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.

Enjoyed this trip to Portugal. Good mix of easy and moderate riding to work off the fantastic food/beverages.

Lovely part of Portugal in the off season. I don’t bike ride but with the e bikes and the moderate terrain, it was easy. Loved self guided and the Ride with GPS app!!!!

We are experienced riders and found this trip to be moderately challenging. Ride very doable with ebikes for hills, cobblestones and gravel. Majority of ride on roads with little traffic while we were there. Back up support was available to assist with chain problem. Rides a mix of ocean views, small towns, and agricultural areas.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Our Guides, Alberto and Pol, made this trip one to remember! Surprises at every bend on the Camino. We especially enjoyed the Northern Coastal areas and the Vineyards (Ribera Sacra) in the mountains overlooking the Sil River. But the cultural experiences really made the trip POP! From the Queimada demonstration to the Pottery making demo at Rectoral de Gundivos, to the Good Shepherd Demo, and did we mention the Paradores! Overall, a great sampler of the Camino, and one we hope to revisit as Pilgrims. Wish we could have spent more time hiking the Camino and less time on the charter bus, but we understand the limitations. Perhaps CW will extend this trip by a few days down the road (path).

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.

Excellent tour, beautiful country, the guides Ana and David were amazing and the tour group the best we ever had in a CW tour.