Mid April trip France, Spain, Morocco, Portugal
 

Hi All Ive started making arrangements for a 2 week journey on the 9th of April and returning on the Santander ferry on the 24th if anyone is interested on popping along?
I have booked a tunnel to France plus my crossing from Santander with a cabin and currently have 3 spare places due to having to book a 4 berth.

Also if anyone is local to any of these stops and fancies showing me the local sights or if anyone has any recommendations for must do, must see etc then it would be greatly appreciated.

The route is below
UK to Le mans
le mans to Bordeaux
Bordeaux through Biarritz to Pamplona
Pamplona to Segovia
Segovia to Cordoba
Cordoba to tangier £100 return
Tangier through Asilah to Casablanca
Casablnaca to Fes
Fes to Chefchaouan & tetouan
tetouan to Seville
Seville to Lisbon with a stop in Portimoa perhaps?
Lisbon to Porto
Porto to Leon
Leon to Santander
Ferry To Portsmouth

Thank you in advance

I must say, I am a little bit surprised. I thought you would get lots of answers from people telling you it´s doubtful your planned trip will be possible.

Have you read the Morocco forum on this site?

2 weeks isn't very long.

I always recommend 3 weeks if you want to get from the UK to Morocco and see the interesting bits, and thats without touring France Spain and Portugal.

To be honest I would rethink and just do the European bits if you only have 2 weeks. Your planned Morocco section isn't the most interesting of riding and with the traffic in Casablanca you could be stuck there for days:rofl:

Then for another trip do Morocco and get down south to the best bits of the country

I have had a browse through but I’ve got everything on flexible bookings so I’ll at least get the money back.
I’m optimistic as it’s 4 months away so fingers crossed.

I don't think any of us can predict with any certainty what things will look like four months from now. What we CAN predict, as pointed out above, is that this is quite ambitious for a two-week trip. The only way I can make sense of your schedule is if you're doing hardly anything but riding from one stop to the next (plus loading and unloading, finding your lodging, eating a bit here and there...). There's not really any time for exploring on foot, visiting attractions, taking those interesting side-journeys which present from time to time, interacting with locals, even sleeping late now and then because you're tired and frayed.

If that's the kind of trip you're after, ok then. But I'd sure suggest you at least reread #3 and think it over carefully, since you're going to a lot of trouble just to see--but hardly experience--some of the more boring areas of Morocco. FWIW, I speak as someone with a strong tendency to move too quickly while experiencing too little.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

I plan on Morocco some time next year, possibly May and will follow this thread with interest as I am planning on 3 weeks away... sailing to and from Santandair. I guess 2 solid weeks in Morocco.

Hi Duffman:

Welcome to the HUBB community!

I agree with comments made by others (above) that your route might be just a bit ambitious for a two-week trip. I've done quite a few trips similar to your proposed route (France to Spain, ferry to Morocco, back up again), and I think that if you try to complete your planned route in 2 weeks, you'll just have a sore ass and memories of dozens of gas stations along the way.

My suggestion to you would be to drop the Morocco portion of the trip, and just enjoy France & Spain. Not only would that take the pressure off, it would eliminate a lot of stress concerning whether or not you will be able to get into and out of Morocco next spring. Have a look at this post here on the HUBB: COVID 19 - Morocco Master Thread and you will understand what I am referring to.

Morocco has a habit of changing entry regulations frequently, at the last minute, without prior notification, and ferry service between Spain & Morocco is disrupted due to a diplomatic dispute (nothing to do with COVID). That dispute has been running for a long time and there are few of us who think it will be resolved by next spring.

Michael