7-day Northern Portugal Cycling Holiday

Valença is a perfectly preserved star-shaped fortified town, built on the Spanish-Portuguese border marked by the River Minho. Valença is very popular among Spanish tourists who come to buy towels, linens and bed covers in the small shops inside the town walls. There are a few small hotels inside the walls and larger modern hotels on the outskirts of town.

The town can be easily accessed by train from O Porto (Porto Campanha station, travel time is approximately 3 hours, some services are faster) and by bus or train from Santiago de Compostela (travel time is about 2 hours).

Your hire bike will be delivered this morning, and you’ll have a chance to test it out at the car park on the east side of the fortress, a 5-minute walk from your hotel. Then you start with the first route along the ecovía (a converted railway cycling track, which has been surfaced). Cycling across the old bridge into Spain, you pedal through the old town of Tui (coffee break) and then along the banks of the River Miño – pleasant, easy riding with very little effort. The average ascent per climb is 35 m, except for one larger ascent of 80 m as you leave the riverbank to reach the bridge at Salvaterre. After visiting the beautiful historic town of Monçao on the Portuguese side, famous for its old spa, you follow the Ecovía along the riverbank, back to Valença.

Challenge: 39 km / 24 mi, 400 m ascent and descent

Your second day of cycling starts on the Portuguese side, as you follow the partially surfaced, practically flat Ecovía along the riverbank to reach the fortified town centre of Vilanova de Cervera, where you stop for a stroll and a drink. After Seixes, you do a short section on the busy main road, in order to cross the River Coura via the old steel bridge, designed by the French engineer Eiffel (yes, one and the same). Your cycling route ends in Caminha, another beautiful Portuguese town, located at the mouth of the River Miño, where you will stay in a specially designed hotel which rotates 35º degrees twice a day, to offer guests the best panoramas of both river and ocean !! The hotel also has a good restaurant overlooking a small courtyard and garden.

Challenge: 30.5 km / 19 mi, 50 m ascent, 125 m descent

(*) Today’s route depends on the tide

At Caminha, the River Miño can be crossed only with the help of a tiny ferry, so this can only be done when the tide is high. If the tides allow you to take the ferry both there and back, you’ll do a loop following first along a coastal gravel track, which becomes a wooden walk way just before you reach the sandy beaches of A Guarda. Though it was practically ruined by ‘modern’ architects in the 70s and 80s, the town still has a special appeal and atmosphere thanks to the use of colour and its location, built against a steep slope above a natural harbour. Cycling through the town centre (the only truly steep climb of 50 m), you ride back, taking a different route to avoid as many busy roads as possible. 

If the tide is too low to take the ferry, either in the morning or in the afternoon, your ride will be longer as you will have to cycle back via Vila Nova de Cerveira, about 10 km inland to cross the bridge there. From Vila Nova to Caminha you follow the same route as yesterday or take an alternate route on new terrain.

Challenge:

If you take ferry: 17 km / 10,5 mi, 75 m ascent and descent

Without ferry: 43 km / 26,5 mi, 75 m ascent and descent

An easy route through totally different scenery, but always with the ocean nearby. The Ecovía is not completely finished on this section of the coast, so you follow surfaced lanes, wooden walkways and tractor ruts (about 30%), but all with very little traffic. There are several beaches where you can have a swim or enjoy the views across the ocean. At the end of the route, you cross the harbour at Viana do Castelo to enter the old town centre, in this, the largest and liveliest town along your route. Spend the afternoon exploring the town, have lunch a terrace, do some shopping or take the funicular up to Santa Luzia Sanctuary, a beautiful shrine overlooking the coast. Your hotel is an impressive historic manor house in the centre, close to the railway station.

Challenge: 28.5 km / 17,5 mi, 175 m ascent and descent

An interesting and varied route today. The start is bit stressful, as you leave town via the old bridge (designed by French engineer Eiffel!) crossing the River Lima on a narrow sidewalk. After that, the route is pleasant and peaceful, mostly along the riverbank with some sections among vegetable gardens and vineyards, home of the famous wine ‘Vinho Verde’. Half-way through the route, you reach Ponte de Lima, the oldest town in Portugal (founded in 1125) named after the medieval bridge you will cross, before pedalling back to Viana. Take care not to lose your way as you cycle among the tiny hamlets! If you prefer to relax at the beach, you can cross the river by ferry or bike and enjoy a day of swimming, surfing or stand-up paddling at Candeledo Beach, one of Portugal’s most popular places for kite-surfing.

Challenge: 56 km / 35 mi, 260 m ascent and descent

Your arrangement comes to the end today after breakfast. Easy train connections to Porto or Valença (if you have parked your car there).