cycle tour of Portugal

ciaranhuz

Hi folks,
I'm planning a short cycle tour of Portugal at the end of March.
I'm flying into Porto in the north and 9 days later i will fly from Lisbon back to Ireland.
I was wondering could anyone share routes that would take me away from built up areas, should i head inland or stick to the coast?
Any advice greatly appreciated!

Mercian Pro

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Seaswimmer

ciaranhuz wrote: »

Hi folks,
I'm planning a short cycle tour of Portugal at the end of March.
I'm flying into Porto in the north and 9 days later i will fly from Lisbon back to Ireland.
I was wondering could anyone share routes that would take me away from built up areas, should i head inland or stick to the coast?
Any advice greatly appreciated!

It would be useful to know what kind of mileage you intend doing every day. The total distance is only about 300kms.

I did Lisbon to Santiago a few years ago and we stuck to the coast nearly all the way. It was quite nice and reasonably quiet. There are lots of cycle lanes that run along the coast especially just south of Porto. If you look at the map you will see a place called Sao Jacinto south of Porto and you can get a ferry across to Gafanha de Nazare which lets you hug the coast all the way south. Its very pleasant cycling. Flat roads with good surfaces and nice scenery.
If you are doing a bit more mileage I would head east from Porto along the river Duoro over towards Villa Nova de Foz Coa then head south towards Badajoz and west again to Lisbon. Its off the beaten track but will give you a great taste of rural Portugal/Spain. Its about 650kms in total so may not suit.



We were there in late June and the tourist season hadn't even started at that stage so maybe do some research to make sure you will have accommodation. Bear in mind that temperatures will still be quite low in late March so if its heat you need then you will need to go further south.

paul mountainbike

Hi sounds interesting,how about MTB some of it mountain style.

Who you flying with,rough costs of transporting bike,packing each end would be useful info as may do myself nxt autumn.

ciaranhuz

That route looks pretty good. It gives you a taste of the coast and inland. I'm not sure if we'll manage it all in 10 days on loaded touring bikes.

ciaranhuz

We hope to do about 50 - 70 kms a day. I think we'll head more inland to experience a more authentic portugal. Of course doing so will mean climbing hills and chillier temperatures. We'll be wild camping along the way, so we won't be reliant on accommodation.

ciaranhuz

paul mountainbike wrote: »

Hi sounds interesting,how about MTB some of it mountain style.

Who you flying with,rough costs of transporting bike,packing each end would be useful info as may do myself nxt autumn.

we're flying aerlingus. It's 50 quid per bike. Transporting your bike on airlines it's the toughest part of any cycle tour we've discovered.