Portugal Best Cycling

Cycling in Paradise is the most flexible of Portugal Best Cycling's tours: a single-base holiday at their own boutique farm guesthouse, Monte do Serrado de Baixo, in the Alentejo countryside near Évora. There is no packing and unpacking. Choose 3 to 7 nights and ride 2 to 6 of seven routes, guided or self-guided.

Each morning after breakfast a local guide meets you to plan the day, so distance, pace, tastings and cultural visits can be adapted to suit. Routes follow traffic-free ecotrails, quiet secondary roads and dirt tracks through vineyards, olive groves and cork oak country to Arraiolos, Évora, megalithic sites, Valongo Castle, Monsaraz and the marble towns around Estremoz.

Back at the farm there are swimming pools, regional dinners and an Alentejo cooking class using simple ingredients you can find at home. Cycling days can also be swapped for kayaking or walking with advance notice.

Highlights:

• Single-base stay at the operator's own country house, with no packing and unpacking
• Évora's UNESCO World Heritage centre: Roman Temple, cathedral and Chapel of Bones
• Almendres Cromlech and the Zambujeiro Dolmen, among Europe's oldest megalithic monuments
• Alentejo wineries, a cork factory and small local producers
• Hilltop castles at Arraiolos and Valongo, plus optional Monsaraz and the marble towns
• Alentejo cooking class and regional dinners at the farm

Surface and terrain
Gently rolling countryside on a mix of traffic-free ecotrail (a former railway line), quiet secondary asphalt roads and dirt roads. Most routes are rated Easy+ with 200 to 400 m of ascent. Expect a 4 km dirt climb on the megalithic route and a steep final climb to Monsaraz.

Weather
The weather is warm almost all year. Expect hot, dry summers, mild winters with some rain, and the most comfortable riding in spring and autumn.

Suitable for
Leisure riders, couples and small groups wanting a relaxed single-base holiday with food, wine and culture. Rated Medium overall, with distances easily shortened or extended, so it suits mixed-ability groups. E-bikes are available.

Highlights: Accommodation at an amazing convent, from the 15th century No packing and unpacking, just cycling and relaxing. Very flexible guides and program – kms can easily be adapted to your level or will. Tell us if you have any special interest!  Beautiful rolling landscape with vineyards, olive groves, cork oaks, and grazing land. Outstanding Alentejo wines and fantastic gastronomy of Portugal. Medieval villages and Évora historical center, classified by UNESCO as World Heritage Site. To make your days easier it’s possible to do the tour on a E-Bike. Description This program is a guided cycling break in Portugal combining the accommodation at an amazing convent built in the 15th century, located 2 kms from the historical center of √âvora and the visit to selected family owned projects, each one with their special history and unique features. The days are all very different and rides include visits to wineries, artisans and producers of local specialties. You will feel rewarded with the high knowledge of your local guide and the gorgeous landscape. You don’t have to pack and unpack every day. Every morning you will meet your guide after a delicious breakfast and indulge on a beautiful bike ride. This is a very flexible cycling tour. Possible to do it on a E-Bike to make it easier. Tell us what you like and we will do our best to adapt. As we meet you every day, it is very easy to adapt the tour to your preferences.

The mountain bike trails of Arrábida Natural Park follow a true Mediterranean environment mixing vineyards, cork tree forests and dramatic views over steep limestone cliffs. In only a few hours, you will experience this special, unique and picturesque atmosphere. You will be entranced by the great ocean views and enriched by the history of this once Moorish state. Arrábida Natural Park is one of the Portuguese jewels and a wonderful place for outdoors. If you feel like getting a bit active to fully enjoy the natural side of the Portuguese capital, our Arrábida Mountain Bike Tour will delight you.

This bike tour in Évora is one we recommend you do on your 1st day in Évora. With our guides’ knowledge of the city you can then plan the rest of your time and chose which monuments you want to visit inside.

You will learn about the city’s history and its many stories, from a local’s perspective.

Our guide will lead you through narrow car free streets and point out beautiful balconies and windows, doorways and 16th century gates, countless historical buildings and architectonic details. You will pass and learn about the Roman Temple, the university, the bone’s chapel and the public garden.

Half way through we will give you our traditional cake, the queijada de Évora and a local liqueur.

We believe this Bike tour Évora is one of the best ways to visit our city!

Terrain: cobblestone streets with short uphills and downhills

This 7 days Bike tour in Portugal will take you through some of the wildest and beautiful Portuguese landscapes, taking some easy dirt roads occasionally.

Cycling tour in Portugal on the SW Atlantic coast through pristine natural parks and reserves like the Estu√°rio do Sado, Lagoas de Santo André and Sudoeste Alentejano, finishing in Costa Vicentina, swimming in the cool blue waters of the Atlantic every day.

Taste the fresh fish with awarded Alentejo wines and enjoy our famous picnics, the true definition of a gourmet luxury light meal in the white sands of secluded beaches… there is nothing quite like it!

Learn about olive oil, cork extraction and its many uses, rice fields, pine forests, the dictatorship, and many other intriguing facts.

Easy level safe routes with a challenge here and there will make for a relaxing and fun ride while you live the present, learn about the past and discover the future of the oldest and sunniest country in Europe.

We leave Évora following the "Silver Water" Aqueduct and walk along this fantastic 16th century engineering work of art until we reach a beautiful traditional Alentejo country house.

We stop for a drink and start our Évora bike tour and return to Évora through the ecotrail, a traffic free green lane. Downhill, no effort!

The tour follows the aqueduct inside the city walls, through the narrow and white streets discovering Évora’s unique historical centre.

Experienced riders can complete the entire Évora bike tour. Cycling near the aqueduct is good fun but you need to love cycling. There are some steps where you have to step down from your bike and the path is narrow. The path along the aqueduct is really a walking path but possible to cycle in.

Tour is suitable for children if they can cycle and enjoy walking.
We have bikes for kids and the cycling path is easy, but we have to do some stretches on the asphalt road, so your child should have the experience to participate on the tour.

With this cycling city break you have the opportunity to know the history of the most emblematic places in Lisbon and is surroundings.

Every day is different, you can visit a tile’s factory, also castles and palaces or in contrast taste wines and some of Portugal’s most traditional sweets.

City and country views, palaces and beaches, all combined in one fantastic bike tour.

Get to know the cities, their history and unique details, but also the Natural Parks of Sintra and Arr√°bida.

Easy days with a challenge here and there that makes the ride fun and certainly relaxing, while you see and taste the historical and gastronomic heritage.

We designed this cycling in Portugal tour for people searching for a good mix of nature and heritage, and a sprinkle of amazing landscape!

The tour explores the Natural Park of Serra d’Aire e Candeeiros and the beautiful region of Évora, a city classified by UNESCO as World Heritage Site. Then we follow to the gorgeous natural park of SW Alentejano and Costa Vicentina, for a dramatic change of landscape.

Due to the tough profile of the climbs in Serra d’Aires e Candeeiros we have decided to do this tour in e-bikes. Be aware that if you chose a normal bike you have to be really fit. This is the hardest of our bicycle tours in Portugal.

If you choose so, your evenings will be spent with Chefs or local people. In this cooking classes you will learn delicious and simple Portuguese food. At each place you will be given a little book with the recipe of what you cooked so that you may repeat the experience at home.

This active holidays in Portugal starts in Porto Covo, a fisherman village with a charming architecture and relaxing atmosphere. From here we have a fantastic view over the cliffs.

Your adventure starts with a walk throught the wild rugged area of the Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina NP, on the west coast.

Our days have lots of variety with visits to places such as the Fisherman’s museum, the cape of Sagres and several fortresses. The Portuguese Sea Discoveries of the 15th century are always present.

Besides cycling, walking, kayaking and enjoying the amazing scenery, we invite you also to learn about the local economy.

The beaches are beautiful, on the first days with fun waves and impressive steep cliffs on the background while the last days offer us quiet and crystal blue waters.

The hotels are all great quality. There is a Pousada included and an old hamlet, time forgot, transformed into one of a kind hamlet/hotel tourism project.

Finally kayaking will give you a different perspective of all this amazing scenery!

Highlights:

• Active holidays in Portugal – Cycling, walking and kayaking
• Algarve’s picturesque and lively historical centers
• Southwest Alentejo and Costa Vicentina NP
• Yellow sandstone cliffs on Lagos with amazing caves
• Tasty picnics served at the beach or at local restaurants
• Very nice hotels and fantastic beaches
• Flexible tour. Add or cut days as you wish

Megalithic tours in Évora. We meet in Guadalupe and cycle through the green area of Valverde, where we find some of the most emblematic megalithic monuments of the region of √âvora: the cromlech and the menhir of Almendres (more than 5000 years old!) and the big dolmen of Zambujeiro.

We also visit the ruins of Giraldo’s Castle and the Roman ruins of Tourega.

Somewhere under a tree, we’ll stop for a bite of local cheese and chorizos and, of course, a good glass of wine!

In the end, we do a short city tour on the way to your hotel. We will show you our favorite streets and architectonic details. Try the best Megalithic tours in Évora.