CleatsnCleavage Posted July 12, 2015 Posted July 12, 2015 Planning a holiday to Portugal in April next year and a bit of research is showing that the cycling options might be quite cool. However I dont have R60 000 to spend on a cruise and bike trip down the Douro Valley, so wondering if anyone on the Hub might have any other bright ideas. We are open to mountain biking or road options, probably self-guided as this will be cheaper. Thanks.
ryanhabib Posted July 12, 2015 Posted July 12, 2015 You don't need 60k for the Douro valley. You can cycle it for free. all the way up tot the port wine caves and past Miradeze and the older roman roads.
Nokka Posted August 9, 2015 Posted August 9, 2015 Portugal is still on my list of places to cycletour. There's a couple of ways you can tackle this. There is a "5 castles" mtb route which works via the tourism dept; lodging is in the castles thus can become expensive. Or you can do the portugese version of our epic, north to south, thinks this is in may. A third option is to cycletour on your own. You can either "credit card" tour and sleep in pensiones, or take a tent and sleep in campgrounds and even wild camp (its europe, its safe). This self supported touring would be my own choice, giving one flexibility with routes, stayover options and pace.
Zatopek Posted April 12, 2016 Posted April 12, 2016 Planning a holiday to Portugal in April next year and a bit of research is showing that the cycling options might be quite cool. However I dont have R60 000 to spend on a cruise and bike trip down the Douro Valley, so wondering if anyone on the Hub might have any other bright ideas. We are open to mountain biking or road options, probably self-guided as this will be cheaper. Thanks. Is this in progress/happening CnC? Bought tickets for June and would be keen to get feedback/advice...
Zatopek Posted July 10, 2016 Posted July 10, 2016 Camino Portugues is on my list.Highly recommended if you like MTB. Not an easy 'roady' ride. 760km with 8900m climbing in 13 days + 2 rest days (Tomar & Porto) I can send more info/routes by PM if interested.
W@nna-BE Posted July 14, 2016 Posted July 14, 2016 Going to Lisbon in August, any idea where I can rent a road bike for a few days?
lechatnoir Posted July 14, 2016 Posted July 14, 2016 from memories on our trip there last year... you're either going up, or you're going down, unless you're following a river or the coast. It sure is pretty though
Zatopek Posted August 4, 2016 Posted August 4, 2016 I got some question by PM, I answer here to spread the info publicly. Did you rent bikes overseas or did you take your bikes with you? We took our own bikes – we have racks and panniers that we bought 10 years ago. I was looking at costs of renting etc. again now and for us it was not worth it to rent. (If you don’t have your own panniers yet it might be the opposite). For the Camino Portuguese you definitely need a MTB. We met British people that started & rented none-mtb touring bikes in Porto - in in my opinion the lady would not have been able to stick to the marked off-road route all the way. Bottom line – if you rent you want to see photos of the exact bike & gear you will get. (Quality pannier for off-road shaking that won’t let you down) For Spain you might get away with a commuter type of bike, but MTB is still better. Which airline would you recommend when it comes to taking your bike with you?We used Air Angola now – crazy cheap and quick direct to Lisbon Porto. Zero complaints from me about them. (Luanda airport is very unorganized and expensive though). Read this: https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/159158-taag-angola-airlines-special-luggage/?hl=angola We used other airlines before – never a hassle when you stick to packaging and weight rules. I always use carton boxes that I get from bike shops. If you took your bikes with you what are the airline policies with regards to this? It differ – no extra charges with Air Angola – you have 23kg check in weight (they do use a scale and I made sure beforehand on the bathroom scale – we were 22.9kg on both) You can also take 5kg when boarding – that was not checked and we were definitely more than that on the way back. I had to pack carefully and take out items with the box on the scale – but more would be to heavy when you cycle. What additional costs did the airline charge you? None (and never before)It is cheaper to buy a cheap lock & other stuff in Decathlon on that side than to pay a weight fee. In terms of the Camino Portugues what are the start and end points? All the Caminos end in Santiago de CompostelaYou can start where you want and change the route as you want. There is no ‘checking’ by someone. You just collect the stamps in your credential passport @ churches, cafes and accommodation venues.We started in Lisbon. Porto is also an option for a shorter route – Air Angola have flights directly to there from Luanda. What is the route marking like? In terms of navigation was following route markings adequate or did you require a GPS device, in which case what did you use? Very good – the 760km route that we did was better marked than what the Tygerberg MTB or Bottelary MTB networks are – and these are good. They use painted arrows - sometimes painted at ground level, sometimes eye level and sometimes high. They appear on any surface / object types. After the first 0.5 day you just get the ‘feel/rhythm’ for it. We missed arrows probably 3 times – it would had been more times if it was a single person. We used the ‘het hom’ system - both riders keep an eye open and simple says ‘het hom’ when you go straight/left/right – it immediately confirm that you are 100% sure and the other person can relax & stop searching for arrows. If you go ~1km and start to think that 'it has been a while since you spotted an arrow' – then you probably missed an arrow and need to back-track.I took a Garmin with European navigation – and never used it. I did got a local pre-paid sim card with data for both of us – I used Google Maps ~2/3 times a day to confirm things/options on my phone – very handy. Don’t do any Camino without the John Brierley Books. http://www.csjofsa.za.org/documents/brierleybooks.html (We used the 2016 edition for Portugal, ordered from here: https://www.findhornpress.com/categories/nature-travel/camino/a-pilgrim-s-guide-to-the-camino-portugues-1318 ) Welcome to use mine if you can get it from CT to Durban What sort of terrain can be expected, in those two photos that you posted in the forum it looked like single track sort terrain? Spain (between Leon and Santiago) – easier surface, had to push the bike one day for a short distance. Not that steep. Take this option if your partner don’t like technical terrain. Portugal – more than 50% is on dirt roads / Roman paths. Loads of short steep hills where we had to get off almost every day. I had dreams of going for MTB rides on the rest days – that was not required - you are on the marked local MTB networks some days. Don’t do it if you are not willing to ride our local Majik Forest / Hillcrest routes with loaded panniers. Your partner need to be comfortable going downhills while turning on loose material. Obviously you can adjust the route to something easier. Unfortunately due to work constraints we've only got 10 days to do the route, do you think the Camino Portuguese would be do-able in that time because I saw that you took 12 days? Yes you can do it quicker – we were unfit when we started. We also took the Fatima detour between Santarem and Tomar - that made it ~1 day longer. (Fatima detour was the best/difficult MTB sections. Day 3& 4 below) Look at these ‘stages’ – we basically doubled or tripled the ‘stages’ in John Brierley’s book. Note the riding hours - we took it really easy/touristy. If you really run out of time you can get on a train. (Or ‘train’ from Lisbon to Santarem and start there.) These were our 'stages':Day 1 https://www.strava.com/activities/615481295Day 2 https://www.strava.com/activities/616161201Day 3: https://www.strava.com/activities/617491085Day 4a: https://www.strava.com/activities/618406230Day 4b: https://www.strava.com/activities/618406177Day 5: https://www.strava.com/activities/621021897Day 6: https://www.strava.com/activities/621648759Day 7: https://www.strava.com/activities/622808165Day 8: https://www.strava.com/activities/623896631Day 9: https://www.strava.com/activities/625797608Day 10: https://www.strava.com/activities/626695695Day 11: https://www.strava.com/activities/627911492Day 12: https://www.strava.com/activities/628868959Day 13: https://www.strava.com/activities/629836305 The French route is the most popular route so accommodation really isn't a problem for that but what was the accommodation like along the Portuguese route?Always got accommodation in less than 20 minutes. Either by following signs, indicate in my best Portuguese (i.e. head on arms) that we look for sleeping options or Googled ‘accommodation near me’. (Ranged from E22 to E40 for a married couple per night – room with en-suite bathroom ) A potential negative of the more popular route - 10 years ago we found that the French/Spain route fill up earlier in the day – and then you need to cycle further until you find a bed. That might be worse/better now. How would you compare the two routes? what would you recommend, especially considering our shorter time frame?Make the choice based on:What route/terrain type you like to ride on – there is a CLEAR difference, that might make the selection easy. Flight cost & time lost with transit – might save you a day. Also to from your airport(s)Do you want to meet more or less other Pelgrims? (Portugal you see a couple every day – but a lot less busy. Might be more lonely when single.)Both will be a life experience – adjust your route length with starting location to or when really run out of time – just train the last day.
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