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.

The trip was a perfect way to visit southern Portugal. The guides were awesome, always there to lend a hand or offer guidance. The bikes were outstanding - brand new fleet. The routes were interesting and scenic with little traffic. The food and wine were great. And above all the opportunity to spend time with old friends and to meet new friends was rewarding. Thanks

We've done several European biking trips......a couple with VBT. I would give a 5 star rating to VBT administratively, the bikes, the initial meet and greet, the towns we ended up in, and the lodging. However, I was a little disappointed in the actual bike route of this trip. A few legs of the trip were repeated, some on very rough roads, and some a bit monotonous. Also, since it was self-guided, it would have been nice to have a bit more historical facts and information with the GPS. Directions were very easy to follow, but would have liked more info. All this being said, we still think VBT puts great packages together!

It is such a beautiful country with some of the nicest people I have ever met.

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!

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!

Excellent support of Manuel/ David. Timo was a hoot. Only one day was over planned. Recommend separate events ( hieroglyphics visit)

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.

The Country Walkers Landscapes from the Camino de Santiago trip was outstanding. Country Walker guides Diego Del Barrio and Pol Roig Iniesta were extremely knowledgeable, organized, and capable leaders. On scale of 1 to 10, I rate both guides a 10. The various hikes and village tours were very interesting and completed as scheduled. The hotel or parador accommodations were all outstanding. Food was plentiful and exceptionally good.

This is a wonderful trip with wonderful guides! It gives you a taste of what it would be like to walk one of the Caminos in its' entirety - I hope to go back and do that one day!

I had a wonderful time and found the trip to be be terrific. The guides, Helene and Anna, were wonderful - knowledgeable, kind, thoughtful, encouraging, and possessing great senses of humor. The trip had a good variety of activities. I liked the accommodations - they were all so different - and the food provided. I wish there had been more meals included although the guides did a great job making suggestions. Some people on the trip wished for longer hikes. I see their point although these were right for me, given the hills.

As has been true with every one of our previous Country Walkers trips, we were so impressed with the skills and knowledge of our guides, Ana and Luis. They made the daily experiences stress free and so much fun. We learned a lot. We enjoyed the interactions with the others on the tour. The teaching from local people was great. I was so impressed that you were able to keep Marialva on the tour despite the big fire two months ago. We included both the pre and post trip extensions in Porto and Lisbon. We enjoyed exploring Porto and scheduled two port wine tastings. In Lisbon, we explored restaurants, museums, and churches. We had an extra day in Lisbon when our flight home was cancelled. (We were glad that we had purchased travel insurance). We got to visit a couple more places and walked around some different neighborhoods. Despite being in November, we had decent weather. The only really rainy morning was while we were on the boat on the Douro river. The rain stopped by the time we got off. I have a few suggestions for improvements: 1) The tour of the olive oil facility was the only disappointment of the week. I wish that there had been more time spent to discuss old and current methods of making olive oil. A short video with still pictures and some vignettes demonstrating olive harvesting would have been a big improvement. 2) Keep the nature preserve walk at Marialva. It was great, as was the knowledgable leader. Getting to know a bit more about "rewilding" and something about wildlife was great. 3) I suggest that the evening meal at Marialva be included in the tour. There weren't many choices for where to eat. Or include a driver and vehicle to a near-by town with some suggestions.