Portugal Bike Tour Reviews page 8
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★★★★★ Betty Ngan
An adventure
Algarve Coastal Route
We have previously done the wonderful Danube tour and a guided boat bike tour in the Netherlands. We rode e-assisted bikes with the exception of 2 riders in our group.
The Algarve bike tour was very different, and should be rated a 2 or 3 because this trail system is not as well developed. We found it challenging even with e-assist bikes. The tour has paved, gravel and dirt roads and even a boardwalk with gates. The segments of the trail were sometimes hard to locate on the gps and sometimes the maps did not agree with the gps. On the first day we followed the blue line on the map and rode over rough gravel roads until we encountered Angus, our coordinator, who informed us that that this was not the main route. But it wasn’t marked as an alternative route on the map.
We loved the food that we found along the way. A lunch at a seaside restaurant between Tavira and Olhao was the highlight of the tour. We enjoyed the old Portugal that remains, but much of the area west of Faro has been developed for tourism, so there are large resort areas for golf and boaters. We loved the very sweet Hotel Belavista da Luz in Praia da Luz.
We would recommend this self guided tour for younger more adventurous folks who can navigate and who don’t mind riding in rough loose gravel roads and highways with some rather harrowing highway crossings. The highways in the western part of the coast were not as busy, and we found drivers were generally respectful in the roundabouts. As our mileage increased we grew stronger over the 6 day ride, and we were proud to have made it to the 6 day when a broken chain stopped our progress.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Angela Henderson
Portugal is SPECTACULAR
Algarve Coastal Route
Portugal is beautiful, the people even more so! We will definitely be back!
The bike tour needs some work. The GPS system is too small, half the size of my cell phone, and the written instructions not detailed enough, or accurate to what is happening on the ground around you. Because there are no consistent street signs, or bike tour signs through the entire route, the written directions that go along with the GPS are critical to guiding you on this tour. The number of u-turns, poorly written directions, etc., made what should have been a straightforward three hour bike ride into a 5 to 7 hour bike ride, not allowing us time to really enjoy the areas we rode through.
The company also didn’t fit us to the bikes and one of our friends suffered with some pretty serious neck and shoulder pain as a result.
I think the company is good, I just think they need to do some refining of their program.- What was the date of your tour?
- October, 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Thomas Rossington
A Sometimes Rugged Ride
Algarve Coastal Route
Perfect organization for hotel pickup, delivering us to the start point, bike setup, luggage transportation, return to hotel at the finish, and transportation to the train station the next day.
We found some parts of the route in more rural areas were rough trails with hills too steep to climb on regular bikes. Too bad there isn’t a developed network of bike paths along the coast. Saw lots of wonderful scenery, though, and happened upon som great coffee and lunch stops. We did have a couple of times where we had trouble following the Garmins.- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Mychelle Fitzgerald
An Adventure
Algarve Coastal Route
This is our 4th ride with this company and the Portugal ride had the most challenges but also was adventurous. The Garmin that they gave us to use was not very good. We also uploaded a Bike App but this was not always dependable as well. Each day was an adventure to find the next location. We did tap into our Google GPS (bike option) as well. We were never worried we would not make it. The hotels they put us in where first class. Each had a swimming pool, balcony views, centrally located and great breakfast buffets to start our day. Our last day we had trouble with one of our batteries on the electric bike. It did not charge properly (even though we had it plugged in all night). When we started we only had 4 our of 5 bars and within 15 minutes it went down to 3 bars. It was our shortest day ride (29 miles) so we didn't pack our charger cord (which we did not require on any of the longer days). We made it within 7 miles of the finish line when the battery went completely dead. It was a very windy and hilly day so we had to call the local tour team to pick us up. They were great to work with and very supportive of our success. The driver even drove us to the finish line so we could see the lighthouse. They took a 6 day ride down to 4 days for us to accommodate our travel schedule. The overall experience was good but the directional devices took my rating from a 5 star to 4 star.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2025
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Dawn &bLawrence
Algarve Bike Ride
Algarve Coastal Route
Overall we were quite happy with the experience. There were a couple of glitches which the on the ground team was able to rectify to get us on our happy way. The GPS system was where we had the most challenges as they did not always coincide with the written direction given us, which is why I only gave ease of navigation 3 stars and bikes and equipment 4 stars.
Most of the accommodation was excellent and all included breakfast. One hotel in particular The Villa Gale Ampalius was absolutely fabulous and had the best breakfast.
We were not expecting as much off road travel as we did. For the most part they were easy gravel hard packed road however, there are some sections that are for more experienced mountain bike riders which in a younger life would have been ok but certainly not at 70. I may have missed this part of the description of the tour notes when booking the trip in the first place.
Although, it would be a logistical nightmare for the tour group it would have been nice to have options to stay an extra night here or there. I know they do offer this up front. so keeping this in mind you may want to have an extra night in Tavira. The hotel is beautiful and sits in the main area of this gorgeous City making it easy to walk everywhere. We did get to the Real Villa de San Antonio a day before which Bike Tours happily arranged for us.
Our bags were always where they needed to be at the end of the day and the level of communication with the tour group was exceptional even when we needed to discuss some difficulties which, Angie, Fernando and Susana did an outstanding job of making things right. The E-bikes were easy to ride. The gearing made navigating hills easy. Even the hill on the last day was a breeze. The tour suggests what seems to be a much lesser climb however, we took the bigger of the two due to the not so easy looking off road option when we saw it.
The last day reads and seems like a lot however we were surprised at how fast we completed it. After viewing the light house we sat at the first food truck as you enter the beginning of the park and had one of the best burgers ever. Wish I could remember their trucks name. A husband and wife team run it. You won't be disappointed.
Generally speaking It was a nice way to experience the Algarve and now that we've done our first bike trip there will be others to follow.
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 2025
- How many tours have you completed?
- First time
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Melissa Dubois
Beautiful trip
Portugal's Atlantic Coast
Traveling down the coast was beautiful. The hotels were all great quality. We were all glad that we had e-bikes due to the high mileage and the steep hills on this trip.
Some downsides- several of the roads were quite busy with cars and tour buses and the gps app really drained my phone battery which made it hard to also take photos. Having the option to have an actual gps rather than the app would have been helpful.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Sept/Oct 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Yael NOy
Beautiful sea coast with great views.
Portugal's Atlantic Coast
The sea coast was lovely. Hotels were conveniently located, comfortable and staff was extremely gracious. Fishermen villages along the way were not exactly as picturesque as expected. That part of the trip was a bit disappointing .
The local company was amazing any questions we had along the way were immediately addressed .- What was the date of your tour?
- October 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
-
★★★★★ Nancy Lewis
Very scenic
Portugal's Atlantic Coast
Great route and hotels. It would be better if the GPS had verbal cues as well since you can't see your phone in the rain. Also detailed paper maps would help especially if raining. Tour operator was excellent.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Shanda
Gorgeous Coastal Ride and Villages
Portugal's Atlantic Coast
Portugal is a very welcoming and beautiful country to visit. The villages we stayed in were charming, hotels were wonderful and the people were very kind to us. I especially loved Sintra and Cascais. However, I would not do Portugal by bike again as there is way to much climbing and traffic/tour buses to fully enjoy the views. At the start of the ride some of our bikes had shifting issues and we experienced dropped chains and a lot of gear skipping. Luckily we had a bike mechanic in our group who made adjustments and we were able to continue the ride without outside help. I would suggest the gearing be replaced or fixed before anyone rides bike #12 again. It has an issue around gear #5 that our mechanic said needed fixed in a shop.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 6, 2025
- How many tours have you completed?
- I have ridden the Spain tour and now Portugal
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Phil S
Beautiful sights, costal cities, and small villages
Portugal's Atlantic Coast
Excellent routing, beautiful tour. Great support. We used Ride with GPS and Google maps to shorten our routes after day one. 45 miles in those hills was to challenging. Those in our group who stayed the course weren't getting in till 6:30
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Timothy Libassi
Beautiful road biking through the Algarve countryside
Best of the Algarve by Road Bike
Beautiful tour through the countryside of the Algarve. The routes provided kept you on quite almost car free roads for the most part and where it couldn’t you are still on well maintained secondary roads with a good shoulder to ride on. The weather was great, not too hot during the day and no rain while we were riding. The carbon fiber road bikes were high quality, well-tuned and setup for us on the first day. The hotels were good to great, we stayed an extra night in Sagres, which was not only a great way to break up the trip but also the nicest hotel on the tour. The Garmin provided worked fine, we had one glitch where it sent us to the wrong hotel, but since we had also downloaded the tours to our phone, we worked it out quickly. Communication was great with biketours.com and even better with the local tour company who kept track of my bag which the airline had lost and had it to me just in time for the first day of riding. Overall a fun trip, I would go back to Portugal in a heartbeat.
- What was the date of your tour?
- october 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Chris Downey
Tour of the Algarve
Best of the Algarve by Road Bike
Great routes through the Algarve for road biking. The hotel were great except for the final hotel in Albufeira where we were given two single beds and each had a plastic mattress protector! A change I would recommend is incorporating Lagos in the bike tour and as an end destination to allow for spending an afternoon in that City to explore the coast after a morning of biking.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Chris Mayled and Dan Green
Fantastic Trip
Best of the Algarve by Road Bike
A good bike trip for the not so advanced cyclists that are looking for a challenge. We averaged about 75 km each day for 6 days. Certainly covered the Algarve Region from east to west then north to south. The coastline from Sagres to Aljezur was our favourite amongst the days travelled. Accommodations and breakfasts were what we were expecting. Rented bicycles functioned well. Coordination at the beginning, during and following the trip was timely and as expected.
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
-
★★★★★ Silvia
Very good overall experience
Camino de Santiago: From Porto to Santiago de Compostela
We enjoyed the bike rides. It was a great idea to upgrade to e-bikes! The terrain was challenging at times. Pedro the tour coordinator was very helpful, he was easy to reach and pleasant !
Overall the hotels were good, but the ones in Spain were much nicer and had better meals . We don't recommend to include the dinners in the package, we had some very poor dinners , particularly in Portugal.
The length of the biking trips were perfect, for most part good scenery although there was a day with too many roads through industrial areas.
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★★★★★ Cathy62
Hardest bike trip I've ever done. Proud to have finished.
Camino de Santiago: From Porto to Santiago de Compostela
I think this trip is a level 4 rather than a level 3 ride. It had some very difficult terrain that resulted in several in our group doing a fair amount of walking with their bikes. An electrical bike would have made the trip even more difficult.
Because of the difficulty of the terrain I missed seeing a lot of scenery. Keeping my eyes on the off-road trails to navigate the loose rocks meant I couldn't look around.
The Live, Love, Ride contact was great and responded in a timely manner to our needs. We did have one flat tire for which the incorrect sized tube was loaded on that bike. We did find the correct size on another bike in the group.
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★★★★★ Douglas
Camino
Camino de Santiago: From Porto to Santiago de Compostela
Overall, this was a fun and interesting trip. The ebikes were great. Never came close to running out of battery power. We used the premium hotel option, but didn’t think all the hotels lived up to that status. The route can be tricky to follow in a few places but the garmin and app do a great job of showing the way. Our biggest complaint was that a few of the rockier sections should’ve been bypassed. The ebikes are not designed for riding over large rocks and are quite heavy to manually maneuver. Since we already skipped a few sections of the trail not good for mixing bikes and hikers, it seemed that these other sections should’ve been skipped as well. Bag transfers and hotel check-ins all went smoothly. The taxi ride to Porto was a bit harrowing, as the driver almost had an accident.
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★★★★★ julesmcsa
Great trip
Castles and Wines of Portugal
What a way to see the castles of Portugal! The history of the country is amazing, and seeing it all at eye level, literally, was amazing. Perfect weather. Our tour guides were fantastic. The food was overwhelming, there was just so much of it! Tasted a lot of wine, but expected more. Thank god for our E-bikes; some of the routes were too high for us. Overall, very enjoyable trip. We did not care for some of the accommodations: the farmhouse was too remote for us (we wanted to be in the city).
- What was the date of your tour?
- October 19th
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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★★★★★ Astrid Kaulitz
Great week on the bike in a beautiful countryside
Castles and Wines of Portugal
The combination of plan, map and digital tour-advise was great to find our way.
The tour was all in all beautiful and interesting. The planning had been done before covid and was not adjusted now. Some recommondations were wrong this way. day2 : Cafe Pola could not be found, Manizolas Farm could not be passed. There was a huge fence. day 4: there was no leather factory any more, day 7: Tasca do Anotonio dos Potes does not exist any more.
Mario was always to be reached and helped promptly. Very nice!
Hotels were a good choice, every spot was different. only the Solar de Alqueva in Reguengos de Monsaraz was a bit uncomfortable. Breakfast poor.
I had expected more knowlege about the wine. The wine tasting was mostly in the day either in the morning (wine and bike is not that becomming) or in the early afternoon. You never really could plan how long the trip was - so we had to taste the wine at night with the meal, but had no instructions.Anyway we had a great week.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 8
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
-
★★★★★ Vickie Brunstetter
Central Portugal is delightful by bike
Castles and Wines of Portugal
It was wonderful to ride through vineyards, cork trees and small towns. Staying in the posadas and other quaint accommodations really added to the trip. Of course the wine tastings were wonderful as well. It was very educational to visit different wineries. Our only issue was with the bikes that did not consistently maintain the power assist.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
- Countries included in this tour?
- Portugal
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