Portugal

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.

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 offers super routes for biking - coastal, plus quiet inland ag areas and small villages. The roads are not busy and there were bike paths too. Our equipment more than met my expectations - comfortable, reliable, always plenty of charge. Our tour was mid-Sept with perfect weather. The GPS riding app took all the worry out of our self-guided tour. The points of interest were very helpful. All in all, I'd love to do more rides with VBT!

The support crew was helpful and attentive. The bikes were great. The route had very lite traffic. It was very well thought out.

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!

The guides and the boat and staff were great. However, the trip did not meet the usual VBT expectations. The trip itinerary lists a warm up ride in Porto. This does not exist. The "warm up" and bike fitting are in a small parking lot the next day where there is no space to adequately test the bike. So you're immediately out on a road with no shoulder in heavy traffic for 16 miles along the river. No doubt there are some nice views, but when you're only concerned about safety and figuring out the bike, there is no time for scenery. The next couple days riding were moderately uninteresting scenery. The best ride was the Rails to Trails - Safe, beautiful, interesting. We were looking forward to the final ride to the Atlantic Coast but got rained out. Because of being on the boat there are daily transfers by bus of up to an hour each way to get to the biking areas and back to the boat. Too much time on a bus!! While it was nice to only unpack once, the trade off of charming hotels and villages with our bikes on the property was not worth it.

We really enjoyed this trip and would recommend it. The routes were scenic; the bikes excellent; the food very good; the leaders outstanding; the other experiences (tours, wine tasting, etc.) were fun and informative; the hotels at the beginning and end were very nice. We would suggest using the e-bikes as the terrain is hilly.

It was the inaugural edition of the tour but it ran like they had been doing it for years - well planned and well run. Paradors and meals were excellent. Our guides, Diego and Pol, were the best. Great guides and just fun to be around.

Manuel and Alberto were both excellent guides - good communicators, they kept us all on track. overall it was a good balance of walking and cultural activities. we covered a lot of ground which meant many hours in the bus - would have preferred a little more 'walking'. One the other hand the cultural activities were a highlight.

One of the best, if not the best, organized tours, all due to our two tour guides, Helen and Rita.

This was our first tour with Country Walkers. From the 1st morning where we meet our amazing guides, Helene and Ana, we knew we were in good hands! Both ladies were so knowledgeable of each area we visited. As this was also our 1st trip to Portugal, we learned a lot about the beautiful area we traveled through each day. Our accommodations were so comfortable and we really felt welcomed by each host making us feel right at home! Of course, each meal was very Portuguese flavored and so delicious. We look forward to another Country Walker’s Tour and would highly recommend the tours to anyone who loves walking through Nature!