LISBON - COSTA DA CAPARICA - BELEM - CARCAVELOS - CASCAIS - GUINCHO - PARQUE NATUREL DE SINTRA-CASCAIS - SINTRA - ERICEIRA - SÃO PEDO DE CADEIRA - SANTA CRUZ - LOURINHA - PENICHE - OBIDOS - FOZ DO ARELHO - NAZARÉ - SÃO PEDO DE MOEL - FIGUEIRA DA FOZ
This summer Alexis and I decided to do a little cycle tour up the atlantic coast of Portugal. Our route was based on EuroVelo 1 but with a few destinations changed around based on accommodation availability and a couple of other towns we wanted to see. This was our first "touring" type of cycle trip so we didn't plan to do a whole lot of distance each day considering:
1. We have never cycled long distances with all of our luggage and heavier hybrid bikes before.
2. It's going to be HOT.
3. We will probably get lost a few times...
This is what our route looked like...
Total distance = ~300km.
Total ascent = ~2745m
Total times we went the wrong way.... let me get back to you on that one.
If you are thinking about doing a touring type cycle holiday I would definitely recommend it. It was so much fun and we got to see so much more of Portugal than we would have if we had just taken trains. When I say MORE, I don't mean we covered more distance and visited more cities. I mean that we got to cycle through or passed lots of traditional towns/villages, forests, orchards, national parks, hidden beaches, and meet some lovely local people. I think it was the little things like this that really made the trip so amazing!
Something we noticed when we were cycling through the smaller places was that even when somewhere seemed so quiet and like not much was going on, there are always lots of little family run Pastelarias around. These types of places were the best to eat in as they are always amazing value. A whole meal would only cost 3 euros (rather than over 10 euros in the more touristy places) and this would often include juice, coffee AND a cake too... whaat?!) I think often people think that by trying to save money when you are on holiday means that you will be missing out. Maybe that is the case for some people depending on what you like to do, but for us it meant we got to experience more of the real Portuguese culture other than just typical touristy things.
Ok, so before I end up just rambling on about random different parts of our trip I thought I would put in a little TOP TIPS list about useful things we learned/wished we thought about/found useful throughout our cycling trip. Then I'll talk about each section of our route in a bit more detail (if you last that long). So heres the top tips...
If I had to choose one tip that we found to be the most important/useful, I think it would be to UPDATE YOUR MAP. Although most of our trip was fairly easy enough to navigate, there were still quite a lot of times when having a map was really useful.
Most places were fairly well sign-posted but not necessarily for the best routes for cyclists. If you are just following the road signs for your destination, then it often just gives you the fastest option for cars: taking the motorway. So make sure you know the name of the road you want to stick to so you don't end up on a road you shouldn't be on or make a massive detour.
If you keep reading on (well done for making it this far!), then you'll see how these top tips were/would have been really useful throughout our trip.
DAY ONE
Lisbon to Sintra
(Distance: 61km, Elevation: 716m )
We started our trip in Lisbon, renting our bikes from Bike Iberia in the centre of Lisbon. For 2 bikes for 1 week (including waterproof 40L panniers, tool kit, helmets, water bottles and bike pick up from our final destination), this cost us 450 euros.
Introducing top tip "RENT OUTSIDE THE CITY." Although the service we received from Bike Iberia was great; the people were really nice, they organised all of the things we needed for our trip and everything was ready for us to go when we arrived at the shop in the morning; the price was maybe a bit steep. We realised this when we cycled past a few other bike rental shops over the next few days which were over half the price. If money isn't an issue for you then i'd definitely recommend this service, but if you want to save money then i'd recommend renting bikes from somewhere outside of the main city. However, I don't know whether all other companies would offer the same pick up service, so that would be something to check.
We found the initial cycle from Lisbon and through Belem to be quite slow as you follow a cycle path that runs along beside the coast where it is very touristy. Having a bell on our bikes proved to be rather useful. Even though there are marked out lanes for cyclists and walkers, people don't really stick to it. It was in this initial part that I learned my lesson about the importance of top tip "BALANCE YOUR WEIGHT". Pretty early on in starting our cycle trip (literally about 3km in) I fell off my bike when attempting to mount a small kerb to follow the cycle path. I didn't really think about the impact of carrying extra weight at the back of your bike so I took the kerb at too much of an angle rather than head on, which imbalanced my bike and flung me off to the side. Luckily I wasn't moving very fast at all so I didn't fall off with too much force. I still hurt my shoulder a little and it was a bit stiff for a few days, but nothing too bad.
Although getting out of the main city of Lisbon was really slow, there are lots of nice historical sights to see along this initial part, so going super slow is nice to take in all the sights. Once we had passed Belem, it was much quicker and we continued along the cycle path to Algés. We then got to a road that seemed to just end as it looks like you aren't supposed to cycle on it as there are bollard things blocking off the route. There were no obvious signs that indicate that it is for or cyclists. Luckily two other cyclists went passed and joined that route so we just followed on. This path took us along towards a beach called "Praia de Carcavelos", where we stopped to have some lunch. Although this was only 15km into our ride, as I said, it takes a long time to get out of the city and passed all of the tourists. Also, making a few wrong turns adds a bit of time on too. When you are on the cycle path that you join at Algés, you arrive at a bridge that takes you off the cycle path, which rejoins the path just round a corner underneath another bridge. However, this is not very obvious and we ended up cycling up a road the wrong. It wasn't until the road went round a bend and we looked down and could see the cycle path we wanted to be on that we realised we were going the wrong way. So we cycled back the way we came and asked (top tip 'LEARN THE LINGO") two other Portuguese cyclists how to get onto the cycle path towards Carcavelos. They pointed us towards the little bridge, and we were back on our way.
After Carcavelos, there isn't really a cycle path anymore so you have to join a busier road (N6), which you follow until you arrive at Cascais. Although the road conditions were really good, this road is really quite busy so if you are someone who really doesn't like cycling on busier roads and you are thinking of doing this trip then I would recommend getting the train from Lisbon to Cascais and starting your trip from there. You can also cycle along on the pavement, but it is cobbled and rather bumpy.
Once you arrive in Cascais you join a road called the N247 (this road will become your best friend because it is the road that you stick to for a large part of your trip. This road follows the coast, is much quieter and has good cycle lanes you can ride on taking you towards "Praia do Guincho". Prepare for the wind on this section!! Having sunglasses/cycling glasses is a lifesaver from preventing sand blowing into your eyes. Apparently this area is regularly reaaaaally windy because when we arrived at our hostel in Sintra the owner was like "oooooh ya ya ya very windy in Guincho oooh wowow", and the sand hits you pretty hard too. After Guincho you enter the Cascais-Sintra National Park, and this is where we changed the route a bit from what it says on the EuroVelo website as we wanted to visit Sintra. There are three options to get to Sintra after Guincho. Either you can stay on the coastal route on the N247, you cycle through the centre or you take the N9-1 around the right of the national park. We went for option 2, through the centre although initially we stayed on the N247, but it was just too windy to keep going this way and we had to turn back. I actually got pretty much blown right off my bike as I turned round a corner so the wind pretty much decided the route option we were going to take.
To enter the national park the centre of the national park you go up a reaaaaally steep cobbled street and then it is a fair climb for the next 15-20km or so and then undulating until the you arrive at the Castle at Sintra. Once you are aaaalmost in Sintra you will see a sign directing you to Sintra (via the castle up another steeper cobbled path which you can't turn back on so if you take this route you must commit to the bumpy climb) or you can stay on the road you are on and avoid this fairly short but brutally bumpy steep climb. Although despite not particularly enjoying grinding up the bumpy path at the end of a rather tough day of cycling, the tuktuk driver guys made it worth it and somewhat comical. "Sorry you can't turn back, it's dangerous to go back you must go up. Up THERE.. but don't worry it's only a mile of suffering and i'll probably pass you on the way up. Good luck..." Right enough, the tuktuk guy did catch up to us, but not till the top so he gave us a cheer! From the castle it was a well deserved roll down to our hostel through the old town of Sintra.
The hostel we stayed at was called
Casa Azul (The Blue House) and was run by such a lovely and enthusiastic man who must speak at least 5 languages and has a little chuckle to himself at the end of each sentence. Great wee man! If anything go and stay at this hostel to meet him, so funny. He also makes a great coffee and continental breakfast. The hostel is a really good location, just outside the centre of the old town of Sintra (10-15minute walk), there are market stalls and grocery shop just outside and it is nice and quiet to get a good nights sleep. Also, we had the view of the art museum from our window! Pretty cool! We went to eat dinner in the Old Town and I had a bean stew at a restaurant that the waiter thought he was a wee comedian. When he was serving our food he was like "sardines? yes you ordered the sardines! Here are your sardines... hehehehehe". And then a German family across from us ordered soup that comes in a MASSIVE bread bowl and the waiter is like "do you need any more bread for the table?" The family were like "excuse me?" Clearly not getting the joke and the waiter just walks away laughing haha.
DAY TWO
Sintra to São Pedro de Cadeira
(Distance: 40km, Elevation: 421m )
Our second day was much easier than the first and much more straight forward to navigate. All we had to do was stick on the N247 the whole way to our next stop in Sâo Pedro de Cadeira. The route was pretty undulating but no really long climbing like the previous day. A few short climbs until you get to Ericeria and then its pretty easy from then.
This route involved my favourite lunch stop of the whole trip in a place called "Green is Good" in Ericeira. It was DELICIOUS.. I would honestly go back to Portugal to go to this place. And it was pretty good value for money (25 euro total) considering everything we got. We ordered the Brunch 2pax (2 x coffee, 2 x freshly made juices, pancakes, roasted veggies, salad, 4 x dips (Peanut butter, hummus, guac, honey), breads, yogurt topped with granola & fruit, scrambled egg and couscous.) Yummy yummy ! One day I will create my very own platter just like this.
The last few kms before our hostel was a nice roll down into the town of Sâo Pedro de Cadeira. We were enjoying the roll downhill so much we almost missed our hotel on the left as it appeared sooner than we were expecting. It was really quiet there, the kind of place that Portuguese people would go on their holidays. It was not a typical touristy place at all. Although surprisingly still lots of restaurants dotted around.
When we arrived at the Hotel we checked in and put all of our luggage into our room then cycled to the nearest beach. Cycling without all of your luggage is so much easier haha! To cycle to the beach we took an off road sandy track through some vineyards. It was very pretty, although I was surprised we didn't see any lizards or snakes jumping out at us. Glad we didn't have all of our luggage as cycling through sand is rather difficult haha. When we arrived at the beach it was a pretty amazing sight as you arrive at the top of MASSIVE cliffs where you then walk down a big steep hill to the beach. The beach was quiet, just with some local Portuguese people enjoying the sunshine. You couldn't really swim there though as the waves were massive and there were big spiky rocks everywhere. Very very pretty though!
BEACH VIEWS.
WALK DOWN TO THE BEACH.
AN UNEXPECTEDLY AMAZING MEAL AND SUPER BUSY HOTEL RESTAURANT.
ON THE WAY TO THE BEACH.
DAY THREE
São Pedro de Cadeira to Peniche
(Distance: 45km, Elevation: 483m )
This was another fairly hilly cycle as the route drops down closer towards the coast and then up and away from the coast a few times. I also added in a little extra steep climb by accident too hehe... This is when we realised that following a "walking route" tried to take us on an off-road dirt track through the cliffs. So yeah... UPDATE YOUR MAP FOR CYCLE ROUTES. Despite my little navigation mistake it was pretty easy to navigate as it was just following the N247 through Ribamar and Lourinha towards Peniche until you see signs for "Geraldes." Then you cycle towards Consolação and you follow the road nearest the coast from there.
The climb towards from Ribamar to Lourinhã was quite tough and it was very hot. We stopped at Lourinhã for lunch at a cute little pastelaria... only 3.50€ for soup, sandwich and a drink.. bargain! Was also quite a fun atmosphere there too with a bunch of local men who all apparently fancied the waitress. One of them kept shouting "I love youuuuuuu" to her as she waked away haha.
LUNCH STOP... GREAT PRICES.
The cycle from Lourinhã was pretty alright. Just a steady climb towards Peniche, but nothing too steep. We even picked up a tour guide called Pedro who spoke very good French, so Alexis cycled with until we arrived in Peniche. His holiday home turned out to be just round the corner from where our hostel is... such a coincidence! He also showed us some nice beaches on our way to Peniche. The beach nearest our hostel was called "Praia Consolação." It was huuuuuge and had amazing waves, you can see many people come here to surf. I couldn't get Alexis to come back out of the sea, he was having too much fun jumping on top of all of those waves haha.
The hostel we stayed at was called Next Level Surf Camp. The location was amazing because it was right across from the beach. You just walk outside and then you are basically there. The hostel was also really cheap too, although the breakfast wasn't great as it was just a few bread rolls, cheese, ham and some packets of croissants. If you are staying there though the people at the hostel take you to the supermarket so you can buy whatever you need and there is a massive kitchen you can store your food. Other than a little mini mercado, there aren't food shops nearby the hostel so that is why the owners arrange trips to the bigger supermarket. Surprisingly too, there are not really any restaurants or cafes there either. There was one really good Pastelaria that everyone in the whole town goes to, huuuge queues. Although I can see why, its sooo cheap and the bread & cakes are really good. We had some coffees and mini cookies there and it was like 2 euro altogether. (I have probably said coffee and cake is so cheap so many times, but you wouldn't even get just one coffee for that price in Glasgow!) We had dinner in one of the only restaurants there (one veggie and one carne lasagne).
COOL WALL DECORATIONS AT THE HOSTEL.
The next morning Alexis wanted to go back to the beach so that he could play in the waves again (such a kid haha). I persuaded him to come for a morning run with me and then I would come to the beach too for the waves and some yoga. Pretty nice way to spend a morning.
DAY FOUR
Peniche to Foz do Arelho (via Obidos)
(Distance: 41km, Elevation: 410m )
We mixed up the route again a bit with this one as we wanted to visit Obidos. I really loved this route as it was a bit different from the other days as we went more inland. Although this meant is was really hot as we didn't get any breeze from the coast.
PENICHE to OBIDOS.
From Peniche you want to get onto the N114. The first few kilometers are on quite a busy road but once you get onto the N114 it is much quieter. You then follow this route until you get to A-da-Gorda, where you will join the N8, which will take you to Obidos. There is a supermarket just before you enter Obidos if you want to stop for food/drinks to save money from buying in Obidos. There is usually a medieval festival on in Obidos during the summer but it stops early August so we just missed it. If you are there during July/early August then I definitely recommend the festival. I went when I was a kid and it was so much sun.
We stopped in Obidos for lunch at a nice little restaurant down one of the quieter streets in Obidos. There was tons of massive oranges everywhere in Obidos and we had a big basket of them on our table. Whether they were just for decoration I don't know.. we pinched 3 or 4 anyways and the waiter didn't say anything so I'm guessing they were up for grabs haha.
OBIDOS TO FOZ DO ARELHO
To get out of Obidos you take the N8 and then you want to take a left turn to follow the M575. Following the M575 was so pretty as you cycle past so many vineyards and orchards filled with grapes, pears and apples. It was so pretty! It was also really quiet too, so makes a nice peaceful cycle. You follow this route towards Arelho where you go a bit off-road through a foresty bit (if you have hybrids/mountain bikes.. maybe road bikes would be fine too as it wasn't too bumpy, just kinda gravelly). When we were cycling through this off road part there were a few farmers that slowed down as they came towards us and we thought they might be coming to tell us it was private land and we weren't able to cycle there but they just smiled and waved at us and made space for us to go past.
Once you get out of the foresty/off-road section there are quite a few turns to take until you join more of a main road called Av. Atlantica. This road pretty big and has a really good wide and smooth cycle lane at the side. The path was also for runners too I think because there were big boards every 500m with suggestions of exercises you could do like squats, lunges, press ups....
Not long after we were on that road we arrived at our hostel called Hostel4. This hostel was reeally cool and had a kind of hippie vibe going on. Really really good place to just chill out and relax after a day of cycling. The hostel was all made out of wood and there were hammocks, outdoor barbeque/fire/bonfire area, upstairs chill out lounge with musical instruments to play... pretty cool place. The girl who owned the hostel was so nice too and she even made us homemade freshly squeezed juice in the morning. There was lots of nice things to choose for breakfast too: almond milk (first place that had that), cereals, rolls, exotic fruits and ham/cheeses. It had such a lovely cosy/home type feel to it, ashame we only could stay one night.
There was also a beach just a 10 or so minute walk away that had a big stretch of water that comes inwards (thats what the word "Foz" means; mouth of the river). The water in the Foz is more still, non flowy water that is nice to swim in, although still quite a strong current in the middl. Then there is the big wavy bit for surfing further out where the water starts coming in. Pretty cool place, I really liked it. I think it would be a good place to stay for a longer time because there are lots of different cycling routes you can go on from there. You can see what I mean by the water that comes in a bit in the photo below.
BEACH AT FOZ DO ARELHO.
DAY FIVE
Foz do Arelho to São Pedro de Moel
(Distance: 51km, Elevation: 465m )
I think out of all the rides, this day was the easiest one to navigate as you stay on the Rua Atlantica the whole time and there is a good cycle path that you can stay on the whole time too. The start is a fairly long but gradual climb. Was quite sad at the start, we found a little bird in the middle of the road that must have hurt it’s wing or something because it couldn’t fly off of the road so Alexis picked it up and tried to feed it some water and crumbled oat biscuit. I hope little birdy is ok :-(
Poor Alexis was tired that day with the heat and the climbing. He survived though woo woo! We stopped in a place called Nazaré (Pedro, our little tour guide to Peniche told us Nazare was really cool.. he was right). Nazaré was really impressive, massive cliffs surrounded it and there was a big stretch of white sandy beach in between. We stopped at one of the little beach bars I had a roll that had little crisp things in it with Pork, was pretty good. Alexis had Bitoque.. standard haha. Then I had coffeeeee. I think the coffee gave me lots of energy because I felt like I went flying up the hills after (well as flying as you can go when touring with all your luggage haha). Here are some pictures of Nazaré...
After Nazaré you continue along the route called Estrada Oceanica (its funny because it is basically the same route but the first word before Oceanica changes). This route took us though a forest with millions of trees that all looked like they had been burnt or something recently. It was pretty cool though, and we even cycled past a lake there too that had a big campsite next to it. We then arrived at our Hotel called "Hotel Verde Pinho". This place was a bit more expensive than the other places we stayed in, but that is because it is more of a proper hotel. There was hammocks, a play area and chairs etc.
to sit in outside the front door. Inside there was a big bar with lots of places to sit and also a piano that you can play too.
The Euro Velo route suggests to stay in Praia da Vieira but we couldn't find anywhere available nearby so we stayed in São Pedro de Moel. It was a really nice and pretty place, just 10km or so before Praia da Vieira. Massive waves at the beach too.. I actually got knocked right over by one of the waves which sent me rolling over quite a few spiky rocks that cut my leg :( but wasn't too bad. Just unexpected. The waves were worth it though.
After the waves we went to a nice chilled out restaurant next to the beach and I had a traditional Portuguese type dish.. a chicken/olive stew thing. It was pretty good! We went to a Restaurant near the back and I had a chicken/olive stew thing and Alexis had pizza.
The breakfast was good at the hotel, a big continental breakfast with lots to choose. A bit like the hotel we were in a few nights ago as they also had cake for breakfast. Something I could never eat at breakfast I think. We managed to get some fruits and rolls to have later for lunch hehe sneaky.
BEACH VIEWS AT SÃO PEDRO DE MOEL.
BEACH VIEWS 2.
DAY SIX
São Pedo de Moel to Figueira da Foz
(Distance: 65km, Elevation: 250m )
This route for the first 40km was following the same "Estrada Oceanica" route that took us into São Pedro de Moel the previous day. This route was maybe one of the easiest days because it was just following the cycle path, although maybe not the most interesting compared to the other days. We were able to cycle next to each other though because the path is wide enough for both of us, so the cycle went by so quickly as we were just chatting away. The route just goes through a forest and continues for ages. I was surprised when we passed a lake that had a campsite in it, wasn't expecting that in the middle of a forest, but then it must be quite a popular place for people to go on holidays. We stopped at a little beach bar/hawaiian themed place in Pedrógão where I had the BEST tuna toastie eveeeer (tostas). It was huuuge though, but only 4€. Since coming back from Portugal I have become somewhat of a Tuna Toastie connoisseur. It was funny because Alexis was like "oh its funny how when you are on holiday you don't really feel like eating as much because of the heat". Then the waitress comes over and he orders the biggest burger on the menu haha! Ehh... what was it you were saying about not eating as much?
We then continued along the Estrada Oceanica for a bit longer, but then for the last 20km or so you end up on a much busier road that had quite a lot of trucks flying past. It was alright because you have quite a big space at the side of the road to cycle on so the traffic doesn't pass too close to you. I didn't enjoy this part so much because it wasn't very interesting as there wasn't as much to see like the other days. I got quite tired on this ride actually. I was fine all of the other days, but I think because this one wasn't as interesting as you are on a long straight road for quite a while and it was really hot I just got a bit mentally tired. We managed to
stop in Marinha das Ondas for a wee callipo... felt better after that haha. We always seem to stop where there are a funny little group of Portuguese men having a wine with their friends. These men all had caps on.. maybe they were the cap club. One of them was leaving when we were still there as somebody had come to pick him up and as he was staggering towards the car he turned round to us and said to us in French "I'll try and not fall and break my face haha". It was quite surprising the amount of Portuguese people that were able to speak pretty good french. There was loooads of French tourists there too.
Just as we had almost arrived where we wanted to be in Figueria da Foz there is a massive bridge that you have to go over. TIP: When you cross over the bridge, try and cross over towards Figueira da Foz on the left side of the bridge because then it is much easier to get off of the bridge I think haha. I told Alexis that we would want to come off the bridge as soon as we can once we go over (we went over on the right side) or else we would end up on the motorway. Alexis quite likes to just zoom off in these situations and not really think "oh, I might be going the wrong way".. no the most observant boy in these situations haha. So I saw steps that allowed us to exit the bridge path and get up where we would want to be, but Alexis had just continued past the steps and zoomed off through the trees... whyyyyyy? So I had to shout as loud as I could "ALEXIIIIIIIIIIIS STOPPPPPPP!!!!!" Thankfully he heard me and came back and we had to get our bikes down the stairs.
Not long after this we arrived at our hostel "The Paintshop Hostel". The hostel was really cool! There was a massive open space with sofas and tv with lots of dvds you could watch and if you were going to watch one then they give you free popcorn! Then there are lots of tables to have food and socialise and a big kitchen you could cook. After we checked in we went for a walk to the beach which was only 15 minutes away. It was weird though because when we arrived at the beach there was this fog that came down and you couldn't really see anything and all of the lifeguards were blowing their whistles to get everyone out of the water because it wasn't safe to be in there anymore. It was quite cold too when the fog came down so we just went to a little cafe next to the beach for some coffee and cake. If you are from the UK then you will know that for £2.50 you would be lucky just to get a decent coffee. Well Portugal have got it right, 2.50€ for 2 coffees AND 2 cakes, and they were decent sized cakes too. I think the most we ever spent on a coffee was 1 euro and that was in a main square in Lisbon.
The fog was still forecast to be there for the next few days at Figueira da Foz and we were supposed to be staying there for our last 5 days. A lady in the bike shop there said that this fog usually happens around this time each year and that is like the sign that summer is coming to an end. She did say that it brightens up more over the latter part of the day but we were looking forward to enjoying our last few days in the sunshine. So, we decided to take the train back to Lisbon early and we stayed in Costa da Caparica for our last few nights.
We stayed at a hostel called "Kali Vice Surf Villa" that was run by two brothers. It was a really good location for the beach and just what we needed for our last few days in Portugal!
If you have gotten this far thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed the read! If you are thinking about trying our this cycle route then please ask any questions and hopefully I can answer them. I really recommend it, or even just renting bikes from one of the locations we visited and cycling to different places from there. That area of Portugal is so beautiful, great for cycling, lovely people and amazing weather!
Reenie x