Portugal

This was our first VBT vacation. We were very impressed with the planning, accommodations, and route. It was a wonderful experience to bike along country roads with guides who knew the area. The hotels were lovely and the meals were delicious. Everything was top-notch.

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.

We have done 4 VBT cycling trips before we decided to do this self-guided trip as we wanted to spend some time in the part of Portugal - the Silver Coast. All of the hotels, places we stayed and the cycling was wonderful. Despite this, and being a self-guided trip VBT has plenty of room to step up and make improvements. Most guests noticed within the first couple of days that the tire pressures were low and the little hand pumps VBT supplies are completely inadequate. Our VBT support people finally provided a proper foot pump at the end of the trip but the foot pump is something that should be provided and move along with the luggage each day. We also had a mishap and a leg injury and was surprised that a first aid kit was not provided with the bike supplies. And, finally there were 2 dinners provided on the trip mainly because the hotels were in more remote places. I guess because there is no VBT rep there for the dinners to provide feedback the one dinner seemed somewhat inadequate being a buffet style and not too appetizing. All in all, this was a wonderful trip - the Atlantic coast of Portugal is beautiful and the many cities, towns and villages we visited were spectacular.

Absolutely epic trip! VBT Staff was great from the moment we booked the trip and throughout. Our accommodations were amazing in every city we rode into. Our luggage was always there before we were which was awesome. GPS app on the self-guided tour were perfect. We had perfect weather, which also really attributed to the amazing time we had.

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!

I enjoyed the trip. The rides were well conceived and challenging - except for those several towns with the coblestone streets.

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 landscape is beautiful, the hikes encompass a variety of terrain and experiences, and the wines are delicious!

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!

The tour exceeded my expectations. Northern Portugal is beautiful and the walks were interesting and scenic. The hotels were all great and very different. Our tour guides were outstanding! They were very knowledgeable and communicated well. Included food and drinks were of high quality. I don’t have anything negative to say about this tour.

This was our 4th CW tour. It was fun, but not the best tour we have been on. I don't think Portugal is quite ready for tourists outside of Lisbon and Porto. The scenery is beautiful, but the towns we visited had mostly closed shops and were too small for more than a day stay. We wasted too much time hunting for own meals which should have been arranged in advance. The first hotel in Ponte de Lima, while in a beautiful setting, was very musty and the beds were tiny. I felt like I was breathing in mold spores all night. I had to dry out my entire suitcase at the next stop. The hikes were fine and our guides were knowledgeable and were very solicitous.