Spain in February & March

[Russki Guzzi]

Happy New Year everyone from a grey & dreary Moscow.

Apart from a brief blast from Portugal to Italy I’ve managed to miss out on Spain over the years & I may have a chance to correct that. I’m toying with riding there from the U.K. for a few weeks; I may have as long as February & March to just tootle around.

Question is, is that a good time of year to go? I’m happy to avoid scorching summer heat & I don’t mind a bit of cool weather, but my Guzzi very much prefers the roads & mountain passes to be ice free. I’ll be solo & not interested in any off-road stuff, just nice twisty tarmac. Prefer to camp, if that’s possible that time of year.

Many thanks in advance for all advice.

[Überflieger]

It depends on where you want to go: the north of spain could be cold. The roads along the coast are mostly warm enough, even in Feb or March. But also in the Sierra Nevada in Andalucia could be ice on some parts of the road or even snow.
If you want to avoid the winter completely, go April or May.

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[talkingmonkeys]

We started our RTW in Spain at the beginning of march last year, we left Portsmouth on the 2nd of March and headed south quickly. we had one day in Salamanca and although cool it was not cold. we had a bit of rain on the way down to Jerez but after the first day it was lovely temps about 15 to 20c. We had a week in Morocco and then came back to Spain and stayed near Cordoba and Ronda for about 2 weeks riding some great roads I that area. I can fully recommend the A3151. We went east to the coast near Alicanti for another week and then went North to Barcelona and then in to France. We had the occasional windy day and cool on the nights. We where camping for the most part and wrapped up at night and early mornings but by mid morning once the sun was up we were back to t-shirts and shorts.
hope that helps.
have a great trip

[Tim Cullis]

Weather is never predictable but February is normally the coldest month to tour Spain. Apart from Switzerland, Spain is Europe's most mountainous country with huge swathes at altitude and low winter temperatures.

Have a look at today's forecast for Valladolid: https://weather.com/en-GB/weather/te...cb227a66bbc471 and focus not on the maximum temperature (6-11ºC) but on the overnight lows which get down to -5ºC. If it's been that cold overnight it could remain below zero until lunch time. And Valladolid is only 700m above sea level—we have a property at 1,000m in the Altiplano de Granada and that will be colder than Valladolid.

Places near the coast will generally have better weather, partly through closeness to the ocean/sea, but mainly through being at low altitude. The major river valleys are at lower altitude so hopefully warmer, for example the Ebro which runs 300km, south east from Miranda de Ebro past Logroño (lovely), Bárdenas Reales (pseudo desert) and Zaragoza to the Mediterranean.

I related on another thread about seven of us riding through Spain to follow the Dakar Rally in Morocco. Six of us had electrically heated jackets, able to dial in the temperature we wanted. The seventh guy was so cold he got his wife to buy a jacket and ship it to a hotel in Algeciras for the return journey. At that time of year I travel with handlebar muffs and sometimes gauchos to protect the lower body.

Generally forget camping, most camp sites will be closed and with 14 hours of darkness each night it's an awful long time to lie shivering in a tent waiting for dawn. Look for inexpensive hostels (€30-40) at truck stops at the side of main roads, they will have a welcoming bar downstairs with a great value menu del dia (€10-12) including wine or .

So that's the downside, but you might be fortunate and find warmer weather.

[Flipflop]

Originally Posted by Tim Cullis

Weather is never predictable but February is normally the coldest month to tour Spain. Apart from Switzerland, Spain is Europe's most mountainous country with huge swathes at altitude and low winter temperatures.

Have a look at today's forecast for Valladolid: https://weather.com/en-GB/weather/te...cb227a66bbc471 and focus not on the maximum temperature (6-11ºC) but on the overnight lows which get down to -5ºC. If it's been that cold overnight it could remain below zero until lunch time. And Valladolid is only 700m above sea level—we have a property at 1,000m in the Altiplano de Granada and that will be colder than Valladolid.

Places near the coast will generally have better weather, partly through closeness to the ocean/sea, but mainly through being at low altitude. The major river valleys are at lower altitude so hopefully warmer, for example the Ebro which runs 300km, south east from Miranda de Ebro past Logroño (lovely), Bárdenas Reales (pseudo desert) and Zaragoza to the Mediterranean.

I related on another thread about seven of us riding through Spain to follow the Dakar Rally in Morocco. Six of us had electrically heated jackets, able to dial in the temperature we wanted. The seventh guy was so cold he got his wife to buy a jacket and ship it to a hotel in Algeciras for the return journey. At that time of year I travel with handlebar muffs and sometimes gauchos to protect the lower body.

Generally forget camping, most camp sites will be closed and with 14 hours of darkness each night it's an awful long time to lie shivering in a tent waiting for dawn. Look for inexpensive hostels (€30-40) at truck stops at the side of main roads, they will have a welcoming bar downstairs with a great value menu del dia (€10-12) including wine or .

So that's the downside, but you might be fortunate and find warmer weather.

What he said
End on March 2 years ago riding down to Morocco there was snow down to Caceres on the way down and still there on the way back 10 days later - heated jackets and grips.

[Tim Cullis]

Some more words and photos: Slave labour camps, fossils and desert flowers

[Graham72]

Was thinking about going down to Morocco late March / early April stopping off in southern Spain on the way, maybe that’s a bit too early now having read Tim’s report’s ?

[Flipflop]

Originally Posted by Graham72

Was thinking about going down to Morocco late March / early April stopping off in southern Spain on the way, maybe that’s a bit too early now having read Tim’s report’s ?

It was an extended winter 2 years ago (snow in the Sahara) and not the norm - but it happened.
It was fine riding down through northern Spain but we did need heated jackets. It was also very cold in Morocco at night, it was hot down at the desert but snow as we climbed the high Atlas and 0 degrees at the top.
Next time I think we’ll go Sept/October.
TC is the man with the knowledge

[Erik_G]

The more decent whether in the south this time of year is mainly due to the accumulation energy in the ocean. That evens out the difference between night and day.


But the days are still short. (Sun is up 10 h and down 14 h /day)
And the dark period is long.
Everything is possible. Touring along the coast is decent.
But I would stay with day tours this time of year.

/Wiking in Algarve


https://www.yr.no/sted/Portugal/Faro...idsvarsel.html

https://www.yr.no/sted/Portugal/Faro..._for_time.html

[WANDRR]

Snow in the high Atlas that early. We will be there mid March to mid April and hoping the snow is gone. Ferry to Spain from UK March 8.

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[patzx12]

A few years ago we rode from Galway to Marbella.
Down mid December and back beginning of January.
We went over the Millau bridge on the way down and through England on the way back.
This is without doubt the daftest thing we ever did on a motorcycle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imL_w7sds-Q&t=489s
We regularly bring our motorcycle to Spain but behind our camper in winter.
Costa Del Sol is paradise once south of Granada the weather is great all year round.
Like everywhere winter riding watch out for high altitude areas.

[Tim Cullis]

I've just been given 'permission' for a six-eight week trip to Morocco, riding through Spain both ways, so it will be the first long-distance outing for the KTM 790 Adventure. Outbound journey will be arriving Santander late afternoon of 1 Feb, plan to stop in Mérida for two nights to explore the Roman remains, a half day in Sevilla, reaching Tarifa and crossing to Tanger Ville the evening of 5 Feb.

Will my heated jacket still fit after Christmas?