Exploring Portugal by Bicycle Story by Rosalie Rayburn Photos courtesy of Paulo Guerra dos Santos
Litoral Norte near Caminha in the north of Portugal If you want to see a country, really see it, you need to appreciate the experience at a slow pace. That is the philosophy that has inspired one man on a 12-year project to create a virtual encyclopedia for cycle touring in Portugal. Paulo Guerra dos Santos Paulo Guerra dos Santos is the force behind Ecovias Portugal, National Cycle Tourism Network, an online guidebook updated annually which has downloadable maps of cycling routes covering more than 5,800 kilometers in every region of Portugal. There are 19 longdistance routes complete with maps, advice on towns and accommodation, and cycling-specific technical information. Cyclists can follow trails that take them to historic towns, past rivers, beaches, through hilly areas or the gently rolling countryside of the Alentejo south of Lisbon or among the orange groves of the Algarve. Routes for all tastes For example, Ecovia 1 is a relatively flat 1,188-kilometer route beginning near the border with the Galician province of Spain in the north, all the way south to the Algarve. Following this route, cyclists will travel from the Minho River, south to the Aveiro Estuary, through the Mondego River lowlands and Tagus River mouth … then onward past the Atlantic beaches of the Alentejo, passing by or through numerous villages and some large cities. 26 Portugal Living Magazine
If you’re interested in castles and fortresses and don’t mind some climbing, Ecovias 4 is a route close to the Spanish border in the east that passes the Serra da Estrela mountain range. Ecovia 5 takes cyclists from near the northern coastal towns of Viana do Castelo and Esposende through parts of the Peneda-Gerês National Park, eventually ending at Mirando do Douro, in the far northeast corner of Portugal. If you want to have the Lisbon experience, you can try Ecovia 15 which starts in the city, then passes through the Moscatel wine growing area near Setubal, via ferry across the Sado River and through the Alentejo on stretches of former railroad pathway (rails-to-trails) to the historic city of Évora and on to Badajoz in Spain. “The route between Lisbon and Évora is good in spring. Alentejo is normally brown, but in spring it is beautiful,” said Santos. Santos has divided the routes into segments of 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) to 50 kilometers (31 miles), so cyclists can have ample time for sight-seeing and enjoying a coffee or meal along the way. “I plan it for peddling in the morning and after lunch you can relax,” Santos said. He wanted to ensure that cyclists could get a meal, find a place to stay, and locate a bicycle repair shop. “This is one of the main points of the network, to start and end in a village or city,” he said. Engineering background Santos, 48, has a background as a civil engineer with specialization in road projects. In 2007 he worked in Finland for several months and cycled everywhere. Returning to Lisbon, he started work on a thesis for
