‘The tracks cut through the valleys into the distance’
red wine swirling in a glass.
At home and elsewhere in Europe, we’ll search out twisty roads, ride them and then turn around to ride them again because they’re in short supply or few and far between. But here in Portugal it’s non-stop… the only limiting factor is the battle of attrition with your wrist. Rewarding roads just keep on coming, so long as you can keep on riding.
Whoever designed this curated route is a composer, summoning the best out of their country and enchanting the KTM to hum its sweetest tune along roads we’d never otherwise have found, or spend a lifetime searching out.
Yes, chef
Dizzy from the ride and in need of shade, we pull into a little village and search out the local coffee shop. All the villages have the same Portuguese feel: cobbled streets, a church, steep hills, a muchneeded water fountain in the main square and a quaint coffee shop coupled with older chaps smoking and laughing the day away while basking in the sun. The coffee is short, sharp and strong, the food keeps on coming and the people are warm and welcoming.
These alluring little towns and villages could easily trap you for days with their laid-back lifestyle. Then the route pulls us into forests where the smell of pine fills our helmets before looping us out into the grasslands where almond and olive trees line the road.
The sun begins to dip in the distance and paints the sky a blend of orange and purple. The day passes and the chequered flag pops up on our GPS. The hotels are prebooked and paid for on the tour along with dinner and wine - and it’s posh, too (you know it’s swanky when there’s no menu and the chef comes over to your table to tell you what he’d like to cook for you). We eat so much that we waddle to bed feeling food drunk – the copious amounts of local wine probably didn’t help either.
Vineyards in the sky
The optional off-road routes are marked in green on the Garmin. They veer off the main route and cut across the countryside before linking back up and are anywhere from three to 20 miles long. They’re too tempting to miss. Luring us in, we swing right and scramble up a dirt track, over a few ruts, through a gravel pit and blast out into the open. The tracks cut their way through the valleys into the distance and over the top of the Douro River. It’s as though we’re riding on Portugal’s second floor somewhere in the clouds. We roll into hanging vineyards in the sky. Vines are strung along the path and we ride through carefully, trying not to flick any grapes with the KTM’s mirrors.
Gazing over the beauty laid out in front of us conjures memories of foreign lands. Swap the grapes for rice and we’re back in Vietnam’s cascading paddies. Snowdonian stone walls line the country lanes, the mountainous forests are borrowed from Cyprus’ wild interior, the coffee houses, the gorgeous towns from Italy and the French Riviera lines the sea. Portugal ignites the best memories of other countries and wraps them up into one exquisite package.
We plot our last trail through one more vineyard as it leads us on a back route to the town and our hotel for the night. Whitewashed houses with orange tiled roofs appear from amongst the vine leaves in the distance and we can already smell the food and taste the wine.
We take the river road back to Porto. Leather-skinned fishermen line the promenades, coffee and ice cream shops invite you in, old yellow trams trundle by, fishing boats bob on the sea and our panniers clank from all the wine we’ve bought. This tour has spoilt us, it’s is like going on a luxury allinclusive holiday, but you get to ride a bike all day. Portugal is the perfect dream ride.