dossier

Contrasts of Portugal Cycling

CONTRASTS OF PORTUGAL CYCLING | WHERE YOU STAY

Verdemar Hotel  AAAA
Casas Novas  Days 1+2+3

Verdemar is a converted farm in a tiny white village of Casas Novas in the heart of the Alentejo countryside. Verdemar means ‘Green Sea’ in Portuguese, and is a reference to the rolling green hills that characterize the area. There are 7 rooms – four in the main building where there is also a lounge with a selection of books, an open plan kitchen and a seating area. Two rooms can be found in one building at the bottom of the garden, and one other stands alone 15m from the main house. The dining room is an attractive conservatory adjacent to the lounge with views out over the enormous garden. In the centre of the garden is a lovely pool area, and hammocks are thoughtfully slung between the olive, pear, prune, plum peach, fig and orange trees! (Home made jam makes regular appearances at breakfast). Each of the rooms has it’s own character. All the rooms but one have air conditioning – the one that doesn’t has thick walls and stays cool without it, but temperatures while you are there will not be excessive.

Further details on the hotel website.

Day 1 Arrive in Alentejo

We meet you at Funcheira station and transfer you to your Casas Novas hotel in time for a swim in the pool before dinner . (Private transfers from airport to hotel available on request.)

Day 2 Artisans and Market Towns 21km/13mi or 31km/19mi

A circular southern route through lavender and eucalyptus give an extraordinary insight into ways of life unchanged for centuries! Buy home produced cheese from Dona Mariana’s family shop, open since 1876, and look out for dapper shepherds – they wear beautiful sheepskin cloaks that could be tailored on Savile Row! Drop into Cercal – a bustling market town - to admire Senor Godinho’s intricate leatherwork, then cycle back for a candlelit dinner on the garden terrace.

Day 3 Casas Novas Northern Circuit 18km/11mi or 46km/29mi

Amazing - paddy fields of rice in Portugal? Pedal through them to follow the verdant River Campilhas for a short ride, or carry on to complete a longer loop. You can stop at tiny cafés en route (even if locals stare like you’re an astronaut!) and it is gorgeously easy riding as you coast through white villages to Sao Domingos with its shady plazas and orange trees, before meandering back past black pigs snoozing under olive trees.

Day 4 Casas Novas to Ribeira da Azenha 37km/23mi

Leaving Casas Novas behind, the countryside gradually changes from cork oak meadows to poppy strewn wheat fields as you cycle west. Catch your first glimpse of blue ocean on a fantastic 3km/1.8mi freewheel downhill breathing in great gusts of scented rockrose as you enter the protected Natural Park. You’ll receive a warm welcome from Balt and Claudia (and their pets – three donkeys and two ostrich!) at their sophisticated cutting edge hotel just 2km/1.2mi from the sea.

Tres Marias Hotel  AAAA
Ribeira da Azenha  Days 4+5

Set on the coastal plain just 2km or so from the ocean, Tres Marias began as an ostrich farm, (they still have two), then became a restaurant run by Balt and Claudia that gradually evolved into a small hotel. The present accommodation is in two buildings around 300m apart. The main building is a fusion of Alantejo décor and avant garde architecture mainly in modern concrete. Each room has it’s own terrace, and inside sharp lines are softened with muted colours, and huge windows provide lots of natural light. Several rooms have the bed on a balcony above a small living room. Six rooms are in this building along with the dining and lounge area, and two further rooms are in a separate farm building a short walk away. Rooms are classically presented with reed matting, stripped wooden doors and mosquito netting over soft white beds and duvets – they look like something out of a magazine.

Further details on the hotel website.

Day 5 Beaches, Castles and Harbours Circuit 29km/18mi or 33km/21mi

Pedal past lemon trees and vineyards to a C16 coastal fortress – Forte da Ilha - where wild, deserted beaches go on for miles! Lunch in a restaurant with views of offshore islands, then take the coastal track below high dunes to the bright boats and palm trees of Porto Covo harbour . Join local fishermen for a medronho in a seafront café, then cycle back past ancient windmills and enjoy a stargazing chat with Balt tonight – he’s a keen astronomer .

Day 6 Ribeira da Azenha to Brejao 32km/20mi

You head south today deeper into the Natural Park – empty, scenic roads lead you to scarlet Cabo Sardao Lighthouse and the most incredible stretch of coastal cycling yet. This is the only place in the world you can see storks nesting precariously on cliffs below your picnic spot! Beach-hop down the coast to Zambujeira village before arriving at Miguel and Rita’s pretty cottages in Brejao just 3km/1.8mi from the beach. You’ll eat out in the village for the next two nights.

Cerro da Fontinha  AAAA
Brejao  Days 6+7

Cerro da Fontinha is a pretty original farm in a eucalyptus grove next to a natural swimming lake. It is only about 2km from the nearest beach, and is surrounded by farmland that produces prodigious amounts of lettuce, watercress and strawberries to name but a few. There are six cottages here, all of them include a small kitchenette. Because the houses are self catering breakfast is provided to your room. All the cottages are spacious and light, with wooden beams and exposed original walls in places to show you how the old building was made. This is very much an eco lodge where everything is recycled and everything runs on solar power.

Further details on the hotel website

Day 7 Odeceixe Valley Route 28km/17mi

Watch fishermen landing their catch in Azenha doMar harbour , then head south through strawberry fields to Odeceixe - a river valley full of snowy egrets, wheat fields and vine terraces. You follow the river to a glorious sweeping yellow sand beach with views to the corner of Europe! It’s a spectacular place to end the week. Back at the hotel, cool off with a swim in the private lake, and enjoy dinner in the village again tonight

Day 8 Leave Alentejo

Return home after breakfast.

Please note that cycling helmets are a legal requirment in Portugal.  For safety reasons, we are unable to provide these;  therefore, we strongly advise you to bring your own.

For extra nights we recommend Lisbon, Brejao or Casas Novas.