I just read that Morocco can be cold in the winter. I'd like to cycle there this winter. How cold is cold? I come from Colorado in the US. Now that's cold.
Morocco in Fall and Winter
Thu, 2012-04-19 15:21
#1
Unregistered
Morocco in Fall and Winter
Depending where you want to be.
The problem is not the cold. It`s the snow when you want to ride the passes. Except Tichka and Test are no pass who`s crossing High Atlas paved.
In the desert you can have on the other hand about 30 - 40 degrees.
peter
They have a saying in the country "Morocco is a cold place with a hot sun", meaning if there is no sun, it can be rather cold. I rode the coast down to Casablanca and then inland to Fez, Meknes and on to Ceuta for a ferry to Spain in early January. I didn't try getting to the Atlas Mountains. On sunny days it was very pleasant around 16-21 c, on cloudy days the temps would still be above 10 c, dropping down in the evening to 7-3 c. Main thing is the lack of light, it gets dark early, with sunset at 17:30. Also, unlike European signage, when you see a sign that says "Meknes 30 k" it is to the administrative border and not to the city center! Learned this the hard way once with another 20 km in the dark to ride to get to some lodgings.
Robert
Jary Poland via Spokane USA
The word is right. But not the reason.
The highest passes in High Atlas are about 3000 m. That means that you get about 30 c lower temperatures than the coast.
Sure at the coast you can get more clouds than inland.
There`s no problem to pitch a tent.
I just cycled through Morocco in the winter. I was scared at first but it turned out to be normal. The other person was right: it's warm when you have the sun. It is very chilly when the sun is blocked. But that is a matter of wearing extra layers. You won't die up there though, that's for sure. Then again, I was told that Morocco had one of the warmest winters lately.
You will have a moderately difficult time finding secluded places to camp though because it's really a populated civilization. When you think you've found a place that no one has ever been to, you're lying to yourself. :p Hotels are $5 a night so if you can deal with that, great.
I hope this helps.