Been to Cyprus at Xmas before & loved it in the Troodos mountains, thinking of trying some island hoping in the Canaries and thought about Corsica but might be too cold in the mountains? Doesn't have to be MTB specific but must have enough offroad to make it worth while any other idas?

SPain???

Was thinking Spain too, but thought it would be too cold in the mountains at that time of year, might be able to borrow a flat in Madrid but I'm guessing that is too far north to be vaguely warm unless I stay in the lowlands

Over Christmas, Madrid will be cold, often below freezing overnight.

Contrary to popular UK belief large parts of Spain get colder than the UK in the winter, remember going to visit my sister in Feb and when I returned colleagues wanted to know why I hadn't got a tan! Probably because it was around -8 C when I was there!

Gran Canaria has lots of good mountain biking. I imagine it will be busy at Christmas though (not the mountain biking, just everything else.)

I saw overnight temps of -11ºC in the mountains of Madrid last winter, but it will probably be drier than UK. Sierra Nevada is biking heaven in the summer and a ski station in the winter! You choose!!
I would suggest the Canary Islands, even then there is no guarantee of good weather.

My thoughts on Spain were right then – way too cold, Canary Islands are looking good then so long as I can survive the misty hill tops & huge drops that I seem to remember from walking in La Gomera a few years ago & I’ve spotted some flights for £200 too 😀 thanks

What about South Africa? I thought Southern Spain might have been okay but fair enough. Friend off to India over Xmas with Kerrala MTB and it looks great!!

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Not sure it comes in the “cheap” bracket though, but looks phenomenal! I suggested South Africa as ages ago I found a really cool looking company, but can’t find it now!! Slight hijack anyone MTB’d in South Africa?

MC – looks awesome, but pretty sure it won’t fit my cheap criteria, be interested to know which areas of SA are any good for mtbing as I know some places I could stay on the cheap

Temperature down on the coast of Southern Spain perfect for Xmas riding. I agree, inland does get very chilly. We usually have a few bikers joining us over Xmas. Stunning singletrack rides during the day & fantastic après-bike on the coast at night.
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