Why Cycle Portugal?


As with many of my cycle tours, the original idea develops into something very different. My plan for March 2007 was to cycle across the Picos de Europa. They are a range of mountains in northern Spain. And they are high at 2100 meters and more. Examining my atlas in greater detail, I began to think this was not the best idea at the end of the winter, when it could easily be freezing cold and snowing up on some of those passes.

My eye turned towards Santiago de Compostela – at the end of the fabled Camino de Santiago pilgrim route – and then south to the Spanish border…with Portugal. The immediate attraction of Portugal was that I had never visited this country.

I scrawled out a route from Santiago, through the middle of the map for a distance of about 600 miles and ended up at Lisbon. That would do fine for a 3-week tour, heading south to the sun and the warmth of spring.

On setting off, I would have struggled to answer the question, “why cycle Portugal”? On returning however, I can offer the following very good reasons:
 

• It is bigger than England, but has a sixth of the population. • Most people live in Lisbon and on the coast, leaving the central part of the country quiet and rural.

• It’s part of the European Union and of the Euro, but costs haven’t yet caught up, making it great value. • The Ancient Romans were there in force, and didn’t they know how to build a good road…?

• The Serra de Estrela mountain range is remote, high, beautiful, challenging and a cyclist and photographer’s dream. • The great rivers live up to the description - the Duoro Valley, covered in vineyards, and the River Tagus (Tejo), punctuated by fortress towns perched on impossible hills. • Talking of vineyards, Portugal’s red wine must be its best-kept secret. • The Portuguese have this endearing habit of crowding into Pasteleria coffee shops in the afternoon, and eating huge slabs of the most wonderful cakes and pastries. It would have been rude not to join them…

• The Portuguese are friendly, helpful and welcoming to cyclists
• Every little town seems to have a hotel of some sort.
• The national fish – salted cod or Bacalhau – is nutritious, tasty, and comes in a variety of dishes that means you never get bored of it.
• If you can speak a bit of Spanish, or French, or Italian, you should be able to get by in Portuguese. If not, most hoteliers seem to speak good English.