The rain in Spain...

I'm thinking of travelling from Bilbao to Porto and back during the last week in February. Does anyone have any idea of what weather conditions I can expect?

I'm planning to head south from Bilbao, down to Madrid, across to Seville & Porto, returning in a northerly loop via Leon, the Picos & Santander.

Besides weather info, I'd be grateful for any other info that may be useful having never been to Spain on my bike before.

Spanish Bob, my moneys on you to come up with the goods!

Spangle

It really depends on your luck. But those plains you mention - ie the middle bit of Spain can get bloody cold, below zero and not just in the hills. Especially Castilla, Madrid etc. Obviously Sevilla, Oporto should be pretty nice warmish and probably sunny. León, Asturias tese sorts of places are like the SW of England, very green and for the same reason, expect some and it could be cold especialy in the picos.

so basically take flips flops and thermals!

Bleedin hell, can you ride your bike that quick?! You replied before I finished typing.

Two years ago I was in Barca (not on bike) the first weekend in Feb and I was in shorts and sandals all day. Last year, on the same weekend, I was in Madrid and based on previous trip just took shorts and sandals.

Big mistake as the temp never really got above freezing and I received some pityful looks from the locals as I sat shivering round my tapas.

I don't mind the cold on my bike, so long as I've got my gear on, it's just the rain that makes me wish I was somewhere else.

When I was in Madrid last year, I had a day out on the train to Toledo which was a fantastic place, can you recommend anywhere else worth a visit next month?

Cheers Bob.

Well you could try Avila - famous for is medieval walls. El escorial (palace). Or to the south youve got Aranjuez (inspiration for the famous concierto de Rodrigo). This is if you are going to one place and by train. If you are going by car or bike, just get the Michelin map and folow the roads with green shading and look for the natural parks around madrid. There are lovely and you´ll eat really well. Just be careful if its cold it can snow and be very icey.

Bob

I have a dream to buy a home in mid/south of France or mid/north Spain for my retirement (local village life please-no hoards of obnoxious Sun reading Brits in a high rise Costa block).

Was under the impression that in those area's central heating wasn't necessary BUT now you've put the willies up me with tails of freezing temps!

What's your advice re best place to buy?

Ghost Rider2 said:

Bob

I have a dream to buy a home in mid/south of France or mid/north Spain for my retirement (local village life please-no hoards of obnoxious Sun reading Brits in a high rise Costa block).

Was under the impression that in those area's central heating wasn't necessary BUT now you've put the willies up me with tails of freezing temps!

What's your advice re best place to buy?

Click to expand...

Ghost

It simply the difference between a coastal and continental climate. Barcelona is lets say warm all year round, whereas Madrid is boiling in summer and cold in winter. If you want warm all year round you have to be near to the sea. That doesn´t mean costa del shit necesarily, you can still be inland just not too far. In spain the further south you go the more brits you´ll find. If you have any areas in mind let me know and I can investigaet a bit

Ghost when I mentined tha ice and snow, this is assuming you are in one of the sierra´s. If you dont have heating and aircon you aren´t going to be happy there. obvosuly differnt story if you are living belwo 1000m.

Open to any idea's in Spain.
A French colleague has told me to look in the Massif Certral region.
The GS is my new toy to allow me to explore all suitable area's.
Did trail riding in Andorra in May 2003 and loved the atmosphere and scenery. Fancy the French?Spanish relaxed lifestyle.

Spanish Bob said:

Ghost

It simply the difference between a coastal and continental climate. Barcelona is lets say warm all year round, whereas Madrid is boiling in summer and cold in winter. If you want warm all year round you have to be near to the sea. That doesn´t mean costa del shit necesarily, you can still be inland just not too far. In spain the further south you go the more brits you´ll find. If you have any areas in mind let me know and I can investigaet a bit

Click to expand...

I personally like Murcia. Has easy access to the coast nearby at La Manga and Cartagena but is far enough off the "tourist track" that there are few lager-louts there. Places also to look at are near Aguilas but this bit of coast is soon to end up like Benidorm I expect.

My ex lived there near the bull ring and La Condominia (home of the bottom club in La Liga 1!) for a couple of years in a nice flat in a small street. I visited at any opportunity usually by air to Alicante and bus to Murcia. She house sits for someone on a permanent basis all year except at school holiday time near Torrevieja and she says this is pretty unpleasant mostly being urbanisations full of holiday homes, no centres, no proper life......

Apart from some Yanks with one of those neon lit "english language" schools there were few British in Murcia city.

The snow in Spain....

Finally did the trip, but with a few route variations. Arrived in Bilbao on the Sunday at 8am and headed down to Segovia using minor roads rather than motorways. Some fantastic roads, (notably A625 & LR113) especially over the mountains but we were constantly kept on our toes by black ice.

Monday we headed over the Sierra de Guadarramas to El Escorial, which was absolutely stunning as there were 4' snow drifts on either side of the road and the temperature dropped well into minus as we climbed. At the peak we mingled with skiers and policemen who found it somewhat amusing to see to two silly sods on motorbikes. From El Escorial we continued to Salamanca over the Sierra de Gredos on the C501 & C500 for a night and then onto Porto for two nights.

Returned via same two towns but using N roads due to poor weather and finally landed in Vitoria on Saturday afternoon for a short trip into Bilbao the following morning. Or so we thought! The road into Vitoria was littered with crashed/abandoned/upside down vehicles due to blizzards. We managed to get through by using left index fingers as windscreen wipers (and prayer), as the region suffered its worst snow fall for 3 million years.

Awoke on Sunday morning to find the road outside our hotel unpassable due to further overnight snow fall, so missed ferry home at 1230. Eventually crept out at 1500 and rode to Calais for a Dover crossing, a ride that was both mind and finger numbing.

The trip was character building to say the least, but enjoyable all the same.

I'm going again at the end of April/start May.

Spanish Bob - Did you mean thermals and snow shoes, rather than sandals?

Ghostrider2
I have a cottage in the centre of france in the Indre rgoin you get all the seasons althought snow is a rare thing.
I was there a few weeks ago and the day temp was on ave 8to 10 degrees the nights fell to -2 to 4 how ever the temp settles in April to nov from a mild 15 in april to 40 in august.
house prices in this regoin are among some of the cheapest in france but are on the rise
the massif central covers a number of regoins and prices are on the whole quite expensive ive noticed
the further soutj you go the warmer it gets but winters can still be very cold at night so c heating is important and air con in the hight of summer.
Hope this is of some help
ps one advantage is electricity, water seem to be cheaper and my local taxes ( council Taxes ) are 140 euros for the year compared to my concil tax in uk of over a £1000
the lifestyle in France is a lot more relaxed ive found
Good hunting
Mike

Re: The snow in Spain....

Spangle said:

Finally did the trip, but with a few route variations. Arrived in Bilbao on the Sunday at 8am and headed down to Segovia using minor roads rather than motorways. Some fantastic roads, (notably A625 & LR113) especially over the mountains but we were constantly kept on our toes by black ice.

Monday we headed over the Sierra de Guadarramas to El Escorial, which was absolutely stunning as there were 4' snow drifts on either side of the road and the temperature dropped well into minus as we climbed. At the peak we mingled with skiers and policemen who found it somewhat amusing to see to two silly sods on motorbikes. From El Escorial we continued to Salamanca over the Sierra de Gredos on the C501 & C500 for a night and then onto Porto for two nights.

Returned via same two towns but using N roads due to poor weather and finally landed in Vitoria on Saturday afternoon for a short trip into Bilbao the following morning. Or so we thought! The road into Vitoria was littered with crashed/abandoned/upside down vehicles due to blizzards. We managed to get through by using left index fingers as windscreen wipers (and prayer), as the region suffered its worst snow fall for 3 million years.

Awoke on Sunday morning to find the road outside our hotel unpassable due to further overnight snow fall, so missed ferry home at 1230. Eventually crept out at 1500 and rode to Calais for a Dover crossing, a ride that was both mind and finger numbing.

The trip was character building to say the least, but enjoyable all the same.

I'm going again at the end of April/start May.

Spanish Bob - Did you mean thermals and snow shoes, rather than sandals?

Click to expand...

sorry to hear that Spangle! to be honest the weather in the last year or so has been a bit extreme we even had snow in Bcn a week or so ago and thats about as common as rocking horse shite. oh well. hope it didnt ruin your trip