Most Inspirational Moment
Cycling beside the cliffs
Thoughts on Group Leader
Riccardo was excellent.
Reviews
Your Words – We tell it like it is! Holiday Reviews by previous Exodus travellers
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Reviews
Great week in Southern Portugal
Really fantastic food on this trip. Excellent lunches organised by the tour company – almost too much food but it was all delicious especially the Octopus. Loved the cafe stops for coffee and cake with the many Portuguese pastry options. Scenery along the coast was stunning but this is a relatively small proportion of the cycling. Most of the cycling is on inland off-road gravel tracks with some on quiet roads. I did enjoy the cycling and for me riding more off road was great fun. Hotels were generally of a good standard – the setubal school was exceptional. Hotel vila park bathroom a bit run down. The Aldeia da Pedralva was very rustic (some folk will like this and some may not). Bikes of really good quality and well suited to the terrain. If the option was available I’d have given this trip 4.5 stars.
Fantastic week in southern Portugal
A great overall experience. Fantastic scenery, most cycling on quiet roads , off the beaten track. Really got to have an authentic experience. Exceptional hotel choices.. charming and sometimes quirky. Ricardo (guide) and Vitor (driver) were incredible… very supportive and couldn’t do enough to help. All restaurant choices were excellent. The cycling was straight forward… and there is a significant amount of off road cycling which I hadn’t done before but found to be very enjoyable and it has inspired me to do more.
Most Inspirational Moment
Cycling across paddy fields in Portugal! All the fantastic coastal views with no-one else in sight!
Thoughts on Group Leader
Riccardo and Vitor were incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and passionate about their country. It was a pleasure to spend a week with them.
Advice for Potential Travellers
I highly recommend it. Be prepared to spend some time off road.. but you adapt easily and it’s very leisurely cycling
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.
Most Inspirational Moment
Wouldn’t describe as inspiring, but enjoyed the fantastic scenery as we cycled along the Atlantic coast - often with the wind behind us. Being there in May we were blessed to see carpets of different wild flowers - beautiful! Good to reach the end in Sagres and visit the lighthouse at Sao Vicente - the start or end of route 1 - we’ve previously ridden other parts of it in the UK
Thoughts on Group Leader
Ricardo was a great guide. Organised and knowledgable. He wanted us to have a good experience in his country and on a part of the coast that he is passionate about. He regularly sought feedback during our end of ride debriefs each day which was good. He planned good restaurants for us to eat together and we didn’t have a bad meal all week. Vitor, his partner in crime was a lovely man. Considerate and hard working. They worked very well together for our benefit. Both showed great patience!
Advice for Potential Travellers
Understand that off-road biking can offer up a variety of surfaces and can be technically challenging at first. It may be easy to those of us who enjoy mountain biking, but for those less experienced, take the advice offered by the guide on day 1 and give it a go. It’s great fun and off road means no traffic. Two of our group acknowledged this was a first for them, but had great fun because they were willing to get stuck in.
| I have always found the trips to be well planned, well described, with excellent guides who are always friendly and helpful. |
Most Inspirational Moment
The coastal scenery. The fun off road cycling. The visit to the distillery as it was such an interesting and personal account.
Thoughts on Group Leader
He was such a nice person to be with, and everything follows from that. Ticked all boxes.
Setubal to Algarve
Although October, the temperature didn’t drop below 24 and was nearer 28, but cycling provided a breeze. Cycling beside a channel through rice fields, on cliff wide cliff paths, with beautiful sea views, over dirt tracks beside quiet main roads or through forests, or farm land or over flat cobbles through small towns, or up to a castle. Good restaurants chosen by the guides. On mountain bikes, (I had an e bike), we were on dirt tracks 30% of the distance which translates to what felt like 50% of the time as slower than on the roads. Good hotel swimming pools
Most Inspirational Moment
Getting my cycling nerve back (I’d crashed on my ebike earlier in the year and broken my wrist) and realising I could mountain bike over the sandy, rocky, bits when you had to use the skills demonstrated on the first day,
Thoughts on Group Leader
Ricardo was very helpful and keen to enable us to have a good experience. He is passionate about this section of Portugal, wanting to share it with others. Each day he asked for feedback on the trip as this was the 2nd time it had run, so they can improve the experience for future trips. He tried his best to make sure people’s needs were met, and looked after us well. Vitor, who was the support, looked after the bikes well. My only suggestion would be they make sure the e-bikes have a large enough battery to make it to the end of the ride and that even if it looks like it has enough battery charge, they are still charged every night. They did provide another battery in the vehicle half way through, but the first days ride was stressful not knowing if I was going to be riding on a heavy ebike without any battery by the end.
Advice for Potential Travellers
There are long sections that are off road, on loose grit, and sandy tracks, at times the bike ground to a halt. You are on mountain bikes for a reason. Ricardo gave us a lesson in how to ride over sand and down a short steep tricky section on day 1, so we knew the technique, the real thing didn’t feel quite so bad (I didn’t even attempt it on day 1 but did manage the real thing) and felt quite chuffed. I don’t like edges and drops, but the riding on the cliffs was fine, the paths are wide, and not near the edge.
Lisbon to Algarve Ride
Great trip leaders- Ricardo, Luis, and Vitor. Interesting mix of road and off road. Great places to stay and wonderful food.
Most Inspirational Moment
Riding along the ocean, learning some Portuguese history.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Ricardo was very personable and available.
Lisbon to Algarve Ride
Very enjoyable – a great team. There were one or two problems as this was the first time that trip ran, but the ground team sorted them out.
Most Inspirational Moment
Cycling along the Atlantic cliffs. Your guides were great
Thoughts on Group Leader
Always friendly, polite and professional, well organised, knowledgeable and adaptable. Passionate about what he did and the country he was showing to us. Good at teaching bike tricks. Very inclusive of all clients needs. He had a couple of awkward clients to deal with and demonstrated much more patience than I would have. Maintained a good sense of humour and a passion for good food