Portugal - Vineyards of the Douro Valley - Guided Road Cycling Holiday

The Douro region intrinsically linked to its wines. All these wines come from the terraces that surround the river Douro and its tributaries, where walls made of schist support the vineyards full of white and red grapes. As such, the landscape is not only molded and sculpted to the production of wine but also the pace of life of the Douro. If the winter is marked by the calm and quietness, which seems to be reflected in the bare vines, the transition from the summer to the autumn brings the bustle of the harvest with a fall and rise of baskets and pruning shears, on the slopes populated by workers. The slopes, the vast rows of vines and the Douro river, are all part of this unique landscape. These slopes are accompanied by a network of secondary roads linking tiny villages on both sides of the river and these are the roads our tour takes on our journey upstream with lots of ups and downs along the way. You will enjoy finding your rhythm on some long, but generally forgiving climbs.

The middle part of our tour is run on a plateau between the Douro valley and the mountains where we have the opportunity to visit some of the most charismatic historic villages in Europe.

Finally we reach Serra da Estrela Natural Park with its highest point in Torre. Serra da Estrela is an area of rare landscape beauty, with striking mountain drops where a 24km long climb along the old glacier valley will take us to the top at 2,000m.

There is no doubt that this is a challenging tour but it is one which is filled with fantastic rewards; such as our outstanding hotels, where you can relax and reflect at the end of the ride and sample the very best of the Portuguese genuine gastronomy.