Quick survey Does any one think that Portugal is A) Worth a visit B) Worth a visit on a bike
Yes. Definitely. Don't know about the north, but the roads inland from the Algarve are mostly very well surfaced, very twisty and very quiet. I don't think I'd take a bike over, though - it's around 600 miles from Santander - we have flown over and hired in the past, though.
Very much so. Only place I've been to so far where I returned the rental car with more dents than it had when I picked it up...
(SteveH) wrote in : Why ever not? Make the journey there and back part of the trip. You can ride through the Picos d'Europe and stop over for a few nights. Then spend a week in Portugal and take a different route back through Spain. Should make a nice 2 week holiday.
A pal of mine just bought a house/villa thing over there simply because it's a great biking place, so I'd say it was worth a punt. -- Beav VN 750 Zed 1000 OMF# 19
Ok, I'll come clean, I've just been there and wanted to know what others thought before I ranted I'll not rant about the drivers, as that is a given. If anyone was to ask me the 2 questions above, I would say no, give it a miss. After 3 days of rain in north Spain we decided to head south where at least it promised to be warmer. The Algarve seemed a good bet. 2 days from Santiago seemed fair. After a short spell on the toll roads to Porto we tried the IC (free stuff), tolls are *very* expensive in Portugal (and so is the petrol). We then got shafted by an IC that became an IP with no warning and failed to collect a poorly signed ticket. That cost 20euros per bike for 5 km. I must confess to going all "British" at the toll booth and was a touch "narky" shall we say. Had it been in France I reckon I could have sweet talked the 2 young ladies into just 1 excess charge, but it seemed "rules were rules" and it was all my fault for not spotting the (to them) obvious signs. A picture of a man who appeared to be putting in a credit card (which apparently is a ticket). Back on the non toll roads, following the poor signs while dodging pot holes was a pain in the arse. Also as we went down the Atlantic coast nothing looked inviting so we headed off towards Lisbon. Another pot hole strewn town. One thing the Portugese are really bad at signing is hotels, they may give a general direction towards one , but then leave it at that. After an hour of fruitless searching we headed over the bridge and finally found one in some shithole that charged 96euros for a double (long day, tired). The town was full of dog shit and rubbish, no one seemed to care. The roads to Faro where somewhat better, but still places did not look clean or cared for. We stopped near Faro at a campsite in Fuetsa, cheap , but another uncared for shit covered mess. We went into Faro for the day, sorry just not impressed. No effort seems to be made (although beach was nice enough). I'd say they are a 3rd world nation trying to be 2nd world. After 3 days we gave up and went back to Spain, what a very pleasent place that is in comparision.
