First, a couple of days in Porto before the trip - what a fantastic city! Great energy, diverse people and buildings, fascinating and quirky places - and brilliant music, food, shops and markets! The riding was gentle, with so many changing views of the Atlantic, sandy beaches, rolling fields, cliffs, woodlands and grassy swamps. Someone once likened cycling as being like a meditation - I definitely was there! And cycling with such a bunch of lovely people was a joy - despite our varied backgrounds from so many different locations, there was a commonality in our outlook and spirit and humour - we made some great friendships and had such fun! But it all worked so well due to three amazing group leaders - Armando, Ines and Marianna. Due to them, everything was so well organised - daily briefings, food snacks in beautiful locations, full scale lunches with amazing salads, lots of chats, gentle banter and laughter! Lisbon was beautiful, we should have had longer - but then we have another excuse to revisit this wonderful country! All in all, it was a Belter of a Trip!
I had a fabulous time doing the internal route Porto to Santiago de Compostela, self guided. I was on my own and I felt like I had so much support if anything had gone wrong. Accommodation and food was excellent. Recommend downloading the gps tracking app. Well organised.
I enjoyed the experience with wonderful scenery, and relaxing walks around glorious fields, and vineyards. The hotels are also comfortable with good views of lakes and nature. Good food and delicious wines and very kind staff. The group was also very nice, we shared and laughed all the time.
