Bike Forums - View Single Post - Advice for a north to south route in Portugal

01-19-24 | 01:04 AM

#24

HobbesOnTour

Full Member

Joined: Jul 2016

Posts: 270

Likes: 49

From: NB, NL

Bikes: 90's Trek 800 Sport, setup for Fully Loaded Touring

Quote:

Originally Posted by digger

I am planning a north to south ride in Portugal in October of 2024. I'm wondering if you fine folks would perhaps have a GPX file of a route you've done in the past OR provide some advice on routes to take.

A few thoughts......

First of all, get thee over to CGOAB and look at journals for Portugal. Alternatively, check out the map functionality here - a great way to do research. (Just stay away from the forum).

Personally, other people's opinions of where I should go and how to go there are only useful if we're like minded and similarly experienced. Someone's experience of the Portuguese coast in August will be very different to yours in October. Similarly, direction of travel can have a big impact, especially on a coastal route.

My personal preference is to pick places I want to go then try to figure out the best way of doing that.

I'd be wary of picking up random gpx files from the net with no context. Night time riding is popular in summer to avoid the daytime heat. Riding someone's night time route in the daytime might not be a lot of fun.

"Doing the border" means mountains. And lots of them. They can be quite steep in parts and roads can be narrow. Portuguese drivers tend to pass closer than their Spanish counterparts in my experience.

If you're not aware, there is a Camino route (to Santiago de Compostela in Spain), in fact two, (with many variations) that could help with the northern half. Certainly that i an airport that is well used to shipping and receiving bikes.

October 23 had temperatures well into the 30s C in this part of the world. It also had some pretty ferocious storms and severe flooding. My suggestion would be to have flexibility built into your plans.

I use a variety of digital map applications. Hands down for me CycleTravel is the best for picking out quiet, scenic routes with useful applications for multi-day tours. Highly recommend it.

Best of luck on your adventures. This is a great part of the world to tour in.

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