Northern Portugal: Laid-back tour

This journey begins and ends in Porto, allowing a carefree arrival and departure. From many European airports, there are inexpensive direct flights to Porto and the airport is 30 minutes by metro, directly connected to the old town. In this way you can get to know the beauties of this lively city right at the beginning of this tour. The narrow nested old town is dominated by the baroque bishop's palace and the cathedral and beautiful pedestrian streets invite you to stroll. The picturesque waterfront on the Douro attracts with many cafes, the famous bridge spans the river and the port wine cellars on the opposite side complete the cityscape.

The morning you spend in Porto, you have time to stroll through the city, visit monuments, shop or relax. In the afternoon the bikes are adjusted and the transfer (2.5 hours) from Porto to Castro Laboreiro in the north of the country takes place. Here you are in the middle of Portugal's only national park, the "Parque Nacional Peneda-Geres", which since 2009 is also classified as a UNESCO protected biosphere reserve. Deer, wolves and golden eagle are still at home here and the large number of streams, waterfalls and reservoirs makes the evergreen park one of the most beautiful on the Iberian Peninsula. The historic center of Castro Laboreiro is completely listed with its traditional houses with granite walls and offers with its village flair a nice contrast to the lively city of Porto.

In Castro Laboreiro, at 1000m altitude, you start for the first stage of cycling through the wooded mountainous landscape of the National Park. The first 25 km you roll almost continuously downhill to Melgaҫo on the river Minho at 200m altitude, located in the northernmost tip of Portugal. Again, the historic center as a whole is a listed building and is determined by its medieval streets, churches and buildings. Two unusual museums in town are worth a visit, the curious museum Espaço Memória e Fronteria, which is dedicated to the history of smuggling in the border area and the in 2005 opened film museum Museu de Cinema de Melgaço - Jean Loup Passek. After this beautiful break, the route leads to the thermal bath of Peso with its beautiful Art Nouveau pavilion and the wooded spa park. From here you continue through an exceptionally green landscape dominated by the vineyards of the famous Vinho Verde. Here is the center of the cultivation of Alvarinho grape, which produces particularly full and high quality white wines and thus makes this region for wine lovers so unique. On small roads you finally cycle to the old fortified.

Today, the Minho characterizes the beautiful and flat cycle stage. Since Melgaҫo, this river has been the centuries-old border between Spain and Portugal and flows through the wide valley between the two countries. Historically fought over again and again, many villages were fortified defensively and especially in the places lying on the route Valença and Cerveira, the old city centers are still completely surrounded by thick fortification walls. You cycle quite relaxed through the river valley on the Minho-cycle path, which runs on a former railway line and was awarded in 2017 as an excellent example of the expansion of a cycle track in Europe. Hence you cycle in the best mood to Caminha, whose pretty old town is completely listed and is traversed by narrow streets.

Today the first kilometers lead directly to the mouth of the Minho into the Atlantic and the contemplative river valley merges into the wide coastal landscape. In Moledo, old mansions testify to the historic splendor of this northernmost seaside resort in Portugal, and soon afterwards Vila Praia de Ancora is reached with its long promenade, which still lives on fishing today. New bike paths, the so-called 'Ecovia', run wonderfully and flat through the dune landscape and after a rather short stage, the port city of Viana do Castello is already reached, which is considered one of the prettiest cities in Portugal. The car-free old town with its numerous Renaissance palaces and charming squares has almost Italian flair and is dominated by the pilgrimage church of Santa Luzia. 742 steps lead up here and also a historic cable car - but it is also possible to ride there by bike and enjoy the view of the city, the mouth of the Lima, the wide sandy beaches and the infinite Atlantic: truly one of the most beautiful panoramas of Portugal!

A full day along the Atlantic coast awaits you today! Varied the route leads on new bike paths through nature, sometimes on small roads through the flat hinterland. In Esposende with its historic center is worth a leisurely lunch break. Then in the afternoon cycle to the place Povoa de Varzim with its 2 km long beach promenade, the old waterfront and the venerable casino that was opened in 1934 in a remarkable classicist building and since then enriches the nightlife. Right on the coast you can cycle the last few meters to Vila do Conde with its special "Museum of Wooden Shipbuilding", which also includes a walk-in old caravel in the harbor.

Once again, the route runs along the flat coast and you cycle on the well-built stilts and bike paths along the beautiful sandy beaches through the vast dune landscape. The picture changes from Matosinhos and the varied route leads through the imposing harbor and then into the middle of the old harbor district with its typical and inexpensive restaurants for seafood. Here you should definitely take a break in one of the restaurant before the Douro estuary is reached in the afternoon and you will cycle always along the shore to the bustling old town of Porto.

By now you have got to know the north of Portugal in the bicycle saddle and learned to love the national park inland, along the Minho on the Spanish border and on the Atlantic to Porto. Nice to know that you can go even further on the Atlantic to Coimbra or equal to Lisbon with Velociped!