UKC

I am traveling from the US to climb December 15 to January 15 in Europe, I land in Barcelona. I will be traveling alone so whatever area I end up in I will need to find partners. I will have a car. I can fly from Barcelona to other airports.

Areas I am interest in:

Siurana/Margalef

St Leger,France and Southern France in generally

Oltre Finale/Finale Ligure

Leonidio Greece

Sicily

Morocco

These are just places that have sparked my interest but I would love any input or ideas. One main thing is I will need to be able to find partners.

Thanks

Dylan

any help

Can be quite cold in northern spain at that time of year. But worth considering rodellar, although I  don't know what it's like in december. Easy enough to find partners there I expect at the refugio. If you find someone to climb with you could also consider going to riglos, fiesta de los biceps is a must 

In southern france look at ceuse, but agsin I don't know how cold it'll be in december, snow could be an issue.

A month will fly by, so I'd recommend not trying to drive round too much trying to see everything but enjoy one or two areas.

Both Rodellar and Ceuse are not great winter venues.  Many of the tufas in Rodellar could be seeping and Ceuse will be cold...very exposed on top of a hill...in fact definitely a summer venue.

Other (more low-lying) areas of Southern France may fit the bill, or head down to Chulilla or Chorro areas.  In France, the crags around Saint Antonin Noble Val and the Lot Valley are good winter areas.

I expect Mr Arran will chip in with info about his area.

As a veteran of many European winter road trips, I'd say your safest bet is probably to stay in Spain.  Southern Spain has one of the best winter climates in Europe, and if you are lucky with the weather you can also take in a wide variety of different areas further north in the country.

Siurana and Margalef are some of the best places in Europe to hook up with other climbers - they have good "van scenes" and climbers' campsites.  However, at the time you're travelling they can be pretty cold unless you get lucky.  Chullilla is a bit warmer, and also has a good scene, but the best routes start at about 7a (5.11d/5.12).  The Costa Blanca has the best weather, but the climbing scene tends to be quite dispersed unless you stay somewhere like the Orange House.  El Chorro can be deceptive - it's a long way south, but it's mountainous, so the weather is often worse than the Blanca.

Leonidio might also be a good bet.  The whole area is a big suntrap, and there is a climbers' bar and a climbers' campsite for meeting partners.  But even if you take in other nearby winter venues such as Nafplio, you won't get the variety you'd have easy access to in Spain.

Southern France and Finale/Oltre Finale are great areas, but very unreliable for Dec/Jan - you'd have to get very lucky with the weather.

Our blog might give you some ideas 

https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/category/greece/leonidio/ 

https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/category/spain/  

Also check out Tenerife, cheap flights available from Barcelona, lots of sport crags, perfect weather in winter and otherwise a wonderful place to discover if you're also into hiking. What grades do you climb?

As some others have said, you can expect it to be cold and wet in N. Spain and France during the time of your visit. The Costa Blanca is a good bet indeed. I wouldn't say the scene at the Orange House is all that, but that really is your only bet in the area.

Maybe consider Geyikbayeri, in Turkey, hopefully the weather should be good, and there should be plenty of folk at Camp JoSiTo to give you a catch, mostly Germans. 

I'd have said Morocco would be a good bet climate-wise, but not having climbed there, can't say anything more than that.

Good luck!

Not sure if you are on a tight budget Dylan but we do have a work in exchange for board scheme at The Orange House Costa Blanca. Always people to climb with that way and the staff have the use of a car! 

http://theorangehouse.co.uk/category/blog/

Drop me a line if interested and I will check who else is around at the time of your planned trip.

Sam Orange