Warmer Winter

[cruiser]

Quick question....how far down into France or Spain would I have to drive to enjoy reasonably mild weather in January and February, maybe even March?

[crbtaylor]

In late February we were in Montpelier and it was pleasantly warm and the obviously the further south you go the warmer it gets, still chilly at night though

[Guest pelmetman]

Spent January at Pilar de la horadada.........and Febuary at Calpe B-)

 

Weather mostly shorts and "T" shirts during the day..............cool at night..........and this year quite windy 8-)

[Guest JudgeMental]

For a chance of any sort of decent winter weather surely it has to be south as far as Alicante or Sicily....

[Iain Strachan]

Did this for the first time this year, had some very good advice on routes and sites from Forum members,

a lot of whom have been doing this for years! One bit of advice was "we don't see it getting much warmer until you get past Madrid" and this was the case. We spent February, on the costa del sol out of 30 days only 3 were cloudy, and one of those torrential rain! A wee bit windy but it was great to sit in tee shirt and silly hat in February at temp. 22 to 25 C. Left on 7th Jan in snow returned 21st March to snow. It was worth the effort.

Enjoy

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

Iain Strachan - 2013-04-22 12:54 PM

 

Did this for the first time this year, had some very good advice on routes and sites from Forum members,

a lot of whom have been doing this for years! One bit of advice was "we don't see it getting much warmer until you get past Madrid" and this was the case. We spent February, on the costa del sol out of 30 days only 3 were cloudy, and one of those torrential rain! A wee bit windy but it was great to sit in tee shirt and silly hat in February at temp. 22 to 25 C. Left on 7th Jan in snow returned 21st March to snow. It was worth the effort.

Enjoy

[Zydeco Joe]

We had our first winter trip starting early December till mid Jan 2013, we only got as far south as Blanes about 75 mile north of Barcelona. Stopped in Blanes for 12 nights over Christmas / New Year.

Found it was ok if not hot but very pleasant .We did a total of about 3000 miles home to home, cost was less than anticipated as used aires and wild camped about half of the time.

Hope this helps

Could put the full report on line if you would like. B-)

[Iain Strachan]

1foot, were you going to make a comment, cos I missed it (?)

[cruiser]

Thanks all, much appreciated and a good start to our 'planning process'........all further thoughts, tips and comments still welcome. We'd rather be over-informed than under!

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

Iain Strachan - 2013-04-22 4:01 PM

 

1foot, were you going to make a comment, cos I missed it (?)

 

I was Iain, but not knowing your age and me having difficulty getting health cover travel insurance for longer than 30 days. I was going to ask who you insure with, but have found goodtogoinsurance who will quote me, I'm 67 with pre-existing health issues I need to declare and it is becoming a real problem now. :-( you look a mere slip of a lad though compared to me, so thought better about asking ;-)

[John 47]

cruiser - 2013-04-21 7:53 PM

 

Quick question....how far down into France or Spain would I have to drive to enjoy reasonably mild weather in January and February, maybe even March?

 

Hi

 

We have just returned from spending the winter in south-east Spain (Almeria) which is normally the driest and sunniest part of Europe at that time of year. We had very little rain and average daily temperatures approaching or exceeding 20 Celcius. It was quite windy a lot of the time, however (this area is renowned for wind and this winter was one of the windiest!) and night time temperatures could fall as low as 3 or 4. But frost is rare (frost only really becomes an issue north of Valencia). Mostly, however, night-time temperatures were above 7. Hope that helps.

[Antonio]

I lived in Ugijar, which is in the Alpuharras region of Andalucia and the winters could be very cold. I awoke one november morning to 6" of snow and had to shake it off my orange trees to stop them splitting! Most nights in Dec and Jan the temp fell to below freezing, although Ugijar is at 2000 feet ASL. Feb was the best time,warming up and all the almonds in blossom. Remember that the coast of the sun was known as the coast of the winds untill it was changed to the costa del sol to encourage tourists (!)

Living there you do acclimatize and I didnt take my sweatshirt and body warmer off untill the end of may and the spanish have a winter and summer wardrobe,irrespective of the weather. You can tell the people who live there as we walk in the shaded side of the street B-)

 

[Iain Strachan]

1foot, your only 2 years older than me! As far as insurance is concerned, on the last trip travel was through the Pussy Cats bank account. But we only discovered when we got back that it had a 45 day limit. Good job nothing happened! House Insurance C&CC 180 day cover. So we are looking at health insurance now, for the next trip in May, any clues would be helpful. :->

Cheers

[Guest JudgeMental]

I have serious health issues and have difficulty getting travel insurance but use staysure/insureandgo, they are part of the large MAFRE group. Pointless if your not entirely honest and tell them all..as when it comes to a claim they will dig deep *-)

 

http://www.mapfreassistance.co.uk/travel