The solar sparkles in silver rays because it bounces on the water off the shores of the central coast of Portugal. As you cycle alongside the seashore, seagulls fly overhead looking for fishermen pulling in nets full of fish. Girls and kids play within the sand close by as males wearing formal put on sit outdoors quaint espresso outlets and sip their morning brew. The solar shines, however a faint breeze blowing in off the coastal waters retains you cool as you cycle alongside – taking within the nature, the structure and the folks. The panorama modifications quickly – biking alongside coastal waters in a single second, solely to be passing by way of a dense crowd of timber a couple of minutes later. Earlier than you understand it, you’re again on the seaside once more and silver grey glints of ethereal daylight bouncing off the waves remind you the way “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” bought its title.
That’s proper! “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” in central Portugal is known as after the silver colour of daylight that often bounces off the coastal waters on this distinctive a part of the nation.
High Bike Excursions Portugal (the tour firm that put collectively “The Silver Coast Bike Tour”) has completed an unimaginable job placing collectively a bicycle tour that may make for a nice, rewarding and memorable expertise for each novice and skilled cyclists alike.
When you’re in search of an extremely flat and scenic bike tour alongside the sting of coastal waters, then “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” in central Portugal may be the biking vacation you’ve been in search of! This week-long bike tour has all of it: historic cities, unimaginable structure, picturesque landscapes, scenic coastal views, lovely bike paths, a variety of wildlife, fantastically scrumptious meals and amazingly luxurious lodging!
Better of all, you may select to take part in “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” at any time of 12 months by becoming a member of one in all High Bike Excursions Portugal’s self-guided bicycle excursions. Simply inform the corporate the dates you need to journey they usually’ll ebook all of the lodging for you and work out all the main points.
Or, if you want, chances are you’ll select to take part in one of many firm’s guided group bicycle excursions and expertise “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” with a gaggle of individuals from all world wide (like I did on this overview – preserve studying to study extra).
No matter method you select to do it, High Bike Excursions Portugal has made it straightforward to easily ebook your biking vacation after which present up in Porto, Portugal for the beginning of your journey. They’ll have a bicycle ready for you whenever you arrive; your accommodations may have all been booked prematurely for you; restaurant and meal suggestions may have been made; and you might be free to easily sit again and benefit from the expertise of biking down the coast of central Portugal in your bicycle.
The map above reveals the approximate route you’ll journey over the course of “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” with High Bike Excursions Portugal – beginning within the metropolis of Porto, Portugal and ending in Coimbra.
Primary Tour Info
Who Is This Bike Tour Designed For?
“The Silver Coast Bike Tour” is good for people who:
Are newbie or intermediate cyclists. It is a bicycle tour that just about anybody can full. It’s categorized as a simple bike tour as a result of the route is nearly completely flat, with just one main (4 km) hill that you will want to climb about half-way by way of the tour. That being mentioned, there are a number of sections of this route that will problem you. Getting out of the crowded metropolis streets of Porto is the primary problem; navigating the various vary of driving surfaces (and switching from bike paths to sidewalks to boardwalks and regular metropolis streets) is the second problem; and climbing the tour’s one and solely main hill can be problem quantity three. When you can deal with these three comparatively minor obstacles, then you may seemingly full this bike tour with ease. Sure, that you must be in first rate bodily form to finish this tour, however you don’t have to be a seasoned bicycle rider. Informal cyclists with a only a small quantity of motorbike driving expertise can be completely suited to this bike tour. The distances every day are relatively quick (with the shortest day being 40 km and the longest day being 55 km).
Need a good mattress, a heat bathe and an excellent meal each single day. If tenting in a tent or going for days on finish and not using a bathe just isn’t your factor, then this may simply be the bicycle tour you’ve been in search of. On “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” with High Bike Excursions Portugal, you get all the advantages of touring lengthy distances on a bicycle, however on the finish of the day you’ll be capable of keep in high-end lodging, take a sizzling bathe, eat a scrumptious meal, use the Web to remain in contact with family and friends again house, and nonetheless have time to calm down and benefit from the firm of your fellow journey companions.
Don’t need to waste time planning a tour like this on their very own. Collaborating on this guided or self-guided bicycle tour takes on a regular basis, power, and grunt work out of planning your vacation. As an alternative of spending numerous days and hours on the pc, researching doable routes and locations to remain, simply name up High Bike Excursions Portugal (or ship them an message) and they’re going to do all of the exhausting be just right for you. After your tour has been booked with the corporate, your solely job is to point out up for the beginning of the tour, observe the directions which have been supplied for you by High Bike Excursions Portugal, and luxuriate in every week of biking and rest on the coast of central Portugal.
Don’t need to transport their bicycle all the best way to Portugal. You possibly can depart your bike at house on this biking journey, as a result of High Bike Excursions Portugal may have a top quality trekking bike ready for you whenever you arrive in Porto initially of the tour. If you wish to deliver your personal saddle or pedals from house, that’s high-quality too! High Bike Excursions Portugal will work with you to get the bike fitted to you and your distinctive physique sort. The corporate additionally has electrical bicycles obtainable (for a further charge).
Don’t need to carry a bunch of heavy gear in your bicycle as you trip every day. If you take part in a bicycle tour with High Bike Excursions Portugal, the corporate will transport your clothes, toiletries and different belongings for you – shifting your issues from one lodge to the subsequent, so that you don’t have to hold every thing with you in your bicycle as you trip every day. That is big bonus for people wanting probably the most pleasurable biking expertise doable. Whereas this service is included free of charge as a part of a guided bike tour, baggage transport just isn’t included within the common worth of the self-guided excursions. Nonetheless, baggage transport is on the market for self-guided tour individuals for an additional charge.
Take pleasure in experimenting with new meals and drinks. As a result of lunch and dinner just isn’t included within the worth of the bike tour, the general value of the tour is decrease than many different bike excursions obtainable world wide. This additionally provides you the liberty every day to discover the native cuisines or eat nonetheless you select. You’re not trapped into consuming just one sort of meals on this bike tour. You’re free to selected whichever meals you want and spend as a lot or as little cash on meals and drinks as you so please. Try the photograph beneath. That is the kind of meals you may anticipate finding on route whenever you take part in “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” with High Bike Excursions Portugal.
Is This the Greatest Bike Tour in Portugal?
I’ve personally participated in almost a half-dozen totally different bicycle excursions in Portugal and this was my second time taking part in a guided group bicycle tour with High Bike Excursions Portugal.
The primary bike tour I did with the corporate was known as “The Means of St. James Bike Tour,” which takes you from Porto, up the coast of northern Portugal and into northern Spain, the place the tour finally finishes within the metropolis of Santiago de Compostela. That is an unimaginable bicycle touring expertise that I’d extremely suggest for anybody taken with biking “The Camino” route from Porto to Santiago de Compostela. Nonetheless, “The Means of St. James Bike Tour” is barely more difficult than “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” as a result of site visitors in some sections, a number of cobblestone roads, and some sections the place you will have to get off your bicycle and push or carry the bike up some steep terrain.
When you’re in search of the best bike tour in Portugal, I imagine “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” is probably going it. I additionally loved the meals on the central coast of Portugal much more than I did in northern Portugal and Spain, so that’s definitely a significant plus!
If, nonetheless, you might be in search of a barely more difficult and barely extra scenic bicycle touring expertise, then I’d suggest you take part in “The Means of St. James Bike Tour.” This tour, whereas it’s one thing that just about any newbie bicycle owner may full, does have a number of sections that could possibly be deemed hectic or intimidating.
Whichever bike tour you select, “The Means of St. James Bike Tour” or “The Silver Coast Bike Tour,” you’ll see loads of coastal views, eat tons of scrumptious meals, and are available house out of your journey to Portugal with reminiscences that may absolutely final a lifetime!
Resorts & Lodging
High Bike Excursions Portugal has organized “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” in such a method that you just get to cease and luxuriate in your self every night time in a few of the finest lodging in all of central Portugal. The accommodations you’ll be residing in every night time are welcoming, luxurious, and distinctive in their very own very particular methods.
Portus Cale Lodge – Porto, Portugal
Positioned on Porto’s Avenida da Boavista, Portus Cale Lodge presents shiny, air-conditioned rooms and a each day buffet breakfast. The Douro Riverfront is simply 1.2 miles from the lodge, which makes it an excellent stroll from the lodge to the town middle and again once more. Friends rooms at Portus Cale Inn have wooden furnishings and cable TV. Every room features a personal lavatory stocked with a hairdryer and free lavatory facilities. Free WiFi is on the market all through all the lodge as effectively.
Lodge Solverde Spa & Wellness Middle – Marinha, Portugal
The beachfront Lodge Solverde is a 5-star lodge that includes a variety of services, together with a health room and tennis courts. Overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, the air-conditioned rooms embrace a flat-screen satellite tv for pc TV, mini-bar and a piece desk. The personal loos present free toiletries, bathrobes and slippers. A continental buffet breakfast is served every morning on the property’s luminous meal space and the lodge restaurant gives tasty Portuguese meals, with dairy-free, gluten-free and vegetarian choices. The lodge has its personal heliport and each an indoor and out of doors swimming pool. There’s additionally a mini golf course and massages can be found, for a further charge.
Lodge Moliceiro – Aveiro, Portugal
This charming 4-star lodge in Aveiro options gigantic views of the Ria de Aveiro. Free WiFi is on the market all through the lodge and every room is provided with a flat-screen TV and a tea/espresso maker. Some rooms are adorned with classical furnishings, whereas different rooms have a extra fashionable contact. Within the mornings, the Moliceiro serves a wealthy buffet breakfast ready with seasonal elements. After a day of sightseeing, friends can calm down whereas having fun with a refreshing drink on the lodge’s elegant bar.
Macarico Seashore Lodge – Praia de Mira, Portugal
Positioned on the beachfront of Praia de Mira, Maçarico Seashore Lodge incorporates a rooftop swimming pool and presents fashionable rooms with air con, soundproofing and free WiFi in all areas. The comfy rooms of Maçarico Seashore Lodge all have balconies – a few of which have views searching over the Atlantic Ocean. The rooms embrace a flat-screen TV and personal fashionable loos.
Candy Atlantic Lodge & Spa – Figueira da Foz, Portugal
This 4-star beachfront lodge incorporates a restaurant with gorgeous views of the Atlantic Ocean. It has a spa and wellness middle, at an additional charge, and free WiFi all through. The brilliant, fashionable rooms on the Candy Atlantic Lodge embrace fashionable décor and wood floors. Additionally they have a spacious seating space with couches, a flat-screen TV, fridge and a microwave. Some rooms function a balcony with panoramic ocean views.
Tivoli Coimbra – Coimbra, Portugal
This contemporary 4-star lodge is situated close to the Mondego River in historic Coimbra. Its fashionable rooms function a flat-screen TV with satellite tv for pc and paid film channels. All of the rooms at Tivoli Coimbra function massive home windows, a seating space and a mini-bar. Breakfast will be delivered to the rooms or loved within the lodge Espresso Store. This lodge is the proper place to complete a week-long bicycle tour down the shoreline of central Portugal. Contemplate staying right here for an additional night time on the finish of your tour in the event you actually need to take within the metropolis of Coimbra.
Necessary Issues You Ought to Know
“The Silver Coast Bike Tour” with High Bike Excursions Portugal will be booked as both a guided bicycle touring expertise (the place you might be escorted alongside the route by two or extra skilled guides – as you see in my written/photographic overview right here) or the tour will be completed as a self-guided biking expertise (the place you’ll be touring by yourself, and not using a information). Both method, this can be a bike tour that may be completed alone, with a member of the family, liked one, co-worker or a good friend. When you select to do the bike tour as a guided biking expertise, you’ll be topic to driving with the group and biking at their tempo. Whereas, in the event you selected the self-guided biking expertise, you get to decide on the tempo at which you journey. You possibly can sleep in late or get up early. You possibly can cycle tremendous quick or pedal actually gradual, whereas stopping to see and discover issues all through your trip. The selection is as much as you – guided or self-guided?
Along with the price of the bike tour itself, you will have to get your self to Porto, Portugal for the beginning of the tour. High Bike Excursions Portugal will give you all the knowledge that you must get to the beginning of the journey and should even be capable of organize for switch to your lodge whenever you both fly into the town or arrive by practice.
Firstly of “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” you’ll be given a packet of papers containing all the knowledge you want throughout the journey. This packet of papers incorporates maps of the routes you’ll be biking every day, data on the sights you may anticipate to see all through the tour, your lodge data every night time, and speak to particulars for the tour firm in case of an emergency.
You possibly can select to deliver your personal bicycle with you on this bike tour, however most individuals merely choose to make use of one of many bikes supplied by the touring firm. This fashion you may merely present up in Porto, Portugal initially of the tour and have a bicycle ready for you whenever you arrive. There isn’t any value related to renting a bicycle from the corporate whenever you ebook this tour as a guided group expertise, however there’s an additional charge for renting the bike whenever you ebook this journey as a self-guided bicycle tour.
Whereas breakfasts are included at every of the accommodations you’ll be staying at all through your bike tour, you’ll be answerable for discovering your personal lunch, dinner and snacks every day (so be sure you finances that in to the general value of your journey). Fortunately, meals and drinks are comparatively cheap in Portugal (when in comparison with a lot of western Europe), and High Bike Excursions Portugal does an excellent job of telling you prematurely the place you will discover meals and drinks alongside your route every day.
You have to to pay for every thing on the bike tour in Euros (EUR). Acquiring this forex in Potugal is straightforward, as ATMs can be found at a number of places alongside the route. Paying with a bank card is extraordinarily widespread, though having a small amount of money readily available is a good suggestion – particularly when paying for objects in small outlets and eating places.
Each lodge on the bike tour has free WiFi Web entry. Web speeds in Portugal are fairly good (often 5 Mbps or increased at a lot of the accommodations).
When you’ve got any extra questions on taking part on this distinctive bicycle touring vacation, contact High Bike Excursions Portugal straight. I discovered that they’re fast to reply to any messages you ship them and, whereas their English just isn’t all the time the very best by way of e-mail communication, they’ll exit of their method that can assist you in any method they’ll.
To study extra about “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” or any of the opposite biking holidays obtainable in Portugal, make sure to go to the official High Bike Excursions Portugal web site at: www.topbiketoursportugal.com
My Expertise On The Silver Coast Bike Tour
In September of 2019, I had the pleasure of taking part in “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” with High Bike Excursions Portugal. I flew into Porto, Portugal from the USA and was picked up on the airport by Tiago – one of many High Bike Excursions Portugal tour leaders. The Porto airport is situated roughly 15 kilometers from the town middle, so it was good to step off the airplane and immediately be greeted by somebody from the tour firm who was capable of assist me load my luggage into the van and drive me to the middle of lovely Porto, Portugal – a stress free begin to the tour!
High Bike Excursions Portugal operates out of a really small and virtually fully non-nondescript constructing on a slender avenue close to the Trindade metro station within the north-central a part of Porto. Inside this small business house, dozens and dozens of bicycles are packed in and lined up subsequent to 1 one other… and behind the constructing is a small workplace that doubles as a restore bench and workstation for the corporate’s many bicycles.
After arriving on the High Bike Excursions Portugal headquarters, I used to be immediately fitted with a bicycle that I’d trip throughout the bike tour. This is without doubt one of the many good issues about taking part in “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” (or any bike tour, actually) with High Bike Excursions Portugal – there’s no have to fly your personal bicycle all the best way to Portugal. Flying with a bicycle is a big ache… and will be fairly pricey! As an alternative, merely journey to Porto by yourself with a number of modifications of garments and your toiletries, and the remainder can be taken care of for you! There can be a bicycle ready for you whenever you arrive, and all the remainder of the tour particulars (similar to nightly lodging, the route you’ll cycle, and so on) may have been organized for you prematurely. All it’s important to do is get on the bike you’re supplied with, observe the really helpful route, and test into your per-arranged accommodations every night time.
After getting my bicycle all arrange, I used to be taken to the Portus Cale Lodge and given a while to bathe and clear up earlier than our orientation assembly started.
After a fast nap and bathe, I took the elevator right down to the lodge foyer and was met by the tour leaders and the remainder of the folks in my tour group. There have been three tour leaders current: Sergio – the corporate proprietor; Henrique – our tour chief; and Tiago – an assistant tour chief. Along with the tour leaders, there have been twelve tour individuals and myself, making for a gaggle of sixteen whole folks.
Our foremost tour chief, Henrique, handed out some paperwork and walked us by way of a day-by-day account of what we may anticipate to come across all through “The Silver Coast Bike Tour.” We additionally had a second right here to introduce ourselves and meet the opposite folks within the group. There have been three {couples} on the tour and 6 single people.
After our orientation assembly was over and everybody on the tour had been given the chance to get their bicycle in working order, we have been led throughout the town on a three-hour strolling tour of Porto. This tour was led by Henrique, our mountain tour chief, and included an enchanting take a look at Porto’s historical past, structure and well-liked vacationer points of interest.
Church buildings are a typical sight in Porto, as there are tons of of them scattered all through the town. Blue porcelain tiles, referred to as “azulejos” are additionally generally seen on the entrance of homes, the edges of church buildings and even inside the town’s practice station partitions.
Slender properties packed tightly collectively, with shiny colours muted solely by the filth and dirt of huge metropolis life, are what you may anticipate to see when strolling the streets of Porto. Many of those properties function small balconies or terraces on which an occasional particular person will step out to smoke a cigarette.
Within the São Bento Railway Station, the azulejo tiles play a major function, as they line the primary entryway between the road and the railway traces inside. The higher elements of the railway station frieze are lined with azulejos depicting a chronology of the assorted types of transport utilized by man in Portugal. On the south wall of the atrium is a portray of the doorway to Porto of King John I and Philippa of Lancaster, on horseback, to rejoice their wedding ceremony.
Ultimately, we made our method right down to the waterfront, the place we have been ready to soak up the unimaginable rooftop view of the town and the boats slowly floating their method up and down the Douro river. This view is without doubt one of the foremost causes that you must come to see Porto, Portugal for your self!
On the finish of our guided strolling tour of Porto, we strolled throughout the Luís I Bridge and entered the Burmester Wine Cellars, the place we got a brief tour of the vineyard and realized why Port wines (and different wines made within the Douro area of Portugal) are so particular.
Ultimately, we have been taken to a big tasting corridor the place we got the chance to style a number of of the wines we had simply realized about. Some people on the tour even purchased a bottle of wine or two to take house with them as a memento of their journey to Porto.
After our tour of the vineyard, we walked a brief distance down the riverfront and located a restaurant situated only a few steps away from the water. It was right here that we ordered our first main meal of the tour and had our first alternative to actually sit down with the opposite members of our group and get to know each other.
After dinner, we took a taxi again to our lodge and fell immediately asleep. It had been an extended day and we knew that the next day can be an enormous one as effectively.
Round 7:00 AM the next morning we have been handled to a scrumptious buffet breakfast within the lodge eating room. Then we returned to our rooms, grabbed out issues, after which made our method out onto the road, the place we have been greeted by Sergio and Henrique, our tour leaders from High Bike Excursions Portugal.
We loaded our baggage into the van (so we wouldn’t have to hold all of it on our bicycles as we cycled) and have been then given the bicycle that we’d trip throughout the tour. After everybody was glad with the setup of their bicycles, we took off – biking west out of the town, right down to the shoreline, after which circling again to the south and east, and again into the middle of Porto.
Biking by way of Porto was in all probability one of the vital hectic elements of all the “Silver Coast Bike Tour.” There was plenty of street and foot site visitors to deal with, in addition to the occasional cobblestone avenue, however as soon as we had made our method throughout the bridge and onto the opposite facet of the Douro River, the driving turned virtually immediately extra pleasurable.
About half-way by way of our trip that day, we stopped at a small ocean-front aquarium, the place they’d on show, all kinds of fish and sea creatures from the native space. This was an effective way for us to get a way of the wildlife dwelling off the shores of Portugal, with out having to truly do any sort of deep-sea diving ourselves.
Then, towards the top of the day, we arrived within the metropolis of Marinha and pulled into the large Lodge Solverde Spa & Wellness Middle. This 5-star lodge had absolutely anything you could possibly ever need from a lodge – lovely grounds on a beachfront property, two swimming swimming pools, a spa, restaurant, mini golf and an entire lot extra.
It was no shock that the rooms contained in the lodge have been extraordinarily good. Regardless that there was loads to do on the lodge itself, I used to be drained after an extended day of biking and all I actually needed to do was lay down and take a nap. So, I woke as much as my alarm in some unspecified time in the future within the night and ran downstairs to the lodge foyer to fulfill the others in my group for our first main dinner collectively on all the bike tour
Seafood is a particularly widespread dish in Portugal, so in the event you take pleasure in fish and octopus and different delicacies from the ocean, you might be in for an actual deal with whenever you journey on the central coast of Portugal.
As a vegetarian, I discovered that just about all the eating places we ate at on this bike tour have been accommodating to my explicit wants. Whereas everybody else ate fish and meat, I ate pasta and greens on this explicit night and I used to be fairly glad by the top of the night time.
The photograph of the plate beneath provides you a normal sense of the sorts of meals a lot of the group was consuming on this explicit night. And in the event you take note of the remainder of the pictures in my overview right here, I believe you’ll have an excellent sense of what the meals is like, generally, whenever you take part in “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” with High Bike Excursions Portugal.
After dinner, we returned to our particular person lodge rooms and went straight to sleep. It had been an excellent, lengthy, fantastic day of biking in central Portugal.
Whereas the climate the day earlier than had been completely spectacular, we woke on day two of “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” with a dense fog surrounding our lodge. So, earlier than we took off on our bicycles, everybody placed on a light-weight jacket to guard themselves from the slight chill that was within the air.
Touring down a coastal bike path, we made a number of quick excursions on picket boardwalks that have been shared amongst cyclists and walkers alike. These picket boardwalk sections of the trip have been a favourite for lots of the tour individuals, together with myself!
At a number of factors alongside the best way we handed conventional picket fishing boats in numerous states of restore, earlier than getting into a dense forest of timber with a spectacularly winding bike path that made its method alongside the street all through all the area. Whereas the fog continued to observe us into the timber, this part of the bike tour was one in all my absolute favorites.
Round midday we stopped for lunch at a small restaurant and handled ourselves to a well-deserved lunch. We had soup to start out and have been then introduced with this strange-looking hen dish (pictured beneath). I heard from a number of folks within the group that they REALLY loved it.
At this level within the tour, we have been actually starting to know how our days on the street would go. We’d get up, eat our buffet breakfast, cycle for a bit, cease for lunch, cycle a bit extra, arrive at our lodge within the night, exit to dinner, after which return to the lodge within the night for a well-deserved relaxation. Over and over, this was our schedule on the tour.
Whereas we did seemingly eat an excessive amount of meals on “The Silver Coast Bike Tour,” the meals was so good that nobody within the group ever complained about it. Ha ha!
After lunch we cycled down the Reserva Pure das Dunas de São Jacinto which allowed us to pedal together with the Atlantic Ocean on our right-hand facet and the Aveiro Lagoon on our left.
As soon as we reached the top of the lengthy peninsula, we needed to wait a couple of minutes earlier than boarding the ferry boat that was going to take us throughout the lagoon and to the town of Aveiro, which is the place we’d finally spend the night time.
All of our bicycles and the High Bike Excursions Portugal assist tour van have been loaded onto the ferry after which we made the quick 15-minute trip throughout the water. As soon as we exited the ferry, it was simply one other quick bike trip into the Aveiro metropolis middle.
Aveiro is taken into account “The Venice of Portugal” due to the small canals that runs by way of the middle of the town and the small fishing boats that supply rides by way of the canals to the town’s vacationers.
Upon arriving in Aveiro, we did a fast check-in at our lodge, the Lodge Moliceiro, after which walked only a quick distance right down to the Ria de Aveiro for a ship tour.
We sat on a picket bench working down each side of our colourful fishing boat and have been then proven across the metropolis as our tour information each navigated the slender canals and spoke to us in each English and Portuguese.
My favourite a part of the tour was when the boat captain would blow on just a little plastic kazoo-type horn with a purpose to warn different boats within the space that we have been passing by way of a doubtlessly harmful a part of the canal.
After our canal tour of Aveiro was over, we returned to the Lodge Moliceiro and got some free time to do with as we happy. Some folks on the tour selected to remain of their rooms, nap or learn a ebook, whereas others walked across the metropolis, bought souvenirs and even ate a bit extra meals.
As with all the accommodations on “The Silver Coast Bike Tour,” the rooms on the Lodge Moliceiro have been massive, clear and ideally suited to our quick keep within the metropolis.
After dusk, the members of our tour group gathered within the lodge foyer after which walked a brief distance from the lodge to one of many metropolis’s close by eating places.
It was right here that we have been handled to a different spectacular seafood dinner – as you may see by the photograph beneath.
Within the morning, we woke to our alarms after which ran downstairs for a fast buffet breakfast within the lodge eating room. It appeared as if the meals on the Lodge Moliceiro was much more spectacular than on the earlier accommodations, nevertheless it was actually exhausting to say as a result of each breakfast on the tour to date had been so luxurious.
And like a lot of the meals on “The Silver Coast Bike Tour,” what I appreciated about these buffet breakfasts was that there was such all kinds of meals and drinks to selected from, I may actually make any sort of breakfast that I needed.
Sadly, the fog that had been surrounding us virtually all day lengthy on the day past had returned on the third day of biking. However by this time we realized that there was no downside with the fog. We merely layered up with a skinny jacket or a long-sleeved shirt and continued on our method. We knew that the fog would seemingly be round within the morning, however would burn off by later within the day.
After biking by way of a number of quiet cities and a college campus, we made our option to the Fabrica de Porcelana within the metropolis of Ílhavo, the place they manufacture every kind of porcelain merchandise.
Portugal is understood for its porcelain tiles, lots of which we had already seen in Porto. However right here on the museum, we have been capable of see lots of the different porcelain merchandise which are manufactured within the nation.
Porcelain is a ceramic materials made by heating clays, typically together with kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 and 1,400 °C.
On the Fabrica de Porcelana, there have been all kinds of porcelain merchandise on show, together with plates, cups, bowls and all method of collectible figurines.
My favourite porcelain merchandise on show have been these gold-plated items (beneath) that regarded as if they could belong in a set owned by the Royal household. Are you able to think about being served tea out of a chunk like that!?!
Simply outdoors the Fabrica de Porcelana was this spectacular chapel (Capela da Vista Alegre ou Capela de Nossa Sra. da Penha de França e o túmulo de Dom Manuel de Moura Manuel), which all of us took a second to cease and respect.
After our tour of the porcelain museum, we jumped again on our bicycles and made our method again to the waterfront. It was right here that we entered the tiny city of Costa Nova do Prado and have been blown away by the attraction of the haystack homes that we discovered right here.
These colourful properties painted with lengthy, vertical (and typically horizontal) stripes have been a pleasure to see, as they dotted the shoreline for a number of hundred meters and have been one thing very distinctive to this explicit a part of Portugal.
Again on our bicycles, we continued our bike tour down the coast of central Portugal. It was right here that we as soon as once more loved some spectacular surroundings as we made out method down the bike path that runs alongside the sting of the Atlantic Ocean.
In a number of sections, the concrete bike path turns right into a picket boardwalk that lifts you up and over the fragile sand dunes beneath, so you may proceed to cycle with ease as you make your method alongside the shoreline.
Biking on these picket boardwalks was one in all my favourite moments on “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” and I believe plenty of the opposite folks on the tour would agree. Simply watch out when the boardwalks get moist, as they do change into fairly slippery!
After a strong day of biking and a few really memorable ocean views, we arrived within the sleepy beachfront metropolis of Praia de Mira, Portugal and checked into the multi-storied Macarico Seashore Lodge.
This contemporary lodge going through the ocean has a rooftop pool and a phenomenal eating space. Every room has its personal personal balcony and a few of the rooms level out towards the ocean.
After a bathe, nap and stroll across the metropolis, all of us met for dinner once more within the lodge foyer after which walked a brief distance to a close-by restaurant.
At this level on the tour, we have been all starting to really feel a bit like household. We had all realized one another’s names, we knew the place everybody was from, and we understood how the general bicycle tour was being dealt with. We have been within the zone!
On this explicit night, everybody else within the group loved some sort of seafood/meat meal, whereas I loved one other scrumptious plate of pasta and veggies.
This explicit night was memorable, nonetheless, not essentially due to the primary dishes we had been served (though they have been extraordinarily good), however due to the dessert! We had the choice between cheesecake (pictured beneath) and a chocolate cake, and it doesn’t matter what you selected, you got one thing actually particular. I had the chocolate cake and ice cream… and it might have been the very best dessert I’ve ever eaten wherever on the planet. It was extraordinarily good and an effective way to finish one other day of bicycle touring in central Portugal.
Within the morning, we wakened refreshed and ran down to a different spectacular buffet breakfast within the lodge eating room.
After stuffing ourselves to satisfaction, we jumped again on our bicycles and continued biking south down the shoreline. As soon as once more, the fog was with us, so we donned our mild jackets, regardless that the temperature outdoors was actually not that chilly.
In contrast to the earlier days of biking, we encountered one thing actually distinctive on this explicit day of driving. Whereas earlier than we have been biking by way of both beachfront actual property or forested bike paths, we discovered ourselves on today biking by way of a beforehand wooded space that had not too long ago been devastated by fireplace.
Whereas biking by way of an space hit by fireplace might not sound all that pleasurable, this multi-kilometer stretch of street was one in all my favourite and most memorable sections on all the “Silver Coast Bike Tour.”
And since this part of street was nonetheless in want of some restore, it meant that there have been virtually no autos of any type on the roadway, so we have been free to cycle alongside with out worrying about vehicles passing by us at excessive velocity. It was implausible!
After our trip by way of the forest fireplace part, we hit the primary and solely main hill on “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” – a 4km climb simply north of the town of Figueira da Foz.
The climb was a problem for some, however all of us finally made it to the highest of the hill and have been virtually immediately rewarded with an exhilarating downhill trip into the town of Figueira da Foz.
Earlier than reaching the town, nonetheless, we stopped to take a photograph of the Cape Mondego lighthouse… after which stopped once more a number of moments later to take a gaggle photograph.
As soon as we reached the town of Figueira da Foz, we cycled down the coast for just a little bit after which turned inland towards the town middle. It was right here that we discovered a small vegan restaurant and have been handled to our first 100% vegan meal of all the tour! I used to be in heaven, however this fully vegetarian dish was a novel expertise for a number of of the folks on the tour.
After consuming lunch, we cycled a brief distance to the Casa do Poca, the place an fascinating assortment of Portugese and Delft tiles from the late seventeenth century are on show inside a home constructed by Bishop D. Joao de Melo as a vacation house for himself. The Bishop died earlier than the home was accomplished, nonetheless, and his nephew was the one to finally end it. There’s little in the home, nonetheless, aside from a surprising assortment of largely Delft tiles from the early 18th century. It’s unknown how the tiles arrived in Figueira da Foz, however hypothesis suggests they have been truly from a Dutch shipwreck in 1706. The tiles depict numerous scenes, landscapes, biblical, historic occasions and so on.
Then we cycled one other quick distance throughout the town to the Coliseu Figueirense, the place we realized concerning the historical past of bull combating in Portugal.
Lastly, we have been led to our lodge for the night – the Candy Atlantic Lodge & Spa. It was right here that we checked into our rooms, took a sizzling bathe, after which had some free time within the metropolis earlier than assembly for dinner as a gaggle later within the night.
The rooms on the Candy Atlantic Lodge & Spa have been the most important on all the bike tour so far. Not solely was there a large mattress with views searching over the Atlantic ocean, however every room additionally had a front room space, a eating desk and a small kitchenette. This was not your commonplace lodge room. This was like just a little studio condominium!
I took a brief nap earlier than dinner after which ran right down to the lodge foyer in time to fulfill the remainder of the group. As soon as once more, we walked to a close-by restaurant and have been handled with one other spectacular meal.
I don’t know if I’m doing an excellent job of explaining simply how good the meals was on “The Silver Coast Bike Tour,” however I hope that a few of my pictures communicate for themselves. The meals on this explicit night time was actually, actually good!
Do you see that salad (beneath)? Sure, that was my salad. I shared it with a few of the different folks within the group, as they thought it regarded good and needed a style of it as effectively. 🙂
After one other scrumptious supper and an excellent night time’s relaxation, we started the ultimate day of biking on “The Silver Coast Bike Tour.” Simply as we have been moving into the groove and actually beginning to take pleasure in ourselves, the tour was all of the sudden coming to an finish. We knew that we needed to do what we may to take pleasure in our fifth and ultimate day of biking on the tour, as this is able to be our final alternative to take in that silver solar bouncing off the water alongside the shores of the central coast of Portugal.
So as to attain the town of Coimbra (the ultimate vacation spot on our bike tour down the central coast of Portugal), we would have liked to go away the Atlantic Shoreline and cycle inward, following the Mondego River towards the town of Coimbra. About midway down the river, we climbed a brief hill that led us as much as the Fortress of Montemor-o-Velho.
The Fortress of Montemor-o-Velho is a Portuguese citadel within the civil parish of Montemor-o-Velho e Gatões. It has been listed as a nationwide monument since 1910, however it’s older than Portugal’s nationality.
The citadel is free to enter and there are many locations to soundly depart your bicycle as you discover the property on foot.
Contained in the citadel partitions is a small chapel, which is free to enter. And from the stones on the prime of the citadel partitions, you may stand and look out throughout all the area. The citadel presents some unimaginable 360 diploma views of the realm.
Again on our bicycles, we continued biking down the river, by way of a small assortment of timber that made me really feel like we have been in Australia and never Portugal, earlier than popping out the opposite facet and discovering ourselves almost smack dab within the middle of Coimbra.
With the river and the town behind us, we stopped to take one ultimate group photograph. “Everybody say cheese!”
The ultimate kilometer into the town middle introduced us down a strolling/bike path alongside the sting of the river with lovely views of the town off to our left.
We discovered an area restaurant to eat at and, for the primary time on the tour, we loved some non-traditional Portuguese meals. We went to a spot that served a novel sort of burgers. I had a veggie burger, however there have been a bunch of different meat burgers to select from as effectively.
After lunch, we walked throughout the road and made our option to Portugal dos Pequenitos, which is sort of like a theme-park that consists of mini variations of Portuguese homes and monuments, and has pavilions devoted to the previous Portuguese colonies. It is a very tough place to elucidate by way of pictures or textual content, so I extremely recommend you go there and test it out for your self.
The development of the park started in 1938. The primary part of the undertaking occurred between 1938 and 1940, which concerned the recreation of group of buildings recognized as typical Portuguese properties, chapels, mills and pillories. The second part started in the course of the century, in an space that illustrated lots of the nation’s monuments and heritage websites. On the finish of the Fifties, the third part was concluded. This part included pavilions devoted to reconstitute artifacts and symbolic buildings related to the abroad provinces on the time. Along with buildings and motifs that included representations from Portuguese Africa, Brazil, Macau, India and East Timor, the realm was circled by native flora, in addition to buildings for the Azores and Madeira.
After our go to to the Portugal dos Pequenitos, we jumped again on our bicycles and made our method by way of the crowded streets of Coimbra to our ultimate lodge, the Tivoli Coimbra.
We got some free-time after arriving in Coimbra to do no matter we happy. Some folks stayed of their room, others wandered across the lodge, whereas others took a brief stroll across the metropolis middle.
Within the night, simply as we had completed on all of the earlier nights of the tour, we gathered collectively within the lodge foyer after which walked a brief distance from the lodge to a close-by restaurant.
And like on all of the earlier nights of the tour, we have been handled with some really scrumptious delicacies.
After dinner was over, we got a particular presentation by Sergio and Henrique (our tour leaders) to mark the top of “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” and congratulate us on our accomplishment – having ridden our bicycles almost 250 km from Porto to the town of Coimbra.
Earlier than the night time got here to an finish, a few of us from the group walked into the middle of Coimbra and, there within the middle of the town, found that dancers wearing conventional costume, have been placing on a present. Music, dancing and celebrations of every kind went on for greater than an hour as onlookers sat and cheered from throughout the crowded courtyard. It was the proper option to finish our week-long bicycle touring vacation on the central coast of Portugal.
Need To Take part In This Bike Tour Your self?
You must do it! “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” with High Bike Excursions Portugal is a tremendous biking vacation that I’d whole-heartily suggest. The tour leaders at High Bike Excursions Portugal are a few of the finest in all the world… and now that I’ve had the pleasure of taking part in two totally different bike excursions with the corporate, I can truthfully say that the expertise you get whenever you select to take part in one in all their excursions is really one thing you’ll bear in mind for the remainder of your life. 10 out of 10.
To study extra about “The Silver Coast Bike Tour” or to join the tour at this time, merely go to the High Bike Excursions Portugal web site at: www.topbiketoursportugal.com