will probably reach 15° to 20°.

FYI, I live in Toronto, my moto is presently in Madrid, and I will be flying to Madrid the third week of January 2019 to pick the moto up and ride it down to Morocco (not my first visit there). I'm anticipating a rather chilly ride southbound from Madrid - if I am lucky, the daytime high will be 8° or 10° when I leave Madrid - but temperatures will rise to about 18° to 20° when I reach the south coast of Spain.

So, to make a long story short, no problems with Morocco, as long as you are aware that you will be regionally-restricted due to snow in the mountain areas, and limited to riding between (for example) 10 AM to perhaps 6 PM due to cold night-time temperatures.

No problems with Spain either, from Gibraltar all the way up to Barcelona, as long as you accept that you will be confined to the coastline (no heading up into the Sierra Nevadas - 'Nevada' is the Spanish word for snow). Further east than Barcelona, you might have some nice days and some days that are cool enough to discourage you from riding at highway speeds.

Michael

Like said. Southern European Med coast is fine for travel in winter.

I'm often in Malaga in Jan/Feb and temps are 15-20c during the day.

As soon as you get into any mountains the temperature drops quickly though. You can ski in the Sierra Nevadas !

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Beware check forecasts I live on French coast Mediterranean and it was -3 last night very cold for next week I have also traveled and lived on Spanish coast it can get cold seen snow in Valencia.

Corsica was 0C last night.
Be aware that Mediterranean Climate may involve a lot of rain during winter although so far the last two months in Italy, Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia have been almost rain free.
Propane heater runs all night though.

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Tony
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As mentioned....anywhere in southern Spain or Morocco is likely to be fine.
I live on the northern Mediterranean , or Adriatic to be more precise and although I ride year round I wouldn't feel much like travelling very far until march or so.
Here is a picture of a typical day in Trieste ( we get 120km wind regularly in winter and same goes for the Croatian coast . ) Incidentally , the other one was just down the road in Venice a couple of Februaries ago. It was a freak winter but normally it's just very foggy wet and dreary.


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I've done a few winter bike trips in southern Spain when the weather was good - blue skies, 15-20C etc and really enjoyed it. If you get lucky it can be better than summer where 40C can make you wilt somewhat.

However, it's not always like that and the further north you go round the coast the more likely you are to take a hit from the weather. I set out last January to ride the Med coast down to southern Spain (and then over to Morocco) and got this in France -



OK, you'd probably expect some snow in the winter but even when it wasn't snowing it was raining all the time, with loads of roads closed through flooding. After being wet and frozen for a week and the forecast telling me I had another 1500 miles of the same I gave up and went home.

You might be made of sterner stuff and be better equipped than me but thousands of miles of nothing but wet road dark skies misery isn't a bike trip, it's an expedition. Set off with that mind set and you'll be ok. If the sun does come out think of it as a bonus.