Touring Destination 2 Months Mid Oct to Dec - Any Ideas

[Traction_man]

Not strictly relevant to the OP, but related, I hear Brittany Ferries is cutting services to a couple of places inc. St Malo.

reported on BBC earlier, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-53832178

cheers,

Keith

[nick12]

What about Ethiopia? Don't know if it's a place you would consider or not Simon. I don't know what the covid situation is like or if they except tourists. It's a place I would like to go one day. I believe the rainy season ends in October and the Highlands should be at there best.
I seem to remember matt2matt has been.
Not sure if I'm going to get out to Indonesia later this year or not, shall have to see how things develop and airfares.

[roberts8]

Sad news about Brittany Ferries.
Would including following bits of the Vuelta followed by Morocco be an option?

[nsew]

Ethiopia? LOL

[ChrisF]

@nsew , can you provide a URL for those graphs (with the drop-down country button)? Can't find it on Wikipedia. Thanks

[nsew]

@nsew , can you provide a URL for those graphs (with the drop-down country button)? Can't find it on Wikipedia. Thanks

I google “ covid-19 tracker “ and access from the results.

[oldun]

My choice would be South Morocco.....Cheap and delicious food, cheap hotels/lodgings , warm weather .
Starting in Marrakech we did a lovely ride through Ouarzazate , Agdz ,..along the beautiful Valley du Draa to Zagora ( 32 deg in January ) .We then took a long dirt track , which may well be tarmaced by now to Foum Zguid on to Tata , Akka ,Bouizakarne where we turned South towards the Spanish Sahara....Guelmim ,then to the coast at Sidi Ifni , Aglou Plage ( nice hotel on the beach for £20 per night for 2 of us inc breakfast ).

Well you get the idea , lots of beautiful scenery , warm weather , in general ,very friendly people , nice cheap food , cheap hotels , no visa requirements for U K residents .

P S ...In Zagora we stayed in a very cheap hotel for a few days and did daily rides into surrounding desert villages ....lovely to see the children so exited to see cyclists in their village where they normally only see camels .

In Ouarzazate we stayed in a hotel for a couple of days and did a nice ride along desert tracks South East of the town until the sand became too soft to ride easily .

[HarryD]

Given that you have flexibility over the start date and caveats over travel restrictions here are my comments based on many new year breaks and for the last two years taking our camper van with bikes south for 6 weeks. Setting off around new year

France can be hit or miss weather wise. This year we spent a week in the French Basque country in warm weather (15C+) under blue skies and had some great rides and walks. The year before we just kept moving through that kind of misty fog that chills the bones. The Biscay coast tends to be clearer

Into Spain. Weather generally warm, sunny and good for cycling. All the high road passes were open except for the odd day when there was some snow. Generally inland Spain can be quite cold in January and February but this year it wasn't. Last year it got icy at over 1500m. Again good cycling conditions. This year we headed into Portugal to avoid storms over Spain and again warm and sunny with the odd wet day. However, arctic at 1900m in the Serra Estrela having had good weather for walking and cycling for a few days before. Southern Portugal and Andalucia again good warm cycling and walking under blue skies. On our return we got more good rides in the mountains of Salamanca, Burgos and Cognac

Previously the east coast and well inland have provided warm/hot and sunny cycling at the same time of year

Apart from the ferry ticket nothing else was pre-planned although Liz did want us to visit Cadiz which we did. We went where we fancied as modified by the weather. The weather forecasts were generally pretty reliable and gave us enough notice so we could avoid the bad stuff. Easy enough in a van but maybe a long day on the bike

Based on our experiences you could start in Bordeaux or northern Spain and head south following the good weather with plenty of places to centre some interesting day rides

[nsew]

That’s a great ride, however Morocco is grappling with a deadly pandemic and has been closed since July.

My choice would be South Morocco.....Cheap and delicious food, cheap hotels/lodgings , warm weather .
Starting in Marrakech we did a lovely ride through Ouarzazate , Agdz ,..along the beautiful Valley du Draa to Zagora ( 32 deg in January ) .We then took a long dirt track , which may well be tarmaced by now to Foum Zguid on to Tata , Akka ,Bouizakarne where we turned South towards the Spanish Sahara....Guelmim ,then to the coast at Sidi Ifni , Aglou Plage ( nice hotel on the beach for £20 per night for 2 of us inc breakfast ).

Well you get the idea , lots of beautiful scenery , warm weather , in general ,very friendly people , nice cheap food , cheap hotels , no visa requirements for U K residents .

P S ...In Zagora we stayed in a very cheap hotel for a few days and did daily rides into surrounding desert villages ....lovely to see the children so exited to see cyclists in their village where they normally only see camels .

In Ouarzazate we stayed in a hotel for a couple of days and did a nice ride along desert tracks South East of the town until the sand became too soft to ride easily .

[borisface]

As a long time Portugal resident, I can definitely recommend it for touring. The months between October and December can have very good weather, cool evenings and warm sunny days. However it can also be pretty wet, particularly in the north. Algarve can have the best weather but is international rather than truly Portuguese. The west coast is wild and likely to be windy. In the autumn, especially this year, it will probably be quiet. The next region up, Alentejo is more remote and more real Portugal. It can be quite cold overnight but hotter during the day. There are some lovely towns and villages Beja, Mertola, Evora, Elvas, Monsaraz, Castelo de Vide and Marvao. There are fewer roads which mean they can be a bit busier. It is pretty flat/rolling.
The next region going north is the Beiras. This is more mountainous but is remote and has much more roads. Some lovely towns and villages.
Parts of the north are stunning such as the upper Douro.
Maybe fly into Porto and go clockwise doing the north first as it can be cold and wet, before heading south along the Algarve and back up to either Porto or Lisbon.
However like everywhere covid cases are all over the country, sometimes in rural areas, so I'm not sure whether spending 2 months on the road is a good idea this year.

[MartinBrice]

IMHO your only serious option is Spain. Short flight, easy to get to. I'd suggest flying into Biarritz then riding to St Jean Pied de Port and following the route of the pilgrim way (camino) to Santiago. In a normal year there are hundreds of thousands of pilgrims walking this but right now about a tenth of normal numbers. There'll be places to stay, hotels can be €35 for a room, or albergues that can be €8 or €15. The huge fall in pilgrim numbers meant you'll be socially distanced in such accommodation. The cycling is good: excellent tarmac, and the main roads are often parallel to a motorway so there is no traffic on the main road. Weather will be OK up to end of October even in the north. And in the south it'll be even warmer. Outside the towns most roads have little traffic. Camping is very very tricky: usually illegal and land owners tend to put wire fences up everywhere. And they are paranoid about forest fires, rightly so. Language can be tricky but on the Camino from France you'll be fine with English. There are numerous guides too the Camino: Bicigrino do an excellent one for the Camino from France. DM me if you want more.

[oldun]

As Martinbrice states , one of the Spanish pilgrim caminos would also be a good choice . My preference would be the "Via de la Plata " from Seville up to " Granja de Moreuella" , then taking the camino " Sanabres " through "ourense " ( a MUST visit in Ourense are the Roman hot springs which are free and in a beautiful setting at the side of the river ) .and on to Santiago .
I have cycled this 1080 klm route 3 times and was planning to go again in October but at the moment am still not sure .

I hear that the auberges along the route have reduced their sleeping capacity by only allowing the bottom bunks to be used in the dormitories . but as pilgrim numbers are at an all time low this should not be a problem .

Beautiful route , great weather mostly , cheap lodgings , nice food , cheap flights to the fabulous city of Seville ( nice backpackers hostel called "Triana" ) so this would be my second choice after Morocco , and as it would appear that Morocco is closed due to the Virus , it is now my first choice .

For a longer ride , you could start in Malaga ( camino Mozarabe )and then joint the via de la plata at Merida or start in Cadiz and join the via de la Plata in Seville .

Ohhh i am chomping at the bit myself .

[slowster]

What about a fixed base in one of the spanish resorts rather than a moving on tour?

A moving on tour probably increases the risk that you yourself might catch Covid-19, but possibly even more likely is that your plans could be severely disrupted as a result of lockdown measures being introduced. For example you might find that you could not leave your hotel/B&B or that no accommodation was available.

A self-catering apartment not far from the coast, with good access to inland cycling roads and walking countryside, and with shops/a supermarket within short walking distance might be ideal.

You would not even have to return by 31/12/20, since the EIHC card will still be valid after that date for holidays commenced before 31/12.

[climo]

You might want to think about Pacific coast route. Perfect time, not too warm. Not much covid outside of LA. overall a lot less than the UK

[Sid Aluminium]

You might want to think about Pacific coast route. Perfect time, not too warm. Not much covid outside of LA. overall a lot less than the UK

Alas, no.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nc ... tries.html

https://youtu.be/HsM_VmN6ytk