UK to Portugal via France & Spain December/January advice

Some random thoughts:

Northen central Spain (as Steptoe mentioned, Burgos area) will almost certainly be freezing and pos snow.

A westerly route down France / Spain would be my preference as the weather is predominantly Atlantic rather than the east which will be continental and colder.

Proper thermals are good, heated clothing is amazing (I'm a very recent convert) and well worth the cost.

M-Way routes through the Pyrenees would be my preference - I have been horribly caught out on a pass in the Pyrenees in Feb and whilst I laugh about it now it was very scary at the time.

Keep stopping and keep topped up with carbs, don't wait until you are cold to stop and warm up 'cos you won't.

Try this clever little mod - cheaper than heated pillion gloves and more practicle LINKY

Have fun :beerjug:

Andres
 
I think you will have to decide your route on the day you begin, as I have already mentioned the Clermont Ferrand area can be bad but it is easy to go east around the snow. I will PM you my phone number so you can call me to check the weather when you are on the road.
 
Shenzi said:
I think you will have to decide your route on the day you begin, as I have already mentioned the Clermont Ferrand area can be bad but it is easy to go east around the snow. I will PM you my phone number so you can call me to check the weather when you are on the road.
Click to expand...

Hi Shenzi,

I got your PM, and that is most kind of you. Thank you so much for this I am constantly amazed at how helpful people are on this forum. :beerjug:

Best wishes mate :thumb
 
patzx12 said:
Hay Realboss, are you still on for your trip?
I am heading down next friday hail rain or shine.
Check out this usefull webcam site.
http://www.webcamgalore.com/EN/region.html#Europe
Click to expand...

Hey patzx12, that link is just what I needed :thumb Weather forecasts are ok but there is nothing like seeing the weather yourself :Motomartin Another chap very kindly has offered to advise on weather as he lives in France near the Pyrenees and this is the area that I think could be the most unpredictable.

Are you heading all the way to Spain or Portugal too? We are catching the LD ferry from Portsmouth to LeHavre leaving Friday night. IF you happen to be on the same one I will buy you a beer! :beerjug:

Thanks very much again. Got our Gerbing jackets and inner soles plus some Tucano muffs!!

What are you riding? I'm on an 1150GSA. Mine is in with Mike Pearce in Cardiff having a few final bits sorted. He is a top bloke, really good mechanic and really nice fellow.

Look forward to hearing back from you bud! :thumb2
 
Hi we will be leaving from anothe country to you Rosslare - Cherbourg at 11pm Friday. Pity I will take a rain check on the beer and I aim to collect one day.
There must be a Tosser under every stone from Lehavre to the Algarve put on a new post and they will update you.
I fancy the Millau route a kindly tosser in the area gave me his contact number so I can get an update.
I was going to take my GSA but bugger it I will go on the K1200GT an absolutly superb bike. I dont care about the weather as long as there is no ice, I am only going to travel in daylight.
My destination is Marbella but I will be doing a lot of touring.
 
patzx12 said:
Hi we will be leaving from anothe country to you Rosslare - Cherbourg at 11pm Friday. Pity I will take a rain check on the beer and I aim to collect one day.
There must be a Tosser under every stone from Lehavre to the Algarve put on a new post and they will update you.
I fancy the Millau route a kindly tosser in the area gave me his contact number so I can get an update.
I was going to take my GSA but bugger it I will go on the K1200GT an absolutly superb bike. I dont care about the weather as long as there is no ice, I am only going to travel in daylight.
My destination is Marbella but I will be doing a lot of touring.
Click to expand...

Nice one, well I may consider taking the same route east of the Pyrenees too. We went that way earlier this year and it will probably have better weather than the west coast. I could then cut across from Barcelona through Lleida, Madrid, etc.

We'll travel daytime too. Got caught out in thick fog earlier in the year coming through a mountain tunnel from Italy into France and faced 3 hrs of gruelling tight bends at night with my missus on her bike behind me and a heap of impatient drivers who didnt seem to care that there was no where to pull in!! My missus did a sterling job but I wouldnt want to put her through that again (nor me either!).

Well if we do see a BMW GT enroute we will check if it's you. If not the beer will just have to wait!!

Thanks again! :thumb2
 
Just an update for you guys, right now it is raining but this weekend we get the sun back so we will be away somewhere near the Pyrenees on Saturday night.
 
Brilliant tread this,
i will be setting of on the 25th for down south.
This gives me a good idea what to expect.
All the best on your travels Realboss.

Ogni
 
ogni said:
Brilliant tread this,
i will be setting of on the 25th for down south.
This gives me a good idea what to expect.
All the best on your travels Realboss.

Ogni
Click to expand...

Special treatment for you, I am the Yorkshire Ambassador down here!:D
 
Hi, Ongi, where you heading? I can see a south Europe party coming on.
Hi Reaboss, My ferry crossing is a long one I will arrive in Cherbourg on Sat at 6.30pm depending on the weather i would like to make some progress Sat night.
I want to make a pit stop in Torrevieja. PM me your mobile, If our scedules connect we could do a few km together.
Regards, Pat
 
We've just had a couple of days of heavy rain, but it looks like it's cleared up now for the next week or so. For Northern Spain, it is still raining and with snow falls in some areas.

This link is for the Department of Traffic and lists current traffic circulation for all of Spain - http://infocar.dgt.es/etraffic/.
 
ogni said:
Brilliant tread this,
i will be setting of on the 25th for down south.
This gives me a good idea what to expect.
All the best on your travels Realboss.

Ogni
Click to expand...

Thank you bud, hope your trip goes well too!
 
patzx12 said:
Hi, Ongi, where you heading? I can see a south Europe party coming on.
Hi Reaboss, My ferry crossing is a long one I will arrive in Cherbourg on Sat at 6.30pm depending on the weather i would like to make some progress Sat night.
I want to make a pit stop in Torrevieja. PM me your mobile, If our scedules connect we could do a few km together.
Regards, Pat
Click to expand...

Yeah no worries I will PM you. We arrive in on the Saturday 20th at 8am so will try to get to southern France if we can. We'll see though as if we are knackered we will stop early.

Cheers mate.
 
Dakota XT said:
We've just had a couple of days of heavy rain, but it looks like it's cleared up now for the next week or so. For Northern Spain, it is still raining and with snow falls in some areas.

This link is for the Department of Traffic and lists current traffic circulation for all of Spain - http://infocar.dgt.es/etraffic/.
Click to expand...

Big thanks to you, Shenzi, and everyone else for their help and input on weather etc. Really helpful. :thumb2
 
realboss7669 said:
Yeah no worries I will PM you. We arrive in on the Saturday 20th at 8am so will try to get to southern France if we can. We'll see though as if we are knackered we will stop early.

Cheers mate.
Click to expand...

I got a bit confused there, we are arriving in Cherbourg Saturday the 13th at 18.30 I dont see much point heading out that late but if it's a OK weather wise I will make a bit of progress.
Leave it to the Irish section to act as pathfinders for this mission.:aidan
 
20C sunny and not a cloud in the sky here.

Btw, you might find this page on the DGT site easier to read if you don't know much Spanish - http://infocar.dgt.es/etraffic/TiemposDeRecorrido. You can see at a glance which mountain passes (black triangles/puertos de montaña) are still closed, or difficult to get through.
 
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