Cycling in Portugal - Porto to Lisbon

Squeak191

Hi all,
My friend and I are thinking about cycling from Porto to Lisbon in Portugal in Aug time this year. I wondered if anyone has ever done this before and can give us any advice. For example, does anyone know what the roads are like between these two cities - might there be a dedicated cycle path / coastal path for bikes? Or are there are least quieter roads for cyclists to go on? Is there much by way of accomodation and / or camp sites on that route? I am contacting various Portugese travel agencies to see if they can advise but I thought I'd post a message here just in case anyone has ever done that route before.
Many thanks indeed for reading and for your help!
Kind regards,
Irene

jc4lab

This may not be the best ride there is in Portugual..My old CTC Europe guide recommeded Porto and the area heading inland.and north east from there. cos of the river and scenic village life around it .

Nack

I will echo jc4lab's comment and think that you'd be better off travelling East - three weeks ago my girlfriend and I cycled from Porto along the Douro valley and down to the (not touristy!) Serra da Estrela, which was beautiful, if not very hilly!

We took a train from Porto to a town on the Douro (forgot the name but can find out if you're interested!) and that was a good move as we avoided the horrendous traffic in Porto that way. On the whole, the roads were pretty decent throughout, but be prepared for some serious hills - we used Bikely before we set off to avoid the steepest hills! If you like mountains, rural settings and... climbing, I'd strongly recommend Serra da Estrela.