Portugal

As with all our VBT experiences Portugal did not disappoint. The trips are planned well from the time you take off from home until you land back at home. The transfers, the accommodations, and the in between are well thought out and planned. Any necessary changes are planned for. Portugal is tourist friendly, they are ahead of the curve with the pandemic, follow the rules. It is tough to find a bad meal, the weather was great; there is a lot of history. The cycling was easily doable for all who cycle 25 miles with some wind or hills. If you take only a few trips, make this one.

Portugal was our 11th VBT trip and 12th biking trip. It was the best or at least equal to our other great trips. The guides were the best ever and the hotels , especially the Farm House, were excellent. The biking was challenging at times but very good overall. We highly recommend the trip and very much want to return to Portugal. Great food, great wine and a beautiful country. We felt very safe on the roads and highways as Portugal drivers are very courteous to bikers. Absolutely nothing to complain about and as with all VBT trips, a great value.

All was good on this self-guided trip except for a couple of small things: the air pump provided was a bit inadequate — but the rides were lovely, and hotels were very good. A bit hilly for the hybrid bike I had— a road bike or e-bike would have been better for me! Beautiful coastline!

We loved our self-guided coastal ride - spectacular vistas, nicest people, beautiful towns and liked being on our own time table. Accommodations were okay - small clean rooms and always helpful staff. Fuji E-bikes nimble, but I had to ask for a rear-view mirror and rode 2 days without one while waiting. Too dangerous to ride without, especially on roads and streets and couldn't track my husband behind me. All breakfasts were excellent, but dinner at Alcobaca hotel was inedible. Could have used more GPS orientation before starting. VBT staff helpful too.

We thoroughly enjoyed our first VBT experience. The tour route was very well laid out and we cannot not say enough about how impressive our tour leaders, David and Frederico, both of whom are natives of Portugal. Kudos to VBT for the way they planned and conducted our tour!

We loved this trip! Beautiful and varied biking routes; knowledgeable, competent and engaging guides, top-notch hotels, delicious food and interesting cultural activities. I wish I could do it all over again!

This trip is a great way to see Portugal. Pre-extension in Lisbon, Emerald cruise in the Douro River valley, and post-extension in Porto. Great food, service and extremely well thought out bike routes. 14 of 16 of us used e-bikes, and unless you are a serious rider, I recommend the e-bikes. It is a river valley, so you are either climbing out of it, or coasting back in. The surrounding area is hilly. The small towns that you visit along the way are beautiful and historical. The folks are very gracious. The ship is delightful - 104 passengers, and a crew of 37. Two outstanding leaders wrangle all the bikes, and act as hosts on all the side tours at lunch, and pedaling days end. Can't say enough about how well we were taken of. All in all, a wonderful week!

Wonderful trip! Biking along the Douro and surrounding areas was amazing. We were able to go to some remote places and really experience the area without a lot of tourists around. The meals we had in the small towns were top notch! We had wonderful tours as well. Matyas and David were excellent guides. Riding an ebike on this tour enabled me to enjoy the multiple steep hills.

Our tour of Northern Spain was a combination of seeing some of the beautiful landscapes of northern Spain, a flavor of what the Camino de Santiago is like and a wonderful history and cultural experience of this region of the world. Our guides were phenomenal. They took care of every detail of the tour, and made sure we got as many experiences as possible throughout the tour. They managed our safety while still giving us the freedom to explore on our own.

Wonderful tour of Northern Spain. The best way to appreciate the scenery is walking. This trip as compared to others gave us plenty of options which we liked. The hotels and food were superb. The guides have always been great but Alberto and Pol went above and beyond expectations, trying to please us.

We had the most wonderful time in Portugal. Our guides, Anna and David, were delightful and made our trip so enjoyable. They went over and beyond to make sure each one of us in our group was comfortable and had everything we needed. We loved the diversity of the tour in that we went to a lot of smaller towns we would never have known about. The accommodations were great especially the hotel in Lisbon. We will definitely be booking with Country Walkers again.

The sights were beautiful. The tour was very well organized with well thought out stops for snacks and bathroom breaks. Our tour guide, Helen and Luis, were both wonderful. They were very knowledgeable about the history, culture, plants and all the surroundings. I would love to travel with them again.