Hi,
I'm currently looking at cycling the southern parts of Portugal and Spain somewhere between December 2nd and December 23rd 2012. The rough idea is Lissabon - Lagos - Sevilla - Jerez de La Frontera - Gibraltar - Malaga - Granada - Cartagena - Murcia - Alicante - Valencia (or visa versa), about 2000km I guess. This plan is not fixed at all and flights are not booked yet (although I want to do so within a week or so).
I never go on a fixed plan, will see how things come my way on day to day base when I'm out there, but I will need to decide where to start and where to finish the trip to start with... I definitely want to have time to see things, meet and learn from people, relax and maybe play a boardgame... :) So the trip can easily become shorter (like Lissabon - Malaga or Sevilla - Valencia) or can be shifted (like Malaga - Barcelona) if there are reasons to do so.
I love nature but also like to see some characteristic places (and there are many of them in this area). There is of course much more to see in Portugal and Spain, but I want to do so on another trip (when I will go through northern Spain to Santiago de C. and from there south into Portugal and then crossing the peninsula). I want to focus on the southern part here, also taking into account the weather in this time of year.
I will be camping and hopefully joining some WS hosts. I'm looking for information where I should definitely go, maybe routes/tracks that others have already done, important things to take in mind, hosts who would be willing to offer me a place to stay for one or two nights. Any of your information combined with the information from internet and books will help me to decide on flights and route. Thanks in advance for your help. Your hosting possibilities are also much appreciated.
P.S. If there is anyone who would like to join the trip or part of the trip, feel free to let me know.
Regards, Martin
I am currently in Leon in the north. i just the Camino de Santiago and will be heading south on my bike. i am trying to find a route first to Salamanca then on to Seville and eventually to Cadiz. We could possibly meet up somewhere along the way. I'm looking for warmer temeratures.
Keep me posted.
Robin
I am currently in Leon in the north. i just the Camino de Santiago and will be heading south on my bike. i am trying to find a route first to Salamanca then on to Seville and eventually to Cadiz. We could possibly meet up somewhere along the way. I'm looking for warmer temeratures.
Keep me posted.
Robin
Hi Robin,
Sure will do. I already tracked you in earlier stage and read about your plans heading south from England through France and Spain into Morocco. I kind of thought that wou would already be out of Spain before I even get there... :)
Temperatures and weather conditions are the reason that I will do El Camino and the inlands on another occasion. Your trip from León to Salamanca will not directly give you better temperatures, but once you get beyond Salamanca it will indeed warm up. The alternative would be taking a more western course through the Portugal inlands, for instance: http://pedalportugal.wordpress.com/touring-routes-2/border-castles-tour/. Might be a bit warmer, but changing weather conditions there too. Good luck and enjoy.
Martin
Hi Robin,
I hope you're doing well heading south. See my latest plans:
http://www.warmshowers.org/content/canary-islands-december-2012
If you like the idea, feel free to join. Ferries go from Cadiz.
Regards, Martin
Although it might not be that bad, I figured that looking at the statistics also in southern Europe it rains quite a bit in December, in certain areas even more than here in the Netherlands. Therefore I started thinking about going a bit more south: island hopping on the Canary islands. So I changed plans and just booked myself flights: I will arrive at La Palma (SPC) on Monday December 3rd and will leave from Gran Canaria (LPA) on Sunday December 23rd. I've opened another topic on the forum: http://www.warmshowers.org/content/canary-islands-december-2012
Martin