A Brilliant Week in Portugal with Great People Who could ever have imagined just how fantastic a week long experience cycling (plus laughing, drinking,eating, talking and laughing a bit more) from Porto towards Lisbon would turn out as a new group assembled , on time (in house story), in Porto on Saturday September 22. For me - well I had one of the great experiences of my life and I could say the same for my wife , Ali.
There was a sense of apprehension at the initial meeting but most of that pretty quickly dissolved as we went on our tour of Porto (on foot) and then to our first dinner. We quickly realised we had a great team - and to make a great team we had to have great leadership. That we did in Jaoa ( Zoom Zoom) and Oscar - absolutely brilliant and more on them later.
The tour was everything ("more or less" - there is a story there) we could have hoped for - scenic even breath-taking at times, a huge variety of different landscapes from coast to farmland to colourful villages and picturesque lakes and seaside towns, mainly very good surfaces but nothing un-expected, great accommodation, great camaraderie and ultimately friendships and very good equipment. The tour was, as advised, mainly flat with a couple of good challenging short hills which did take a good bit of energy.
If you have reasonable fitness (e-bikes are always available if you want) and enjoy the benefits of good exercise, connecting with new acquaintances and being blown away with scenery this is a "bucket-list" trip for you. And, to finish in the castled town of Obidos (yes, with a bit of final climb - 200-300 metres - "more or less eh Jaoa") was a wonderful experience as was the time to enjoy that fantastic city of Lisbon when we arrived there by bus for our final day.
We will never forget our week long cycling experience on Portugal for all the very best reasons!
The entire tour was excellent as well the tourist guide Ricardo. He was very friendly, full of knowledge and my children really enjoyed the tour. Ricardo is We look forward to our next trip in Portugal and will definitely use this local travel specialist. Thanks also to Ruben who accompanied Ricardo during the tour.
Super trip - well worth trying it We did the Porto to Lisbon trip a few years ago and loved the country, Atlantic coast scenery and food, so felt we should complete the route. So pleased we did. It was quite different with an enjoyably more challenging route, a fair amount off road, on some sandy and gravel tracks which we enjoyed. Good weather, decent hotels and great food. In a small group with good company, and good organisation by our guide, it all amounted to a very enjoyable trip.