PORTUGAL PREMIUM TOUR CHECK LIST & TOUR DOSSIER
Welcome to Portugal The land within the borders of the current Portuguese Republic has been continually fought over and settled since prehistoric times. The Celts and the Romans were followed by the Visigothic and the Suebi Germanic peoples, who were themselves later invaded by the Moors. These Muslim peoples were eventually expelled during the Christian Reconquista of the peninsula. By 1139, Portugal established itself as a kingdom independent from LeĂłn. In the 15th and 16th centuries, as the result of pioneering the Age of Discovery, Portugal expanded western influence and established the first global empire, becoming one of the world's major economic, political and military powers. The Portuguese Empire was the longest-lived of the modern European colonial empires, spanning almost 600 years. Almost 1000 years of history by the Atlantic sea under the warm sun of south of Europe, resulted in one of the world's most globalized, peaceful, safe and responsive nations. A developed country with high-quality infrastructures, top notch roads and a ease going atmosphere where tradition and modernity blend together in perfect harmony. MotoXplorers Team combined Portugal superb cuisine, fine wine tastings, unique exclusive hotels and activities in a motorcycle route that show the best and most authentic secrets Portugal has to offer! Enjoy!
Arrival Lisbon Airport is only 5kms from our Base Hotel and 3kms from MotoXplorers HQ. Taxis are the best option to travel between the Airport, MotoXplorers HQ or our Hotel. They are safe and regular and should cost aprox. 10â‚Ź per ride to transport your luggage and up to 4 passengers. You will find them just outside the Arrivals Exit.
Base Hotel Tour start on Inspira Santa Marta Hotel, and ends in the same hotel. At Check in you only have to give your name, your booking is already confirmed. The extra nights, before and after the tour, will be in the same hotels Inspira Santa Marta Hotel, R. de Santa Marta 48, Lisbon Tlf:(+351) 210 440 990
Meeting Point The tour begins at Adv Store Motoxplorers, by 6pm. You will recieve a detailed briefing, do the rental agreement procedures and final payment, followeed by a explanation on the motorcycle and GPS functions. Do not forget your passport, driving license and credit card for the mandatory bike deposit.
Tour plan Day
Highlights 1
18h00 Tour briefing in our Store by a MotoXplorers guide and motorcycle pick up.
2
Lisbon - Arrábida - Mountains Monsaraz Castle - Évora
Day Ride
285kms
Arrabida Natural Park, ferry boat crossing to Troia for lunch and the Alentejo wine region to Unesco Heritage city of Évora 3
Évora - Marvão Castle - Serra da Estrela
285kms
Continuing the Alentejo wine route in the morning, followed by the summit roads to the highest mountain in Portugal, Serra da Estrela 4
Serra da Estrela - International Douro N. P. - Pinhão
270kms
The impressive roads of glacier valley to Manteigas and the Belmonte historical village, birthplace of Pedro Alvares de Cabral, “The captain that discovered Brazil”) 5
Pinhão - Guimarães - Peso da Régua - Porto
180kms
A full day surrounded by Douro Unesco World Heritage Landscape where wine has been produced by traditional landholders in this region for some 2000 years 6
Rest Day in OPorto city
0kms
Enjoy the city that gave the name to Portugal and explore its historical centre distinguished as World Heritage by Unesco. Don´t forget to visit one of the old cellars 7
Porto - Serra da Arada - Buçaco
195kms
Passing the most authentic & preserved part of the country, along small highland villages to the romantic mountains of Buçaco and Luso. 8
Buçaco - Coimbra - Alcobaça - Nazare - Obidos
235kms
3 Unesco Heritage Sites in just one day, the route will take you to Alcobaça Monastery, Batalha Abbey and the famous Nazare Giant Atlantic Waves. 9
Óbidos - Ericeira - Cabo da Roca - Sintra/ The Atlantic Coast passing the westmost point in all Europe, Roca Cape and the amazing Sintra Mountain before the return to Lisbon, along Cascais and Estoril coastal road. Motorcycle drop off in our store at 6PM
10
Breakfast and Hotel check out.
150kms
Safety First! Portugal is a safe country to visit, and some basic common sense will go a long way. There are no internal conflicts, no terrorism-related danger and violent crime is not a serious problem, as it is generally confined to particular neighbourhoods and is rarely a random crime. Major cities are well served with medical and emergency facilities and public hospitals are at European standards. The national emergency number is 112. Violent theft it’s rare in Portugal but if you leave one unlocked case or the GPS on the bike you might have a bad surprise. Bottled water (água mineral) is recommended as per use but the network's water is perfectly safe.
Citizens of the European Union are covered by Portugal's National Healthcare System as long as they carry the free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), obtainable from their own national healthcare authority. To participate in all MotoXplorers tours it’s mandatory to have a Travel insurance that covers transportation back to the home country in case of injury Helmet it’s mandatory and it is illegal to drive with headphones connected to mobile phones or other sound devices. There is zero tolerance to alcohol when riding a motorcycle.
Road conditions & rules Traffic in Portugal moves on the right-hand side of the road. Roads are generally very good, and you can reach all major cities with ease, either by motorway or by good, modern roads.
SPEED LIMITS 50 km/h for roads located in residential areas, 90 km/h in open roads 120 km/h in motorways.
The biggest cities are well served by modern highways (most have tolls), and you can travel the full North-South length of the country without ever leaving the highway, if you choose to. Motoxplorers tours avoid the highways and prefer the mountain roads and panoramic routes with low traffic.
FUEL Bikers should remove helmet when refueling. Some fuel station may ask you to pre-pay for fuel before filling up. Credit cards are accepted at most fuel stations. Unleaded gasoline is provided by the green hose. (95 or 98 Octanes)
All MotoXplorers rental motorcycles are equipped with electronic toll devices, if you choose to ride in the highways you do not need to stop in the tolls and can pay comfortably all tolls taxes at drop off.Â
PARKING In the cities you will find some motorcycle parkings but normally it’s allowed to park in the sidewalk if not disturbing the normal passage for pedestrians.
Local conditions & weather Portugal is perfect to ride all year round. The climate in mainland Portugal varies from north to south and from coast to mountain. The south, experiences Mediterranean weather with particularly mild winters and hot summers. Further north, the coast is warmed by the Gulf Stream, so winters are still mild and summers are warm. More inland summers are hotter but the winter temperature drops. In winter you can only find snow in Serra da Estrela summit. June to September is particularly dry and sunny with 12 hours of sunshine each day and an average maximum temperature of 28 degrees Celsius (82째 Fahrenheit) and minimum of 20 degrees Celsius (68째 Fahrenheit).
Although temperatures in the north of Portugal are a little lower, there?s still around 11 hours of sunshine each day and the cool sea breeze makes it pleasant for a summer break. Comfortable clothes, light and warm are the best option to deal with Portugal perpetual spring. Portuguese people feel a sincere happiness when helping tourists so don't feel ashamed to ask for help. If you make an effort to speak some Portuguese with the people there, it can go a long way. A large percentage of the younger population speak English and many Portuguese understand basic Spanish.
Gadjets e power All the hotels have wifi and most of the places you will stop have free wifi to, just ask for the password. Portugal have great photography opportunities! We recommend small and light cameras, point and shot solutions with wide angle lents are great to capture the great landscapes we will pass. Not so much wildlife, so no need for big tele zooms. Keep in mind that if you carry a big and to complex photographic equipment you will probably lose time maybe the photo opportunity you can catch with a small and simple camera.
The energy plugs we will find in all Portugal are similar to the ones in all Europe, Type F, C and E as shown in the picture above. They give 220V of energy and you should carry a adaptor if your gadgets have another energy needs or plugs. You can find adaptors in most airports stores. For security reasons every rider must carry an operational mobile phone always charged and ready to be used. Please check in your local company if you have active roaming in Portugal available before leave your country.
Luggage on the motorcycle Travel in a motorcycle make us to deal with limited luggage. We must guarantee our confort and safety and be prepared to face weather changes, frequent stops and unpredictable situations.
Remember!!
With the motorcycles we provide a full set of BMW Vario cases and inner bags (2 side cases and one top case). You shold take the inner bags to your room and move your luggage to them.
A good managing of luggage it’s essential to spend little time and effort to deal with it, and save time to enjoy as much as possible the great places you will be visiting.
The bigger bags and hard luggage you used to fly, can be safely storage in our store or in the hotel during your trip. This service is a cortesy with no aditional charge.
Leave always some room for souvenirs and be relaxed, if you forget something, you can find it easily in any Market or Shopping Centre. It’s always a good way to experience local life.
Optimise and simplify should be your focus in any Motorcycle Riding Tour!!
Luggage in Guided Premium Tours If you are in a MotoXplorers Guided Tour, your main luggage bags will be transported in the support vehicle directly to the day Hotel.
Most of the rooms have stairs, tight corridors, and no carriers available, it’s much easier for you to take a flexible bag to your room each night.
Each rider can take ONE bag in the support vehicle with maximum of 70 Lit and not more than 50cmX30cmX70cm
Sport bags like that one used in diving or motocross riding, with small wells are perfect. You can find this king of bags in any sport store, they are normally much cheaper then the hard ones, they can be compressed if they are not full.
We recommend you use flexible bags instead of hard luggage. You can transport more things in the soft bags and they are better to optimize the vehicle space and are easier for you to carry to your room.
In the last two pages you will find a recommended luggage check list, hope it’s useful for you
Check List CHECK
ITEM MOTORCYCLE GEAR
NOTES
JACKET
WITH CE PROTECTIONS AND INNER LAYER
TROUSERS
WITH CE PROTECTIONS AND INNER LAYER
HELMET
GOOD QUALITY
GLOVES
MID SEASON + SPARE ONES
BOOTS
RECOMMENDED
RAIN GEAR
RECOMMENDED
HIGH SOCKS / MOTOCROSS TYPE
RECOMMENDED
COOLMAX® T-SHIRT
RECOMMENDED
COOLMAX® UNDERWEAR
RECOMMENDED
SECOND SKIN - TECNICAL WEAR
RECOMMENDED
BUFF OR NECK PROTECTION SUN GLASSES CLOTHES
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 2 PAIRS, ONE ON USE, ONE IN MAIN LUGGAGE
UNDERWEAR SOCKS LONG SLEEVE T-SHIRT SHORTS TROUSERS
MID SEASON / QUICK DRY
SWIMSUIT
QUICK DRY
HEAD WARMER WIND STOP JACKET BELT
RECOMMENDED FLEECE AND WINDSTOPPER LIGHT
SPORT SHOES
LIGHT AND QUICK DRY
MINI TOWEL
LIGHT AND QUICK DRY
FLIP FLOPS OR SANDALS
TO JACUZZIS AND SAUNAS
CHECK
ITEM DOCS and MONEY
NOTES
CREDIT CARD
CHECK EXP. DATES
DEBIT CARD
CHECK EXP. DATES
PASSAPORT
CHECK IF IT IS OK (DATES AND CONSERVATION)
DRIVERS LICENCE / INTERNATIONAL INT.VACCINATION CERTIFICATE TRAVEL INSURANCE COPYES OF ALL DOCUMENTS
MANDATORY RECOMMENDED IF YOU TRAVEL A LOT CLEAR CONTACT NR. AND INSURANCE NR. SCANNED IN YOUR EMAIL OR PRINTS
GADJETS AND UTILITIES
MOBIL PHONE + CHARGER
CHECK ROAMING
SMALL PHOTO CAMERA + CHARGER
LIGHT AND SMALL WITH WIDE ANGLE
REFLEX HR CAMERA + CHARGER
OPTIONAL
GOPRO CAMERA + CHARGER
OPTIONAL
STORAGE CARDS ALARM CLOCK BINOCULARS
SPARE ONES IN SUPPORT VEHICLE RECOMMENDED OPTIONAL
MULTI TOOL LITE
RECOMMENDED
UNIVERSAL ADAPTOR ENERGY PLUG
RECOMMENDED
TABLET PRINTED GUIDE OF PORTUGAL HEALTH AND HYGIENE ESSENCIAL PERSONAL HYGIENE KIT NON ESSENCIAL HYGIENE KIT SUNSCREEN AN LIPSTICK
OPCIONAL RECOMMENDED TOOTHPASTE + TOOTHBRUSH, SOAP, DEODORANT TO SHAVE, COSMETIC CREAMS.. +30 SPF
MOISTURIZER CREAM
RECOMMENDED
REPELLENT
RECOMMENDED
DISPOSABLE WIPES
RECOMMENDED
MEDICAL KIT (GENERAL) MEDICAL KIT (PERSONAL ESSENCIALS) GLASSES
HEADACHES, PAIN KILLERS, MUSCLE RELIEF... SPECIAL PERSONAL MEDICATIONS OPCIONAL
MotoXplorers Lda Certified Tour Operator Turismo de Portugal RNAVT 3631 Nº2242011 Cerified Euro Rental Company 129/2010 IMTT Rua Francisco Lyon de Castro 14C Praça de Entre Campos 1600-311 Lisboa Tel: (+351) 210 143 101 / 914 546 651 Fax: (+351) 211 531 196
Text e images © Motoxplorers Lda 2016 all rights reserved