Biking the Portuguese

[Martin.P]

Hi all, I'm looking into biking the Portuguese Way first week of May. We have previously completed Via Algarvinia, Caminos Frances & La Plata by bike, plus walked the Finisterre so we have some experience on The Way.

Just starting research & you guys were such a great help on previous trips, I thought I'd throw out this first question (more to come) & see what you guys think.

Portuguese Way during first week of May. Lisbon to Santiago - which route to take & why?

All advice welcome.....thanking you in advance.
M.

 

[Crosscheck]

I rode in the fall of 2016. Definitely a great trip. We just followed the river out of Lisbon to Santarem. Followed arrows from there. We spent extra tourist days in Coimbra and Porto. After Porto we hit the coastal route then back on the regular route through Tui.

It is an easy trip and safe. Our route was a good mix of interior and coastal with good roads/trails, albergues, and cafes. We used the Brieley guide to find the albergues, otherwise completely self-guided by means of yellow arrows.

Panniers contained less than 20 pounds including necessary bike tools and supplies. I'd take even less next time.

 

[Skinnybiker]

Hi all, I'm looking into biking the Portuguese Way first week of May. We have previously completed Via Algarvinia, Caminos Frances & La Plata by bike, plus walked the Finisterre so we have some experience on The Way.

Just starting research & you guys were such a great help on previous trips, I thought I'd throw out this first question (more to come) & see what you guys think.

Portuguese Way during first week of May. Lisbon to Santiago - which route to take & why?

All advice welcome.....thanking you in advance.
M.

Enjoyed riding from Santiago to Peniche last year on the Portuguese / Fatima (started in Bilbao but that's another Camino or two). If you have ridden other Caminos then it will not be difficult for you, suggest using the Buen Camino and Komoot apps for guidance & routing. A gravel bike or hard-tail will be sufficient & can recommend the Albergue Molhino Garcia south of Porto. A link to my ride can be found here. Buen Camino.

 

[Martin.P]

I rode in the fall of 2016. Definitely a great trip. We just followed the river out of Lisbon to Santarem. Followed arrows from there. We spent extra tourist days in Coimbra and Porto. After Porto we hit the coastal route then back on the regular route through Tui.

It is an easy trip and safe. Our route was a good mix of interior and coastal with good roads/trails, albergues, and cafes. We used the Brieley guide to find the albergues, otherwise completely self-guided by means of yellow arrows.

Panniers contained less than 20 pounds including necessary bike tools and supplies. I'd take even less next time.

Thank you for that CcRider, I'm seeing a lot of boardwalks on coastal section. Can you tell me are they plentiful? Busy? What are alternatives like?
Regards,
M.

 

[Corned Beef]

I've lost my pic of the boardwalk from last October so to refresh my memory, I have picked this one off google streetmaps. You'll see that bikes are not allowed on boardwalks (sign) so you'll need to take the roads/cycle lanes that run parallel.

There is some differences of opinion (as usual) about the safety of cyclists on Portuguese roads. I found them no different from Spain / most of Europe so take the road if you feel it safe for you.

 

[Crosscheck]

Thank you for that CcRider, I'm seeing a lot of boardwalks on coastal section. Can you tell me are they plentiful? Busy? What are alternatives like?
Regards,
M.

The boardwalks are on the first day out of Porto and are not long from a cycling perspective. I recall the time on the boardwalks to be less than an hour and very sandy. It was a rainy day in September so there were not many people out.

Riding from Lisbon, this is the first day on the beach so the ride is really nice. If the boardwalk is crowded or bikes are not allowed you can ride the road. I do not recall that bikes were not allowed but also there was no one out there that day and we might not have noticed the signs.

 

[Crosscheck]

I've lost my pic of the boardwalk from last October so to refresh my memory, I have picked this one off google streetmaps. You'll see that bikes are not allowed on boardwalks (sign) so you'll need to take the roads/cycle lanes that run parallel.

There is some differences of opinion (as usual) about the safety of cyclists on Portuguese roads. I found them no different from Spain / most of Europe so take the road if you feel it safe for you.

My experience with cycling safety in Portugal is that the drivers are really aggressive towards pedestrians but kind to cyclists. I felt that the Portuguese people in general were supportive of our cycling journey and efforts.

When approaching Porto we got lost and a local cyclist put us on this wheel and pulled us towards Porto for about an hour. Riding with him taught us how to better maneuver traffic circles, merges, and the busy roads. He'd signal his intention to the drivers and we'd safely go.

In contrast to riding in the USA, I have to carefully pick and choose my routes. Unfortunately, I would never cycle tour on the open road here in the USA.

 

[Martin.P]

I've lost my pic of the boardwalk from last October so to refresh my memory, I have picked this one off google streetmaps. You'll see that bikes are not allowed on boardwalks (sign) so you'll need to take the roads/cycle lanes that run parallel.

There is some differences of opinion (as usual) about the safety of cyclists on Portuguese roads. I found them no different from Spain / most of Europe so take the road if you feel it safe for you.

Thank you Corned Beef.

 

[Martin.P]

Enjoyed riding from Santiago to Peniche last year on the Portuguese / Fatima (started in Bilbao but that's another Camino or two). If you have ridden other Caminos then it will not be difficult for you, suggest using the Buen Camino and Komoot apps for guidance & routing. A gravel bike or hard-tail will be sufficient & can recommend the Albergue Molhino Garcia south of Porto. A link to my ride can be found here. Buen Camino.

Thank you Skinnyrider, your blog has really wet my appetite!!

 

[Martin.P]

All - at a guess what percentage is Trail v's Road?

We'll have MTB hardtails so won't really matter that much, but prefer the beaten track as long as we are not overcrowding it.

 

[Martin.P]

Also, could those of you who have done Frances, La Plata or Norte compare it to Portuguese?
Same as?
Harder?
Easier - but......Weather? Wind?

I believe it's definitely flatter?

 

[Corned Beef]

How 'authentic' do you want the route to be? There is a Eurovelo route (EV1) which runs along the coast from Lisbon to the Portuguese/Spanish border. Site has downloadable files. These tend to use less road (there are pics of bikes on boardwalks ...) and nice smooth cycle lanes. These cycle lanes have been extended into the Galician section too.

Atlantic Coast Route by Bike | EuroVelo Portugal

The new extension of the EuroVelo 1 route runs along the entire Portuguese coast, from Vila Real de Santo António (south) to Caminha (north).

euroveloportugal.com

EV1 also runs along the west coast of Ireland if you want to practice.

 

[steve 217]

Portugese inland route not too difficult compared to the french way , group of 4 of us did it from Porto in 2018, 3 on mtb 1 on a road bike there were only a couple of sections he had to look for alternative routes.
Drivers generally Ok but im used to riding in the UK where cyclists are largely treated as 2nd class citizens .
Portugese people were very helpful one of the group a vegan and they would go out of there way to accomodate his needs, highly reccomend.
Only problem being getting train back from Santiago to Porto as limited number of bicycles allowed on train, meaning we had to get series of local trains threading our way back to Porto but took a while. Buen camino

 

[Crosscheck]

All - at a guess what percentage is Trail v's Road?

We'll have MTB hardtails so won't really matter that much, but prefer the beaten track as long as we are not overcrowding it.

There is a lot more road than trail, maybe 90/10. The trails do not get crowded until Tui, the alternative through Vigo might be less crowded.

 

[Skinnybiker]

Some final comments;

• the predominant wind is Northerly, 40 - 45% during May
• the coastal boardwalk / coastal path is great but may become boring after a while
• an Irish guy wrote some great stuff here specifically about riding the Norte but included some good general advice about riding Caminos
• And I meant to add that this forum is by its nature very peregrino oriented, bicigrinos receive far fewer replies, so, look up some of the bicigrino, bike touring and cycling-in-Spain websites for extra information. However ultimately the conclusion is; don't over plan and don't overpack then you won't go too far wrong.

 

[Martin.P]

Some final comments;

• the predominant wind is Northerly, 40 - 45% during May
• the coastal boardwalk / coastal path is great but may become boring after a while
• an Irish guy wrote some great stuff here specifically about riding the Norte but included some good general advice about riding Caminos
• And I meant to add that this forum is by its nature very peregrino oriented, bicigrinos receive far fewer replies, so, look up some of the bicigrino, bike touring and cycling-in-Spain websites for extra information. However ultimately the conclusion is; don't over plan and don't overpack then you won't go too far wrong.

Thank you SkinnyBiker

 

[Martin.P]

There is a lot more road than trail, maybe 90/10. The trails do not get crowded until Tui, the alternative through Vigo might be less crowded.

Hi CcRider, this disappoints me - 90% Road? When you say Road - u mean tarmac? Or do you class the wide gravel trails I've cylced in Spain thru farmland as Roads?

 

[Martin.P]

Portugese inland route not too difficult compared to the french way , group of 4 of us did it from Porto in 2018, 3 on mtb 1 on a road bike there were only a couple of sections he had to look for alternative routes.
Drivers generally Ok but im used to riding in the UK where cyclists are largely treated as 2nd class citizens .
Portugese people were very helpful one of the group a vegan and they would go out of there way to accomodate his needs, highly reccomend.
Only problem being getting train back from Santiago to Porto as limited number of bicycles allowed on train, meaning we had to get series of local trains threading our way back to Porto but took a while. Buen camino

Thank you Steve, I'm definitely going to have to do more research regarding Road v's Trail though, if you say a Road bike can make most sections it doesn't sound like my kind of trip, I want to follow the beaten track.

 

[Crosscheck]

Hi CcRider, this disappoints me - 90% Road? When you say Road - u mean tarmac? Or do you class the wide gravel trails I've cylced in Spain thru farmland as Roads?

Our ride was mostly on the road alongside cars, especially south of Porto. We rode dirt roads and cobbles as well, rode a very short section original roman cobbles too. Best estimate of 90% may have been 70% but by and large we were rolling fast and smooth on black top.

Wide gravel or double track sections not to be confused with road. Also, we would opt to ride the road alternative to the hiking trail when the option existed.

 

[Slowninja]

I just completed the section between Lisbon and Tomar using the Breirly guide and would suggest there are some sections that are very challenging for a bike. Even the road sections are difficult with busy traffic, peleginos one side and bikes the other with barely any margin at the side of the road. Some typical conditions attached . some more detail on blog Here . Just to say there are some beautiful stretches