Portugal

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

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 has unexpected beauty! An incredibly clean country with incredibly gorgeous surroundings. The accommodations were average, not as nice those we had on other guided tours from VBT. We missed not having daily insights to the culture and the surroundings that come with a guided tour. The Portuguese food we had was bland and average at best, but their bread and pastries were exceptional. The route was mostly easy, except for the last two days were moderate to difficult, which should be outlined in the trip description.

All was good on this self-guided trip except for a couple of small things: the air pump provided was a bit inadequate — but the rides were lovely, and hotels were very good. A bit hilly for the hybrid bike I had— a road bike or e-bike would have been better for me! Beautiful coastline!

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!

Great trip! Manu and Matt made sure everything went well. The rides were beautiful. The winery visit and the olive oil tasting were terrific. The cruise and VBT worked well together to make sure the trip was flawless. Highly recommend

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.

Wonderful trip, great guides, good food, well-organized. Guides Alberto and Pol were a great team and anticipated our every need. Moreover, they were fun to be with and full of helpful information. The route was well planned to experience both the Camino Norte and the Camino Franca. The paradors were generally good though not spectacular, with the exception of that in Santiago de Compostela. Visits to the winery and cheese factory were also pleasant and provided variety to the walking treks. The length and elevation gain of the walks were fine for the elderly group, though the initial information should be checked for accuracy. Some walks were more and others were less than advertised.

Another great experience with CW, this time in Northern Spain. Top quality guides (who were also a lot of fun), carefully curated walks (including parts of the various Caminos), interesting and authentic places to stay and great meals, especially the fantastic lunches (in places we would never have found). The walks were accurately rated at easy to moderate. Overall, a fantastic vacation - I learned a lot about Northern Spain and had a great time doing it.

A truly wonderful introduction to Portugal -the coastline walks were amazing

Wonderful trip. Guides, Luis and Helena were excellent. Our group of 16 were all compatible. Aside of the countryside walks and hikes, there were a number of surprises that added some great experiences to the trip.