Hello

My group & I are planning our first Alps tour and there's one pretty major thing that I would like to get some advice for -- the weather.

The tour is scheduled to take place from April 20th to the 26th and we plan to visit the central Alps, of Austria, Italy & Switzerland, riding only on roads and on 800-1200cc sport-touring motorcycles. I would like to hear some thoughts about touring these regions on these dates. I'm not asking for future-telling, but just for impression based on experiences and on this year's weather so far.

The dates were chosen because they are the most convenient ones for my group, but if we get the impression that postponing the tour will have the potential to greatly make it better (in weather terms) -- then we'll postpone it.

Thanks a lot
Asaf

I'm no expert, but the Alps in April on motorcycles sounds... COLD!

Well I was in Basel earlier this week - not near any mountains - and it was about 25 (farenheit) at night. In April I would expect the mountains to be still very cold and either snowy or muddy.

What altitudes would you be at? Is this an organized tour, or something you are arranging on your own?

Many of the passes will still be closed. Often there is still snow and the ski resorts are functioning.

The Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse will be usually be closed until early May. If you delay your trip by about two weeks, I think you would find steadily improving weather, but May is an inbetween season for many alpine resorts.