Just planning my trip and would like to know the best month / months to hit the end of the world?

Plan is to do the Western Us states, Central America and then South America west coast ending up in Ushuaia and then a leisurely treck back home. Maybe!. Feel I need to work backward for my ultimate destination of Ush. Not too sure of the Patagonian weather and riding conditions.

Thans Mojo

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If life gives you lemons then make lemonade & find a friend whose life gave then Vodka & have a party. Mojo

I think dec, jan and feb.
Was there in feb and the weather was just so so. Locals told me that march could bring bad weather but also less tourists(which may be a good thing).

Friends from Santiago de Chile bike down to Tierra del Fuego as early as November. Dec/Jan is tourist time, so the best time to go IMHO is Nov or Feb. I had very good weather conditions end of Jan/beginning of Feb.

Hans

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Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
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I was in there in mid-February. Only rained once. Never cold. And even the winds spared me at at times.

But was just in Dakar Motos in Buenos Aires (Apr 2007) and ran into several riders who just returned from Ushuaia. Sure they got a bit of snow. it was cold, but not a negative story among the handful of travelers who'd been there in March and April.

But I wouldn't push it past April. Remember there's no such thing as being cold.. just not the write clothing...gear.

enjoy it whenever you go. And a bit of advice. Don't just go and take the ubiquitous photo at the end of the road. Stay a while and check out the surrounding area. It's beautiful. Too many miss that...

enjoy!

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Allan - WorldRider
2005 - Adventure & Discovery - 2008 http://www.worldrider.com

I was there for 6 days just before Christmas 06 (left to go north on Dec 25th), and the weather was good. A couple of days of light rain and one of light snow but otherwise good. Wind was not too bad (heard from others that after then it was terrible), and the majority of tourists hadn't arrived yet (same for El Calafate). Luck of the draw, probably! :=)

I was there in late November last year and caught the final flurry of snow over the last pass into Ushuaia (blog at www.simongandolfi.com). Spring flowers along the verge, sunrays striking the peaks - cold but glorious. This year I fly into Ushuaia early July to collect my bike and ride back north to NY. Aim to reach Duchess County for Christmas. Mad - but can't leave UK earlier as must deliver m/s to publisher first and, at 74, don't have time to wait for better weather!
Take care and have fun....

I went from Santiago to TDF leaving on Jan 5 and returning on Feb 3 and the weather was great. Wind was there for sure but no rain to speak of and the crowds were only bad in
El Cafate. It is a great area and I am going back next year.

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Larry Davis

Thanks All,

Jan to march seem to be my target then! One needs to be as flexible as one can be I guess. The whole idea for me is about enjoying my trip wih no fixed plans or expectations to get annoyed with.

Hopeully see you guys somewhere on the road, enjoy n have fun.

Cheers Mojo.

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If life gives you lemons then make lemonade & find a friend whose life gave then Vodka & have a party. Mojo

December and January are definitely the best months. Though I was there in mid-april and it was ok. Cool for sure at 40-50 degree days. It did snow, but is was gone in no time. The town was quiet with very few tourist. Very nice. Only problem, few other motorcyclist down there that late in the season.

So in the end, it's do-able from late Nov. to early april with Dec./Jan being the best. Have fun. Say hi to Javier at the Dublin bar for me.

Ryan

Cheers Ryan,

Plan still is Feb, but who am I to guess where i might get stuck! Good to know that Mar - April are cool too. Not too worried about the cold as see it all part of my adventure.

Will defo say Hi to Xavier in the Irish Bar, just wondering is there a place where the black stuff is not sold? Good on the Irish, they will conquer the world with the Black stuff.
.
Cheers n Gud Luck

Mojo.

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If life gives you lemons then make lemonade & find a friend whose life gave then Vodka & have a party. Mojo

Yes, plans.....

My original plan was to be in TDF for Christmas 2006. Found so many places to explore along the route south(not to mention a beautiful colombian woman) that I delayed my arrival nearly 4 months!

Have a great ride! I'm ready to leave tomorrow to do it all over again.

Ryan

Ryan,

Enjoy your next trip out. Plans are like laws in Rugby! meant to be bended and in some ocassions broken!

Cheers Mojo

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If life gives you lemons then make lemonade & find a friend whose life gave then Vodka & have a party. Mojo

Mojo, I'm planning a similar trip, though I'm mstarting from NYC. Looking to travel through central and south america to Tierra Del Fuego. I was reading your post as I wasn't sure the best months either. Anyhow, if you're interested in meeting up somewhere let me know. I plan on going solo for now but would prefer company.

Bmast,

I plan to be in Phoenix in september then head down at a leisurely rate. Will keep in touch and keep you posted to catch up somewhere. Have you got a specific route in mind? I am just building one with places that I want to visit in mind at the moment.

Cheers Mojo.

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If life gives you lemons then make lemonade & find a friend whose life gave then Vodka & have a party. Mojo

You have a similar dilema as myself. Leaving in Sept. is ideal for much of Mexico & Central America but you might get a bit chilled/wet in the high Andes as they tend to follow (more or less) a northern hemisphere Winter pattern...(yes, weird and hard as hell to predict) Oct. & November should be ideal in Colombia even into Equador. Further south it's harder to predict higher elevations. Quito is about 9200 ft., Cuzco about 9000, La Paz 12K or so.

I spent time in Ushuaia in 1976, 77', 78' and 79'. Made nine crossings of the Drake Passage from Usuhia to Antarctica on a US research vessel, spent a fair bit of time in Ushuaia and Punta Arenas. Covered most of S. America both as biker and back packer for 7 years in all. Sorry, no book, video or web site.

In TDF, November/December tend to have the best weather but you really should be OK up until March. But with Global Warming all serious predictions are off. Even the experts are gun shy. Be flexible.

Northern Argentina might be too hot (most likely) as you come south, so save it for when you go north again. A must see. (from Nov. to about March it can get in the high 90's f consistently or higher!)
(May to Sept. might be best for N.Arg)

You could come south via Chilean coast. (bit cooler) See the far south then head back north a different route via Argentina. Then head into Brazil if you like insanity. Have fun....



Patrick

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!