Soak in the atmosphere - bike touring provides the perfect speed to get to know a country. Ride at your own pace, stopping to smell the flowers and experience the local culture. Quiet backroads and macadam trails will lead you to the next vineyard, cultural hotspot and charming hotel, where you'll get to relax and experience the local gastronomy.
From start to finish this was a professionally orchestrated tour. The hotels were spectacular, particularly Convento de espinheiro and São Lourenço do Barrocal ( we could have spent a week in this location!). The riding was truly incredible - we have cycled on self-guided trips in multiple European countries and domestically, and this was some of the most unique and safe riding we have ever experienced. On some or the roads, you often could forget that cars occasionally also used the road. High quality scott addict road bikes with ultegra components were provided in excellent condition. Pedro provide a diligent briefing with great recommendations for stops and restaurants in multiple locations. We will return to do the Douro valley!
The central Portuguese Caminho ride deserves to be in every Mountain bike magazine out there. Don’t get me wrong, it is not the technical adrenalin blasting skinned knee big drop off a 20’ ladder adventure, but it is a legitimate mountain bike required blast. (although I did bloody my knee once). I was more than pleasantly surprised at the amount of dynamic terrain that we encounter throughout the ride.. This is not a road ride. We road from cobble stone, to dirt, to the street, to technical mountain single track. Around every twist and turn a new terrain was waiting for us. The climbs are legit but totally manageable and there was even cold beer at the top of the hardest and most technical climb. It was like it appeared out of the clouds..
Live Love ride… what can I say? these guys rock! They set us up with the adventure of a lifetime and every detail was seamlessly orchestrated. All we had to do was ride to the next town. Pedro set us on our way with the gear and information that we needed and then made everything work for us in the background… If you are considering a biking adventure, then this is the place and live love ride is the company.. it is a guaranteed life changer..
Cheers and “Bom Caminho”
