Portugal

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

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.

Beautiful scenery with many picturesque views along the coast. The hotels were top notch. We had hybrid 27-speed bikes which performed well. The Ride With GPS app was easy to follow & accurate 99% of the time.

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

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!

Having been on many VBT trips, this one didn't quite measure up. Two problems: 1) the E- bike was very heavy and as a small woman was difficult to manage and get on and off. You do need an E-bike though as many long hills. Number 2 was Portugal itself. There wasn't much to see or do in comparison to other European trips, esp. the bike and barge trips. Here, no cute towns to explore and for the first 4 days the scenery was mostly uninspiring. Also, difficult logistics catching the river boat.The guides and boat were excellent but couldn't compensate for a trip with little off-road interest.

Awesome Experience. Everything was amazing from the accommodations to the hikes to the guides. Highly recommend this tour to experience different parts of the Camino de Santiago.

The tour was outstanding in every way. The two guides were excellent. My only complaint is with the travel arrangements which were resolved, I believe, only because I complained vociferously. .

Portugal is very beautiful and interesting. The trip was lead by superb- very accommodating, very knowledgeable, wonderful guides. The hiking was not what I hoped for. Sometimes not great trails and some days too little walking. The accommodations were very nice, unique and high quality. The options for meals when we were “on our own” we’re limited and not always great. We had an excellent group of travelers and really enjoyed the meals, conversations and walking together.

The trip to Portugal offered a sampling of many different areas and their beauty . The guides were knowledgeable , fun, and very helpful. The food and wine were excellent . A highlight was a trip to Caiscais to walk along the sea and have lunch at a seafood restaurant. It was a trip to remember.