UKC

Hi again guys, my girlfriend and are maybe thinking of visiting Mercantour national Park in France in either April or May 2016.

We enjoy hiking, via ferrata, horse riding and anything adventurous

Could you kindly give us some advice regarding weather and fun OUTDOOR activities to do please?

Best regards

Dirk

In reply to DKS:

You’ll be thinking UKCers are out to knock back your ideas, but from our experience in early May some years ago you may find the Mercantour a bit limited that early in the season. Skiing had ended at Easter, but there was a lot of deep soggy snow around on the hills. Snowshoes would have been handy (and we didn’t have them). The higher roads were still blocked, and some of the valley roads, often in dramatic gorges, were being repaired or having rock-scaling done, so long hold-ups and diversions were quite common. And a lot of the facilities and even the accommodation were closed for between-season holidays and/or refurbishment. Once we adapted, it was certainly nice and quiet; the weather was pleasant if never exactly warm. We certainly weren't put off, and a later visit in June was much more like the thing - excellent high-level walking, fine scenery.

As an alternative, I can definitely recommend Mallorca in April and May, for walking, climbing, gorge-scrambling etc. …

In reply to Bob Aitken:

As Bob says, depending on the year, there's likely to be snow and definitely you'll find that many places are shut, buses not running etc (I remembering arriving at a railway station near Briancon & asking when was the next bus - answer was Wednesday (& I arrived on Saturday - in the ski & summer season there were 2 or 3 a day).

If you want to go to France think about the lower areas - I had a great time climbing/walking at Montagne St Victoire in April a few years back

In reply to DKS:

hahaha yep true ... seems to be quite a challenge to find a spot where we can visit without too many warnings. The only reason I chose this time was not to be too close to my Via ferrata trip in the Italian Dolomites in July and between my work trip in February.

Thanks for your advice

In reply to DKS:

What about late May?

In reply to DKS:

Well, it really depends what you're looking for - it's not apparent why you've picked on the Mercantour as a destination! It may be at the southern end of the Alps but the mountains still go up to 3000m. The tourist season doesn't really start till mid-June; even then a lot of facilities, like campsites or the horse-riding you mention, might not be fully available till July. You'd almost certainly need to rent a car, since tourist bus services tend only to get going in the school holidays. 'Hiking' may well have elements of mountaineering about it - the refuges probably won't be staffed until mid-June, and depending on the season, you might be flogging through snow to get to the higher ones. You might well be better to follow Doug's advice and explore areas nearer the coast. But have a look at some of the local websites like http://www.vesubie-mercantour.com/ - that should help you get an idea of what's on offer.

In reply to DKS:

Thanks guys

In reply to DKS:

Will Cote d'azur have the same type of weather?

In reply to DKS:

Have you considered the Canary Islands?

Superb walking/hiking on La Gomera and La Palma wher you can get well away from crowds. Generally lovely warm weather all year round. 4 hours flight from the UK and relatively inexpensive. Being Spanish they are part of the EU and use Euros.

In reply to DKS:

no