Cycling in Portugal: Four Days on the Southwestern Coast

Day 1: Lisbon to Setúbal to Vila Novo de Santo André, 51.8 miles

We are expecting this bike trip to be a lot different than our last European trip, which was a relatively flat ride along the Rhine River. Not only do we expect a lot more hills, but we’ll likely not have nearly as many miles of dedicated bike trails. Even though we ride on some pretty busy roads out of Lisbon, overall the day starts well enough. It isn’t until mile 36 of our planned 41 miles that things go awry. Just after coasting down a long steep downhill that skirts the Atlantic, we come to some signs and barriers informing us that the route ahead is closed due to falling rock. Dumbfounded, we realize the only way to get to our destination is to climb that long 4 mile hill back to the top and go around. So that’s what we do. And it is tough. There are places we have to get off and walk and neither of us EVER do that. Finally back at the top we find a bike-safe route using Google Maps. We both agree this is the hardest day of riding we’ve ever done. Total trip miles to date 58.2.

Looking out over Atlantic — We have a nice view of the Atlantic coast on our way down a long, steep hill. Unfortunately we end up having to come back up this way and it wasn’t nearly as pretty.

Day 2: Setúbal to Vila Novo de Santo André, 34.5 miles

After yesterday’s tough ride, almost anything would have seemed easier. There are a few hills, but nothing like the day before. Something else we are finding out is that, even though, technically, our route is called the Eurovelo 1, that doesn’t mean we’re going to be on dedicated bike paths. At best, we’re on less-traveled paved roads, and at worst, we’re on muddy, narrow tracks. We have intermittent rain so end up putting on and removing rain jackets pretty frequently. It’s Easter Monday and a lot of things in Santo André are closed. We do manage to find a couple of places to get fed and re-hydrated. Total MTD 92.7

We ride through intermittent rain today, but fortunately these dark storm clouds never catch up with us.

Gravel bikeway — Although this muddy road is listed as a bike path, it’s not what we expected when we were planning the trip.

Doner kebabs — When nothing else is open, you can almost always count on being able to get a döner kebab.

Day 3: Santo André to Vila Nova de Milfontes, 35.2 miles

Today is a beautiful ride to an Atlantic resort town. We are close to the coast and we battle a headwind much of the day. Although most things here are open, you can tell we’re traveling in the off season. The crowds aren’t here yet. Total MTD 127.9.

Cyclist at picnic table — A roadside picnic table seems like a luxury when many of our breaks involve sitting on the ground.

Hotel room — We stay in moderately priced hotels most of the time, but it seems since we’re here in the off season our rooms have been nicer and bigger than usual. It’s fairly common for a room for two to come with twin beds.

Hotel balcony — Our hotel room has a nice big balcony, which to us means lots of places to dry clothes.

Day 4: Milfontes to Rojil, 32 miles

Today’s route takes us through a lesser-traveled village called Odeceixe (O de SEE shay). If we had been traveling by car, we likely would have passed right on by, but we end up having a delicious lunch served by the owner. Total MTD 159.9.

The restaurant owner in Odeceixe was a delight. Her grandfather used to be the miller in town when the windmill at the top of the hill was still in operation.

drinking coffee — Feeling decadent as we postpone our steep climb out of town by having café and cream pie (tarte de nata).

We both agree that the steep cobblestone road out of Odeceixe was worth the effort after the terrific lunch stop at the bottom of the hill.

Krause Travels