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winter cycling destinations

garyatkinson1garyatkinson1 Posts: 5
in Road general
I have the opportunity to head to warmer climates for a month roughly around october/november and am looking for advice about where to go......ive spent 3 days in lourdes a few years ago and a week in the girona area and mallorca but this was all organised for me and was 5 days max.....I,m hooping to rent long term somewhere with as little rain as possible and enjoy a lenghty road biking holiday.......even somewhere off the beaten track that may have just been discovered....
thanks

g

Posts

  • thegreatdividethegreatdivide Posts: 5,692
    Is this in Oct/Nov 2021/22?
  • garyatkinson1garyatkinson1 Posts: 5
    this year ...obviously subject to no travel restrictions .....quarantine issues are irrelevant as i,m working from home anyway
  • N0bodyOfTheGoatN0bodyOfTheGoat Posts: 5,516
    Is there enough to keep you going in Tenerife, or maybe simply switch between a few Canary Islands?
    ================
    2020 Voodoo Marasa
    2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
    2016 Voodoo Wazoo
  • garyatkinson1garyatkinson1 Posts: 5
    not sure....never been.......for some reason i,m thinking mainland europe would be safer and more convenient and allow me to travel by hire car if need be......thinking safety and the less planes i have to jump on etc........
  • pblakeneypblakeney Posts: 22,918
    South Spain?
    I can't remember specific locations offhand but there are a few excellent areas.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • 50x1150x11 Posts: 408
    Valencia seems popular and there is a lot of smaller towns near by where you could stay out of the city but still enjoy it if you needed to.
  • garyatkinson1garyatkinson1 Posts: 5
    girona seems a good option.......would give me access to france and lourdes again for a change of scene.........does anyone have any experience in eastern europe....croatia seems to come up a bit.......not sure about the weather though
  • bondurantbondurant Posts: 858
    I would have thought Girona wasn't really South enough to avoid rain at the time of year you are planning.
  • thistle_thistle_ Posts: 6,900
    bondurant said:

    I would have thought Girona wasn't really South enough to avoid rain at the time of year you are planning.

    Majorca was half wet half sunny when I went mid October a few years ago. It's further south, but it's also an island which might make it wetter.
  • kingstongrahamkingstongraham Posts: 23,958
    I think there's plenty of Tenerife to keep you busy.
  • mercuryrevmercuryrev Posts: 33
    October could be nice in and around Lourdes, but November usually sees the first snow of the year in the mountains. (We live 40 mins from Lourdes) I've been in Girona for a weekend in mid November and whilst it is usually nice at that time of year, we got hit by a couple of huge storms. I'd thoroughly recommend the Algarve however. Plenty of places to stay, some great roads and potentially great weather. We were there in Jan/Feb this year and had 2 days when it rained, the rest of the time the temps were in high teens/low 20s. 2019 did see a week of rain in the autumn though apparently.
  • teisetrotterteisetrotter Posts: 342
    Croatia is pretty special. Completely empty, really laid back. I flew into Venice and drove down to Istria. But it does have a cooler climate than Italy and there is not much to do down there. Might be different if you flew to the South.

    I have also done the Tour of Sardinia. That could be an option. There is also the other winter training place of Calpe.
  • ugo.santaluciaugo.santalucia Posts: 27,897
    N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

    Is there enough to keep you going in Tenerife, or maybe simply switch between a few Canary Islands?

    I have a friend who owns a couple of properties in Fuerteventura and keeps posting photos on social media... the sea is nice, but other than that it's freaking bleak... it's all brown with not a tree in sight for miles... I don't understand what's attractive for a cyclist
    left the forum March 2023
  • pblakeneypblakeney Posts: 22,918
    ugo.santalucia said:

    N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

    Is there enough to keep you going in Tenerife, or maybe simply switch between a few Canary Islands?

    I have a friend who owns a couple of properties in Fuerteventura and keeps posting photos on social media... the sea is nice, but other than that it's freaking bleak... it's all brown with not a tree in sight for miles... I don't understand what's attractive for a cyclist
    Windy too. There is a reason that it is popular with wind surfers.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • ugo.santaluciaugo.santalucia Posts: 27,897
    pblakeney said:

    ugo.santalucia said:

    N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

    Is there enough to keep you going in Tenerife, or maybe simply switch between a few Canary Islands?

    I have a friend who owns a couple of properties in Fuerteventura and keeps posting photos on social media... the sea is nice, but other than that it's freaking bleak... it's all brown with not a tree in sight for miles... I don't understand what's attractive for a cyclist
    Windy too. There is a reason that it is popular with wind surfers.
    Yes, that was another life... when we were 20, not a penny in our pockets and wanted to go windsurfing in St. Marie de la Mer, Tarifa and Fuerteventura because that's where Robbie Naish and Bjorn Dunkerback were.... more often than not we were seen at the local reservoir trying to make the most of a 10 knots breeze
    left the forum March 2023
  • N0bodyOfTheGoatN0bodyOfTheGoat Posts: 5,516
    ugo.santalucia said:

    N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

    Is there enough to keep you going in Tenerife, or maybe simply switch between a few Canary Islands?

    I have a friend who owns a couple of properties in Fuerteventura and keeps posting photos on social media... the sea is nice, but other than that it's freaking bleak... it's all brown with not a tree in sight for miles... I don't understand what's attractive for a cyclist
    Fuerteventura is supposed to be the windiest of the Canaries, but I'd love to visit Tenerife again and have a go at climbing Teide a few times, but I could do with more practice of climbing longer hills than occaisonal ~700 foot cat3 climbs! :D
    ================
    2020 Voodoo Marasa
    2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
    2016 Voodoo Wazoo
  • CargobikeCargobike Posts: 748
    These are the current exempt countries from non essential travel worldwide.

    https://gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-countries-and-territories-exempt-from-advice-against-all-but-essential-international-travel

    Neither France or Spain feature presently and with rising numbers of cases already, I doubt they will either during your proposed dates.

    The obvious answer is to sit it out for this year, for everyones sake.

    The only country that might offer anything half decent at the moment is Portugal, but I'd be amazed if it's still viable come Oct/Nov.
  • pilot_petepilot_pete Posts: 2,120
    The Algarve is fabulous - a group of us go every November, and Portugal has just been removed from the quarantine on return list. No guarantee it won’t go back on, but that is the same for everywhere.

    Temperatures mid/ high teens to mid twenties. We’ve had blue skies every day for the last 4 years, but you can get the occasional cold(ish) damp days. Not too windy, fabulous wall to wall hills inland, great local cafes with cheap, traditional food and coffee sold everywhere! Very little traffic and great road surfaces. Many challenging climbs, the biggest being Foia which is 900m, look at past tv coverage of the Tour of the Algarve to see what the roads and climbs are like.

    Cheap flights from the U.K. to Faro and if you stay out of season in October/ November there is plentiful cheap accommodation.

    PP
  • navrig2navrig2 Posts: 1,774
    I am not sure there is a month of riding in Tenerife unless you are happy to do repeat rides over the month. Assuming you stay in the south for easy access to Teide you would need access to transport to get to north where there are some very nice roads and climbs. The scenery is nicer (greenery wise) in the north although it tends to be cloudier.

    There are some cracking climbs (and descents) near Buenavista in the west.

    You can also get a couple of days out of contouring around Teide without actually climbing Teide.
  • ugo.santaluciaugo.santalucia Posts: 27,897
    edited August 2020
    I've got the feeling once the holiday season comes to an end, quarantine rules will be tightened even in the host countries, not just here in the UK and travelling might become a waste of time
    left the forum March 2023
  • me-109me-109 Posts: 1,780
    Corsica?
  • thistle_thistle_ Posts: 6,900
    pblakeney said:

    ugo.santalucia said:

    N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

    Is there enough to keep you going in Tenerife, or maybe simply switch between a few Canary Islands?

    I have a friend who owns a couple of properties in Fuerteventura and keeps posting photos on social media... the sea is nice, but other than that it's freaking bleak... it's all brown with not a tree in sight for miles... I don't understand what's attractive for a cyclist
    Windy too. There is a reason that it is popular with wind surfers.
    pblakeney said:

    ugo.santalucia said:

    N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

    Is there enough to keep you going in Tenerife, or maybe simply switch between a few Canary Islands?

    I have a friend who owns a couple of properties in Fuerteventura and keeps posting photos on social media... the sea is nice, but other than that it's freaking bleak... it's all brown with not a tree in sight for miles... I don't understand what's attractive for a cyclist
    Windy too. There is a reason that it is popular with wind surfers.
    I found it quite a nice place for a few days riding (only went for a short break) but I had a mountain bike so I could go off road too. The wind along the coast road was insane, but inland it wasn't too bad.
    The lack of things including people and cars was quite nice :smile:
  • navrig2navrig2 Posts: 1,774
    edited August 2020
    ugo.santalucia said:

    I've got the feeling once the holiday season comes to an end, quarantine rules will be tightened even in the host countries, not just here in the UK and travelling might become a waste of time

    I tend to agree with you. I've just travelled to Vietnam hoping my wife would follow in a couple of months. I am now having my doubts about being able to get her a VISA and a flight even if I am getting priority treatment for work.

    I suspect things are going to tighten very soon.


    thistle_(mbnw) said:

    pblakeney said:

    ugo.santalucia said:

    N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

    Is there enough to keep you going in Tenerife, or maybe simply switch between a few Canary Islands?

    I have a friend who owns a couple of properties in Fuerteventura and keeps posting photos on social media... the sea is nice, but other than that it's freaking bleak... it's all brown with not a tree in sight for miles... I don't understand what's attractive for a cyclist
    Windy too. There is a reason that it is popular with wind surfers.
    pblakeney said:

    ugo.santalucia said:

    N0bodyOfTheGoat said:

    Is there enough to keep you going in Tenerife, or maybe simply switch between a few Canary Islands?

    I have a friend who owns a couple of properties in Fuerteventura and keeps posting photos on social media... the sea is nice, but other than that it's freaking bleak... it's all brown with not a tree in sight for miles... I don't understand what's attractive for a cyclist
    Windy too. There is a reason that it is popular with wind surfers.
    I found it quite a nice place for a few days riding (only went for a short break) but I had a mountain bike so I could go off road too. The wind along the coast road was insane, but inland it wasn't too bad.
    The lack of things including people and cars was quite nice :smile:
    I have cycled on Fuertaventura 3 times, all in the same week and there wasn't any wind. Guess I was lucky. Once you got inside the coast ring road (bit like Tenerife) the roads were really quiet and the surface very good. Some cracking hills too.
  • johnnyfartpantsjohnnyfartpants Posts: 566
    Cyprus is supposed to be a bit of a unknown cycling gem out of high season
  • amrushtonamrushton Posts: 1,203
    Corsica or Sicily? Cote d'Azur? Gran Canaria/Lanzarote but of course you might get quarantined etc
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