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Alentejo Castles

Freedom Holiday Self Guided Grading Level 2
8 days/7 nights Price - £xxxpp Tour Code PT005
 

This tour is no longer being offered for 2010

Starting in the small village of Alvito, very famous for its manueline architecture, you cycle to Évora, an impressive city classified by UNESCO as World Heritage Site. Continuing to Monsaraz, the lovely white castled village with a panoramic view over the largest artificial lake of Europe, and then through Terena and its impressive sanctuary. The tour then goes to Vila Viçosa, where you can visit the famous Ducal Palace, and finishes in Estremoz, the city of the "white gold" (marble).

Along your cycling days you will visit castles, churches, artisans, wine producers and typical family owned cafés. The landscape changes from olive groves to vineyards and cork oaks, from granite to schist to marble. This is a tour where there is a true combination of cycling and discovery, and you can be sure to leave Portugal with a much richer knowledge of the Alentejo region!

The days are relaxing and easy with cycling between 20 and 37 miles (35 and 60km). Roads are mostly undulating. This means that you rarely have big climbs, but go slightly up and down several times. We mix some dirt roads with asphalt, but most of the tour is on asphalt.

Cycling holiday in Portugal

 

Includes

  • 7 nights in small, family run hotels (based on 2 people sharing)
  • 7 x breakfast
  • Bike hire
  • Luggage transfer
  • Maps and route information

Excludes

  • Flights
  • Cycling Helmets

Optional extras

  • Insurance £22pp
  • Single supplement £150
  • Transfers to/from airport POA

How to get there

  • Fly to Faro or Lisbon then bus to Évora. (Or hire a car and drive to Alvito.)
 

Departure Dates in 2009 - Any day from March to June and Mid September to end of October

 
To book this holiday CLICK HERE
 
Daily Itinerary
 

Day 1: Arrive in Alvito.

The little country town of Alvito, 6 miles (10 km) south of Viana de Alentejo, boasts a parish church with magnificent 17th century azulejo decoration and a fine fortified 15th century castle built by the Marquês de Alvito. The castle has recently been converted into a pousada.

Day 2: Alvito to Évora, 34 miles (55 km).

You start by riding through Alvito, famous for its several buildings with manueline architecture. Passing through several lovely hamlets, where life goes by at the slow Alentejo speed, and then ride to the village of Viana do Alentejo, famous for its pottery, the majestic castle with a mother church inside and the impressive Church of Senhora de Aires. The local "tasca" (typical café) is totally genuine and the atmosphere very serene. You then ride to Évora, classified by UNESCO as World heritage site. Accomodation is in a beautifully restored farmhouse close to Évora.

Cycling holiday in PortugalDay 3: Cycling tour around Évora to the megalithic monuments, 34 miles (55 km).

Today you will visit some of the most important megalithic monuments of the region. The landscape is lovely, with a lot of cork trees. You will learn about the cork extraction and about the people that inhabited the region 5 to 3 thousand years ago. You will visit the Dolmen of Zambugeiro, which is the largest in Europe, the Cromlech of Almendres, the Menir of Almendres and the roman ruins of Tourega.

Day 4: Évora to Reguengos de Monsaraz, 31 miles (50 km).

Riding between olive groves to reach the small and tradicional village of Nossa Srª de Machede where you can stop at a local café for a drink, visit the leather factory and an olive mill (when in season). You pass the Castle of Valongo and can visit a cheese factory in Aldeias de Montoito. Arriving in Reguengos de Monsaraz you will have plenty of time for some wine tasting in a gorgeous winery where they still have a room with the old clay pots to keep the wine.

Day 5: Reguengos de Monsaraz to Monsaraz, 22 miles (35 km).

You can visit the famous pottery village of S. Pedro do Corval, where you can see the men working the clay, transforming it into beautiful pots and plates, and the ladies painting them with flowers. Then it is uphill to conqueur the gorgeous village of Monsaraz, built in a castle on top of a hill. From Monsaraz you’ll take in the beautiful view over the lake of the Alqueva Dam, the largest artificial lake of Europe.

ycling in PortugalDay 6: Monsaraz to Vila Viçosa, 31 miles (50 km).

Today is the "Marble route" as you leave the schist land and discover the marble kingdom. You start by visiting the impressive sanctuary of Nossa Srª da Boa Nova and the flowery village centre of Terena. Afterwards you pass by the moon like landscape of the marble quarries of Bencatel area, from where the "white gold" was extrated to build gorgeous cities such as Estremoz and Borba.

Day 7: Vila Viçosa to Estramoz, 22 miles (35 km).

You can start your day by visiting the Ducal Palace of Vila Viçosa, and then cycle onto Borba. You pass by a typical "tasquinha", for a glass of home made wine, and then cycle to Gloria, where you can visit a local artisan. After a visit to the Church of Nossa Srª dos Martires you arrive early to Estremoz, where you can wander around tiny streets and discover the beautiful historical centre.

Day 8: Depart from Estramoz.

Trip ends after breakfast and you make your way back to Faro or Lisbon

 

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