Portugal by E-bike: Porto to Lisbon on the Atlantic Coast

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Porto

   Porto Airport to your hotel in central Porto

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Porto
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Porto Airport (OPO), about 17 km north of the city, where a driver meets you for the half-hour transfer to your hotel in the centre. The afternoon is yours: walk down through the steep lanes of the Ribeira, the riverside quarter listed by UNESCO with the historic centre in 1996, cross the lower deck of the Dom Luís I bridge to the port lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia, or sit by the water and watch the boats. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide and our cycle guide meet the group at the hotel. We fit the e-bikes to each rider, set the saddles, go through the brakes, gears and power modes, and take a short spin on a quiet street so nobody starts tomorrow on an unfamiliar bike; if your flight lands later, we fit your bike after dinner or before breakfast. Then we walk to a welcome dinner of northern Portuguese cooking and talk through the week's route, day by day.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Porto Airport (OPO)
   • E-bike fitting and a short practice ride with your guides
   • Welcome briefing and welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free until the early-evening bike fitting

   Activité : Aim to land by about 3 pm to join the bike fitting. Later arrivals are fine: we fit your bike after dinner or first thing on day 2. Exact times come with your final itinerary.

   

2. Jour 2 : Down the coast to the Aveiro lagoon

   Porto to Espinho by bike, van past Torreira, then São Jacinto, the ferry and Aveiro

   • Environ 48 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Aveiro
   Détail du jour 2

   We leave after breakfast while the riverfront is quiet, walking the bikes over the Dom Luís I bridge and riding west along the Gaia bank of the Douro to Afurada and the river mouth. The Gaia coast is then a long run of boardwalks and cycle paths above the beaches, flat and close to the sea, to Espinho, about 25 km. The van carries everyone and the bikes past the busier stretch to Torreira, on the sand spit between the ocean and the Ria de Aveiro lagoon, for a sit-down lunch of grilled fish, then on down the spit to the edge of the São Jacinto Dunes Nature Reserve. We ride the last 8 km or so through the pines to São Jacinto, where a small ferry crosses the mouth of the lagoon in about 15 minutes. From Forte da Barra a lagoon-side path brings us about 10 km into Aveiro by mid-afternoon, and we taste ovos moles, the town's egg-and-sugar sweet, by the canals.

   Compris

   • Guided ride from Porto along the Douro and the Gaia coast boardwalks to Espinho
   • Sit-down lunch in Torreira
   • Guided ride through the pines of the São Jacinto spit
   • Ferry from São Jacinto across the mouth of the lagoon
   • Ride along the lagoon into Aveiro and an ovos moles tasting on arrival

   Activités en option

   • A moliceiro boat ride on Aveiro's canals

   Option plus facile : Ride the morning only and take the van from Espinho to Aveiro.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free in Aveiro

   Activité : About 45 km of riding in three sections, almost all flat. The ferry runs to a timetable and can be suspended in bad weather; the van then drives round the lagoon to Aveiro.

3. Jour 3 : Costa Nova's stripes, then Coimbra's library

   Aveiro to Costa Nova and Praia de Mira by bike, then van to Coimbra

   • Environ 48 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Coimbra
   Détail du jour 3

   An easy morning on the bikes. We ride out of Aveiro past the salt pans to Costa Nova, where the old fishermen's storehouses, the palheiros, are painted in bright vertical stripes along the lagoon front. The route then follows the coast road south between dunes and pine forest, past Vagueira, to Praia de Mira, a beach village where the fishing boats are still hauled up the sand. It is about 35 km and nearly flat. After a sit-down lunch the van takes us inland, under an hour, to Coimbra on the Mondego River, Portugal's capital in the 12th and 13th centuries and home to one of Europe's oldest universities. The university's hilltop buildings were listed by UNESCO in 2013. In the late afternoon we walk up to the Paço das Escolas courtyard and visit the Joanina Library on a timed ticket: an early 18th-century baroque hall of gilded and lacquered shelves, where a colony of small bats still helps protect the books from insects.

   Compris

   • Guided ride from Aveiro to Costa Nova and Praia de Mira
   • Sit-down lunch at Praia de Mira
   • The University of Coimbra: the Paço das Escolas and the Joanina Library on a timed ticket

   Activités en option

   • A Coimbra fado performance in the evening

   Option plus facile : Ride as far as Costa Nova, about 12 km, and join the van there.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Coimbra

   Activité : About 35 km of flat riding, then a steep walk up to the university; the van can drop you at the top.

4. Jour 4 : Through the pine coast to Nazaré

   Coimbra to Figueira da Foz and Leirosa by van, ride to Praia da Vieira, then van to Nazaré

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Nazaré
   Détail du jour 4

   A short van ride takes us back to the coast at Figueira da Foz, a resort town at the mouth of the Mondego, for coffee on the long beach of Cabedelo, on the south bank. The van then carries us on past the industrial edge of the town to Leirosa, where the riding starts. The route runs south on cycle paths and quiet roads through dunes and the pine forest that backs this whole stretch of coast, about 40 km, flat or gently rolling, with the sea on your right for most of the day. We stop at the fishing beach of Pedrógão, where the boats come in through the surf, then turn inland for a few kilometres to the Ervedeira lagoon in the pines before the last run down to Praia da Vieira. Lunch is a sit-down meal of fish at Vieira, and the van takes us the last half hour to Nazaré. We check in by mid-afternoon; the rest of the day is free for the promenade and sunset over the bay.

   Compris

   • Coffee stop at Cabedelo beach, Figueira da Foz
   • Guided ride from Leirosa through the coastal pine forest via Pedrógão and the Ervedeira lagoon to Praia da Vieira
   • Sit-down lunch at Praia da Vieira

   Option plus facile : Ride as far as Pedrógão, about 25 km, and take the van from there to lunch.

   Option plus active : Ride on from Praia da Vieira along the Atlantic Road through the Leiria pine forest to São Pedro de Moel, about 15 km more.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free in Nazaré

   Activité : About 40 km of riding, flat or gently rolling, on cycle paths and quiet roads.

   

5. Jour 5 : Nazaré's cliff, then the lagoon road to Óbidos

   Nazaré to Sítio, then São Martinho do Porto and Foz do Arelho to Óbidos by bike

   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Óbidos
   Détail du jour 5

   Before we ride, we take the funicular, running since 1889, up the cliff to Sítio, the old upper town, for the view straight down onto the beach and the red roofs. A short walk leads to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Nazaré and the lighthouse fort above Praia do Norte, where the undersea Nazaré Canyon drives the giant winter waves that surfers come for; your guide explains how. Then we ride south along the coast to São Martinho do Porto, a bay almost closed into a shell shape by the cliffs, for coffee by the water. The road carries on through farmland and small hills to Foz do Arelho, where the Óbidos lagoon meets the sea, and lunch is sit-down by the lagoon. The last stretch runs inland along the lagoon and up to Óbidos, whose medieval walls ring the whole town. In the late afternoon your guide walks the lanes with you, and the ginjinha tasting comes in a small chocolate cup.

   Compris

   • The Nazaré funicular to Sítio, the sanctuary and the lighthouse fort above Praia do Norte
   • Guided ride via São Martinho do Porto and Foz do Arelho to Óbidos
   • Sit-down lunch at Foz do Arelho
   • Guided walk in Óbidos with a ginjinha tasting

   Option plus facile : Ride as far as São Martinho do Porto, about 15 km, and take the van to Óbidos.

   Option plus active : Walk the top of the Óbidos town walls in the evening light; parts have no railing.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Óbidos

   Activité : About 50 km of riding with some rolling hills, and a short climb into Óbidos at the end.

   

6. Jour 6 : The surf coast to Ericeira

   Óbidos to Santa Cruz by van, then by bike along the coast to Ericeira

   • Environ 36 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Ericeira
   Détail du jour 6

   A slow morning in Óbidos while the lanes are quiet, before the day visitors arrive. Then the van takes us about 40 minutes south-west to Santa Cruz, a beach town on the cliffs, and we ride the coast south. This is the most varied riding of the week: farm roads among vineyards and vegetable fields, short climbs onto the headlands and fast runs down to small beaches and river mouths at Porto Novo, Assenta and Foz do Lizandro. The e-bikes take the sting out of the hills. Lunch is a sit-down stop on the way. We roll into Ericeira by mid-afternoon, a white and blue fishing town on a cliff above its harbour, and since 2011 a World Surfing Reserve for the run of reef and point breaks along this coast. The afternoon is free: watch the surfers at Ribeira d'Ilhas, walk the old town, or swim at the town beach below the cliffs.

   Compris

   • Guided ride from Santa Cruz along the coast to Ericeira
   • Sit-down lunch on the way

   Activités en option

   • A surf lesson in Ericeira
   • The Mafra National Palace, about 15 minutes inland

   Option plus facile : Ride the first half to Porto Novo and take the van on to Ericeira.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free in Ericeira

   Activité : About 40 km, the hilliest day, with several short climbs onto the headlands.

   

7. Jour 7 : Pena Palace, Cabo da Roca and the ride into Lisbon

   Ericeira to Sintra and Cabo da Roca by van, then by bike past Guincho and Cascais to Lisbon

   • Environ 48 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Lisbon
   Détail du jour 7

   We drive about half an hour to Sintra for Pena Palace at the first entry of the day, before the queues. Tour vehicles cannot enter Sintra's historic centre, so the last stretch is by the local shuttle. The palace sits on a peak in the Sintra hills, part of a cultural landscape listed by UNESCO in 1995, and from its terraces you can see the coast you are about to ride. After an early sit-down lunch the van drops us at Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, and we ride down to the wide beach at Guincho and along the cycle path into Cascais. From Cascais the seafront promenade, short road stretches and the riverside path along the Tagus carry us past Belém into central Lisbon, about 45 km in all, arriving at the hotel around 5:30 pm. Tonight we celebrate the ride with a farewell dinner in the old town.

   Compris

   • Pena Palace and park at the first entry, with the Sintra shuttle
   • Sit-down lunch in Sintra
   • Guided ride from Cabo da Roca past Guincho and Cascais into Lisbon
   • Farewell dinner in Lisbon

   Option plus facile : Ride Cabo da Roca to Cascais, about 18 km and mostly downhill, then take the van into Lisbon, arriving around 4 pm with time to rest before dinner.

   Activité : A long day: Pena in the morning, then about 45 km of riding, downhill and flat after Cabo da Roca, with a headwind possible on the Guincho stretch. Pena involves steep paths and stairs.

8. Jour 8 : Lisbon and home

   Central Lisbon to Lisbon Airport

   • Environ 18 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 8

   The bikes go back to the supplier this morning and the day is yours. For those with afternoon flights your guide leads an optional early walk from the Baixa, the grid of streets rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake, up through the stairs and lanes of Alfama to a viewpoint over the river, before the cruise passengers and day trippers fill them. Then there is time for a custard tart and a last coffee before the transfer. Lisbon Airport (LIS) is only about 8 km from the centre, around 20 minutes by van, and we take everyone there in time for their flight. Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm to join the walk, or a morning flight if you prefer: we time your transfer either way. Many guests stay on: the Lisbon city stay with Sintra and Arrábida follows this trip well.

   Compris

   • Optional morning walk from the Baixa through Alfama with your guide, for those with afternoon flights
   • Drop-off at Lisbon Airport (LIS)

   Temps libre : Morning free if you skip the walk

   Activité : Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm to join the morning walk.

Faune et météo : Spring and early autumn bring mild riding weather, though a north wind often blows down the coast, mostly at your back as we ride south. Morning sea fog is common on the coast and burns off by late morning. The São Jacinto dunes and the Aveiro lagoon are good for wading birds, and Nazaré's giant waves belong to winter, roughly October to March, so only late-October departures have a chance of a big-swell day.

• Porto1 nuit
• Aveiro1 nuit
• Coimbra1 nuit
• Nazaré1 nuit
• Óbidos1 nuit
• Ericeira1 nuit
• Lisbon1 nuit