Algarve cycle trip 2022

At the end of the Badger Divide, we decided that next cycling trip would be an easy one, of the enjoyable kind: flat, rental bikes and hot, to stock warm sunshine in view of the long winter. Portugal seemed to tick all the boxes so we bought flights to Faro, thinking it would be a walk in the park. Truth is, it was not a walk in the park. Portugal is not ready for the cycling revolution. Still, altogether, we had a great time and definitely bagged a lot of memories and good laugh!

After the success of the SeMal, Paul was in charge of coming up with a route (no pressure). We should have realised that Portugal is not high up in the cycling destinations when he couldn't find much information of any well trotted routes in the web...Still he managed to come up with the tour of the Algarve, which would start and finish in Faro passing through a variety of landscapes, from the hilly interior to the wild west coast and the most touristy south coast following the Eurovelo 1. In fairness it did deliver what was on the box, but we didn't read the small print = car drivers are the worse I've ever seen, even worse than Italians; very angry dogs chasing you aggressively; finding water, or anything really, in the interior was no easy business; whoever plotted that bit of the Eurovelo is a criminal. Apart from that we had a great time!

Day 1 - Faro to Hortas - 50 km 422m up
Sunday 9 October

We flew to Faro on Saturday evening and the flight was only delayed by one hour and we landed at 7pm. A bit spaced out we went for a Chinese buffet in the centre and then straight to bed, we slept like 2 logs despite the heath and woke up exited and eager to get started. 

 

Paul emailed all the bike shops in the area to rent bikes, and the only people who answered were from Fun Bike Algarve. We were lucky in that we got 2 great cross bikes, basically a clone of those we bought for the wedding. Fabio also delivered them at 9am sharp at our hotel in Faro as agreed. They did not come cheap but we were definitely impressed by the service! We brought the bike packing bags and it took a bit to get them set up, but finally at 9.30am we were ready and off we went out of town towards the East.

At work they asked me why we don't usually rent bikes and go through all the trouble of packing them and dragging them along. Well, I got the answer at min 45...you really need to put a lot of trust in people you don't know. We were on a quiet road when all of a sudden I stated to feel something was not quite right, and as soon as I realised I was cycling on the rim I was on the ground...it turns out they fitted the tube for a 29er to a 27.5, and this was the result:

 Not even Paul has ever seen this happening before! Thankfully I was on the flat, there wasn't a car overtaking me, and I managed to break a bit before crashing so the damage was limited: scratched knee, sore toe and wrist but nothing too bad. While I was recovering from the shock Paul got his hands dirty by changing the tube, and only when he pumped the tyre he realised that the tyre itself was torn at the side... We called Fabio as there was no way we could fix that (Paul fitted a €10 note where it was torn but that quick fix wouldn't have survived long) and in 1h he came to our rescue with another wheel. My confidence at that stage was low and I was definitely not going fast, but we hadn't had any other issues with the bikes since, they actually performed great despite the terrain we went through.

Just before midday we were on the go again and we joined the Eurovelo. We went on a nice flat path along the salt fields, we saw flamingos, many waders and crabs and even an upupa. After that it got a bit boring following minor roads, and then at 1 pm we got to Tavira, described as the most pretty town in Algarve. It was pretty indeed and there we found tourists again.

 We had nice lunch of spaghetti at a bar, it took a bit to be served (nobody is really in a hurry here!) but we didn't mind at all, it was so pleasant to be sitting in the shade while I was still assessing the damage. The waitress was so kind as to bring some stuff to clean the wound, and after lunch we went to the shop where I found plasters to cover it (the gravel bits were very dusty...). At 2.30pm we finally set off again heading towards the interior by following the river inland. There were no cars around and it really felt enjoyable. It then started climbing, and for a short while we got on a gravel road to then rejoin a minor road. It was a very quiet and peaceful afternoon, but a short one as at 3.30pm we reached our destination: Quinta do Marco, a beautiful place in the middle of nowhere, well kept and with very welcoming staff. We had a great room with balcony, from where we could see Tavira and the see. It was a bit too chilly for the swimming pool so we just wandered around the mansion and spent some time foraging on berries and on a swing. Dinner was also nice. We got some vegan linguine, while outside the sunset and birds chores turned into night and silence. We had a full moon and realised this was the best way to start the holiday, despite the crash...

Happy times on the swing

Day 2 - Hortas to Silves - 77km 1002m up
Monday 10 October

Sometimes you laugh and sometimes you cry, and sometimes you do both at the same time! At least after today Paul will never mention again that we should move to Portugal despite its favourable tax regime...

We started the day with a beautiful breakfast and views and started the cycle with Rayner's mantra: no flatties, no crashies, no wemmies! The first 4km were on a quiet road and the temperature was perfect. Then we got on a gravel road which was ok, and then we started following the Via Algarviana, marked with yellow and red signs, and sometimes white and red, and sometimes there were no signs at all. That bit was really beautiful, like cycling on a narrow path made if concrete below arches of vegetation, and all for us. The memories from there are a bit blurred, I think we rejoined a quiet road and ended up in the shade of an oak tree by an abandoned house where we got a short break trying to figure out where we were. 

First pastel de nata

 

 

 

Then we set off again, on a paved road. There was a lot of climbing and at some stage we got on top of a hill from where we could see all the surrounding hills, which was quite cool. It was hot and at 10 am I was already sweating. We only had 1l of water each and were conscious we should top that up at every fountain we would find. Pity that all the fountains were not working, and there was no bar that we could find either. We even went up all the way to a village called Tor but nothing there either, which was a bit disappointing and slightly worrying... 

 

yes but where???

 

We checked Google map and there was a bar a few km up a hill (rated 4.7) so we headed that way as lunch time was also approaching. The bar was there, but it was for local alcoholics, like the fridge was packed full of beer only, of 1 kind. The old lady running it told us to keep going 4km up the road for restaurants... pity we were going to the other direction!

We kept going on bumpy roads for a while until finally we found a kind of small fountain which was half working. The irony was that because of its angle, when trying to fill in his bottle Paul lost half of the water in the bottle... At that stage out of nowhere we met a Mexican guy who was cycling with his German wife and was looking for water too. We felt like wild creatures meeting at the only water source in a Savannah. We had a nice chat with them and really enjoyed meeting someone, as so far, apart from the old lady, we haven't met a soul. We wished them luck and started a long and steep descent, and at the bottom we realised that we missed the junction we wanted so we ended up getting on the single track that Paul had originally plotted, but that we couldn't be bothered to follow... when it's destiny it's destiny! 

  

It was narrow and a bit rocky at times but we managed to cycle most of it, and it was just a few km long. When we got out of it we found ourselves on a road, that lead to a bigger road, and finally to a bar! The bar had the look of the first one, but at least when we entered we could see signs of foods and drinks other that beer. It was empty apart from 3 old men sitting outside, and a guy eating a sandwich inside. I asked the lady if she served food, and then apologetically I told her, half statement half question: vegetarianos? That triggered a loud laugh from the guy at the table, but at the end we managed to negotiate bread with cheese, butter and even tomato!! That was actually very nice and cheap since we pay like €5 for the sandwiches and the drinks. We had a good break there while recovering from the morning ride, and as we were setting off one of the old man outside told us to be careful with Portuguese drivers as they are all mad and dangerous... as we hadn't noticed it by then!

 We set off again and from there it was gravel of mix quality, alternated to bits of roads, and a lot of dogs barking at us but thankfully all locked, I don't like those places as I'm terrorised of dogs chasing me. We even passed through a village called Purgatorio, I guess that summarised the day! 

 

By 3pm I grew quite tired of this all but we only had 10km left. Poor Paul had to cope with my grumpiness and dragged me all the way, thank you!!! 

 

Finally we got on a good road and turned left down on a cycling lane of some sort, and then suddenly we could see the castle of Silves in front of us, and the town which we approached from above. That lifted my spirit as I knew the day was almost over, but when it's not the day it's not the day...it turns out the path disappeared down a cliff as it was completely eroded. That meant turning back up the way, find another walking rocky path and drag the bikes down, with my barefoot shoes and half broken toe that was not nice! But who cared, we basically made it and headed down to the river and past the Roman bridge where our hotel was. That was by far the weirdest check-in ever...there was no reception but was done outside the garage. The hotel was a bit run down but overall we have seen worse. 

 

We went to get some goodies at Lidl (food and water in abundance finally!!) And to check out town which was pretty indeed. Silves was the capital of Portugal at the Moors times. We even found a restaurant with a vegan menu and had a great dinner feasting on veggies. The after dinner walk took us up to the castle in empty roads, it felt like we were on holiday again. Shortly after we got back to the weird hotel, the unthinkable happened: it started pouring down and it would last all night. The day after we were heading to the mountains with more rain forecasted, but what's the point in getting worried for something you can't control? We slept sound.

Day 3 - Silves to Monchique - 34km 1100m up
Tuesday 11 October

We woke up with a clear sky and forecasts of afternoon rain, way better than what we expected. Surprise number 2 was a nice breakfast with plenty of fresh fruit and delicious fig jam. We even found persimmons, like the super ripe ones that I would have eaten in Italy, that made my day!

We left the creepy hotel at 9am, walked on the old bridge and opted to cycle on the pavement all the way out of town, no way we would have survived that road... The funny thing is that not even 10 min into the cycle we were out of town on a deserted road. The kind of lush vegetation reminded me a lot of Cuba, and with the rain of the previous night we were overwhelmed by the smell of eucalyptus all day along, and there were no cars at all. The day was looking up, in every sense since we had a lot of climbing to do too!

The first leg took us on a rolling ,wide and empty road, surrounded by deep red hills from every side. We then took a gravel road which was pushing the bike steep. The descent was equally steep and we really went down slow, reminiscent of the fall of the first day...

We then reached a paved road again, big and wide but empty. From there the proper climb started and gosh it was steep! I don't know the gradient but it went easily above 10% in places. That was a long granny gear day, and it meant that we were gaining elevation quickly. Suddenly I looked behind and I could see the ocean. All the hills were now below us and that made up for the effort and the buckets of sweat. By then we were already in more than 2h into the cycle and we haven't met a soul, let alone cyclists, and I have no idea why as it was a very good climb that in other countries would have attracted a lot of them.

 

 

We then got to the junction with the Picota road and stopped for a bite and to see the options. While climbing felt easy the day before, today neither of us felt in great shape. We were both still recovering from some bug / cold and my head felt heavy, but light too... Anyway, we thought we could keep following the paved road which would take to the big one, but neither of us fancied being run over by a lorry so we opted for the original route and kept climbing up. We got on a gravel road in really bad conditions but got out of there soon to join a minor road. This was bumpy but very scenic contouring the big hill and showing us the hills below as well as the far away see. From there it was a short downhill to Monchique, which we reached shortly after noon.

 

 

We only covered 32km with 1000m of positive elevation but we were both destroyed, so we decided to have a chilled out afternoon and skip the part 2 of the day that would have seen us cycle the loop to reach the highest mountain in Algarve at 900m. Given the traffic around I didn't have any second thoughts nor regrets. We went to stock up on emergency treats at the ipermarché, and then cycled up to the centre of town where we had a lovely lunch at the Velochique bar. Finally we saw a few more cyclists (3), which is always reassuring when being on roads... 

 

We were only at 500m above see level but we could feel the chill in the air, especially when the sky got cloudy... Our hotel, Estalagem Abrigo da Montanha, was 2km out of town up the road, it started very steep and ten got a bit better. Half way through it started raining but we managed to get to destination without getting soaked. The hotel was a bit rundown but had a lot of character, and we soon settled in our little room, after having a cold shower. At that stage it started pouring down again with thunders and clouds which would hide the views, it was soooo cool, and it made us feel less guilty for cancelling the post lunch climb, we would have seen nothing anyway!

We thought the hotel would offer food but it didn't, so we walked down the road where there were a couple of restaurants. The best one was fully booked, while we were the only two people in the other one...it was not exceptional but edible, Paul got a mushroom omelette and me a veggie burger, like burger but no bum, which worked perfectly for both of us. Walking up that road at night was a bit scary but there were not many cars at that time, and with the rain finally passed we could see the lights of all the far away villages along the coast.

Day 4 - Monchique to Vila do Bispo - 70km 853m up
Wednesday 12 October

I woke up super excited at the idea of leaving the interior and getting on the coast were we would join the Eurovelo 1. I went out on the balcony and was given the good morning by a sea of roosters, which I absolutely love, back to Cuba I thought! We had a nice but weird breakfast at the sound of Latin American music. We were the only 2 people there, and lots of cats. Apart from the soluble coffee, the rest of the breakfast was nice enough and I even got to eat another super ripe persimmon. The guy running the place was there too having a slow breakfast, he was still there eating when we went to return the keys 1/2h later.

Spot the 3 cats in the picture

We started the day by climbing up the hill a 200m of positive elevation, and then turned left down a minor road, paved and contouring the mountain. Day 1 was the crush, day 2 was the purgatory, day 3 was the rain, and day 4 was...the dogs! My worse nightmare... They were mostly behind gates, but a middle sized one was left loose and chased me on the heels. That was not nice and I was in a bit of a shock, and despite the rest of the route being on the scenic side, with the forest of eucalyptus and their scent, the only thing I could see was the potential of dogs coming out of every corner, so basically I saw nothing.

We soon reached the road to Aljezur, we thought it would be busy with cars but actually it was empty and that was by far the best bit of the trip so far! It was a total of 33km, mostly descent, and we covered them in 1 h, finally some truly pleasant cycling! It almost made me forget about the dog attack...

We didn't have many expectations about Aljezur but it turned out to be a pretty village, with a nice square where we stopped for a cappuccino and pastel de nata. Paul got an xxxxxl croissant and only managed to eat 1/2, the rest would come up handy later on... Reluctantly we left the nice café, passed through town and reached the other side which could have been the old side of town, like all cobbled alleys going up to an old castle, where we joined the Eurovelo 1, which we would follow all the way to Faro! Finally it started to feel more like Spain than Cuba.

We started on a bumpy road which we soon left to get on a gravel one. My excitement was short lived as no long after we were on it, another big dog of the aggressive and territorial kind chased us on our heels again. At that stage I just really wanted to go home, and I was so thankful to Paul for getting me out of there in one piece. I was still shaking when a second dog appeared but we were walking and he didn't seem to mind our presence. It took much longer to recover from this attack and I spent all the time on that gravel road (which Paul loved) seeing dogs everywhere. To top it up, with the rain of the day before we also started to find big poodles along the way, or it was rocky or washed out, I just couldn't wait to get out of there! 

 

We haven't met many cyclists by then, just a guy touring on a Brompton who was coming from the opposite side (and understandingly didn't look very happy...), and once we finally got out of the gravel and just as we reached the village of Carrapateira we were overtaken by a guy from Basel. He had been cycling all the way from Basel with Faro being his final destination, his tyres were basically see through so he couldn't cycle on gravel any more... Out of the few cyclists we saw around we were by far the better off! We wished him luck (honest, no idea how he managed to keep going on them) and went to find a restaurant to recover a bit and have some food. By then we reached the Atlantic west coast and its cold wind which was hitting the coast and bringing big waves (plenty of surfers there!). Luckily it was a Northern wind which meant tail wind for us!

We had a lovely lunch in a small place, me a pasta with pesto and Paul veggie curry, and a big cold drink. With a full stomach everything looked better and off we went for the 8km loop by the coast, where we finally took some scenic pictures showing all the cliffs along the coast. It felt and looked particularly good as we got there from the mountains, all in 1/2 day!

 

 

The last 14km were on a narrow and busy road, it started with a climb and then it was basically all flat and straight. The car drivers were awful to say the least, but at least we had a strong tail wind which made it fast. We also saw quite a few tourers going up the other direction which always feels a bit reassuring (not really, they all just drive as dickheads). While on it I was balancing the risk of being eating alive by dogs on the gravel roads, and the one of being run over by a car. I think I still prefer the latter.

We made it to destination and it was not even 3pm. We went to snack at the bar while waiting for the check in at 4pm. Paul was given the equivalent of 2 jars of olives and 1/2 kg of bread all for 2 euros, and me I got an ice cream. The town was not particularly exiting and didn't look like it had much to offer, but our hotel was actually very nice, modern and clean, we still can't understand why it's there in the first place. There was a restaurant offering vegan meals but it was fully booked, so we ended up at another where again we were the only people (although this time a few more would arrive later on). I had a great plate of grilled vegetables. The cool thing about Portugal is that, despite being vegetarians, we ate way better than expected, and never struggled too much to find something nice. That was another good night, but I started to feel very sceptical of this Eurovelo...

Back to the hotel we watched a documentary on the discovery channel about some super expensive and difficult physics experiment they did in Geneva. I understood close to nothing, the only enlightening bit being that according to Einstein's formula E = mc², when it reach the speed of light, the protons, instead of going any faster, which is impossible, get bigger instead. Finally we can explain why we get heavier every time we go on a cycling trip. We must be going faster than the light!

Day 5 - Vila do Bispo to Portimão - 64km 680 m up
Thursday 13 October

Finally a day when everything went smooth, and the cycling was actually enjoyable. Breakfast was late at 8.30am, and a bit disappointing but we haven't lost nay weight either. We originally planned to cycle the loop down to Cabo Sao Vicente and Sagres, but that was a touristy road and we had enough of bad drivers so we opted out. That would spare us 30km and make the day shorter, but we knew there was a good beach in Portimao and maybe I would even get the chance to finally wear my bikini. We set off at 9.30am and it was already hot. We left town and the first hour was a roller-coaster in quiet roads and hills, alternating roads and tarmac and no dogs for once. We also passed by Praia Grande which was a kind of natural park with storks and waders. We met no cyclists ...I wonder why? We reached the nice town of Luz with its superb beach, and by then we definitely needed a cold drink so we stopped at a café along the promenade for a smoothie and just to soak in the pleasant holiday atmosphere. 

 

 

 

From there it was a short way to the busy town of Lagos, a big resort made mostly of hotels and villas. It was too early for lunch so we moved on, on gravel first then we joined a big road which thankfully has a wide shoulder for cyclists. We also passed by some kind of stork reservoir and there were a lot! It was really hot and we stopped for a quick break in the shade of a tree.

We then moved on until we reached Alvor up a little hill, and the last few km to get there were hair raising, praying all the saints to let us live a bit longer. Alvor was nice and popular with tourists so we didn't have problems finding a place for lunch. We had 2 veggie burgers and cold drinks, and were just relieved to be out of the 2pm sun. From there we went down to the coast which was made mostly of cliffs, there were paths to go down to the beaches, and by the time we realised that that was the beach we wanted to go to, it was too late as we were already down by the river in Portimão, oh well, my bikini will need to wait!

We read that Portimão was very industrial and run down, and were surprised to find a nice town instead, with a long and wide walk by the river, and many nice bars along it. We checked in at the Next Inn in the centre, the best we could find and for the price it was actually a very good bargain. We lost no time and after the shower we went for a walk to check out town, and for the huge and delicious coppa di gelato that I've dreaming all day. We then sat on a bench in front of a fountain where the seagulls were having a bath, getting the last sunshine of the day while writing our log, that was really pleasant. Back to the hotel we met a heavily loaded tourer who cycled from Sweden, of the kind that you cycle 20km and then go to the beach, he really didn't look rushed at all! We wondered how he managed to get through all that rough stuff with all that weight, and again we realised we were the better off out of all the cyclists we met.

We then went out for dinner and got the sunset lights while walking down the river, and then went for a Chinese buffet that was the clone of the one in Faro...I wonder why I never lose weight when on cycling tours!

Day 6 - Portimão to Faro - 80km 700m up
Friday 14 October

Finally the last day of cycling! I didn't even care what the road would throw at me as I knew every kilometre was one less to the end.

We had an early breakfast at 7.30am and one hour later we were on the go. We pushed the bikes out of town to the river along the cobbled alleys, and then crossed the bridge out of town. I also spotted a huge stork nest up a chimney, they really like it there!

From there we were on a very busy road and I'm not sure why we are still alive. At km 20 we reached the beach at another resort town (it was all resorts, golf courses and villas on that coast) of Almacao de Pera. The temperature was perfect and I could see people walking along the beach and was thinking why we can't be them? But we wanted the bikes so on we went, and leg 2 was actually much nicer on quiet roads. It was a quick 15k to the next big town of Albufeira. The route didn't actually took us down to the beach so we stopped at a local bar along the road for a pastel the nata (with cinnamon!) and a cold drink. That was the best stop, the owner was super friendly, and apart from us there was only another Scottish couple who were finishing their pint of beer. When I realised they were drinking beer I looked at the watch and saw it was not even 11.30am...

Pastel de nata number 45

Leg 3 was back to shity and busy roads, with occasional shoulder or some kind of cycling lane. At some stage we left the busy road and as we approached Quarteira we found ourselves following a contorted network of cycling lanes which eventually brought us to a long beach in time for lunch. There was no breeze and it must have been 30 degrees, I was melting.

  

We left at 2pm ready for the last 20km . This was the proper finisher, it went from bad to worse and still digging...first we were on what looked like a minor road, but somehow it was packed with cars both ways. Then we got on a gravel road which was the worse ever, either sandy, or washed out, or with rocks, occasionally all at once. I kept reminding myself that every km was one less and just went on slowly. Then we got at the start of what looked like the best cycling path so far, but it was locked with gates. There was a man walking the same way and he showed us how to bypass the gates. When I asked him why it was closed, since there were no works or no obvious reasons, he replied: this is Portugal! We then made it to the Western end of Faro and from there got to town via a back road which had huge cobbles, like I was constantly jumping on the bike. We got to the harbour, Paul wanted to cycle to our hotel but I declared myself done with, the cycling trip was officially over, what a relief!!

The end!!

We had a nice room with balcony at the Roots Hotel and washed all the bags. Fabio was supposed to pick up the bikes at 4pm. We left them at the reception and when we went down at 4 they were gone already, this is efficiency!

We spent the evening wandering around, had a nice vegan meal in a restaurant, checked out town a bit more and then we fell in a deep sleep, relieved at the fact that there would be no more cycling!

Day 7 - Faro
Saturday 15 October

The flight was at 6pm (which became 7.30pm) and we had a full day in front of us. We started it by going on a 1 hour boat trip to the Ria Formosa National Park with our guide Fernando. The see was still and it looked idyllic, and Paul got to see a spoonbill. We then got the bus to Faro beach where we finally spent 1 hour walking along and sunbathing. One hour was definitely enough so we then went for lunch, and then walked for 40 min to the airport in scorching sunshine. We were melting but then we knew it would be the last heath we would get before next year and even enjoyed the melting experience !

Walk to the airport

  

Overall we had a great time, and we certainly got back with a lot of memories (not all of the right kind...), but I doubt we will even go to Portugal again, me I stick to Spain!