This self-guided cycling holiday introduces you to an Algarve that’s less big beach resorts and more empty clifftop trails and hushed fishermen’s villages. You’re on your own for this cycling holiday to the Algarve and it's grand. Armed with GPS route directions, maps, top-quality hybrid bikes and luggage transfers, you’ll cycle 30-40km a day along some of the prettiest paths in Portugal. Leisurely does it. Wheel through rural pastureland where shepherds watch over their flocks, lunch in villages stocked with sun-splashed seafood restaurants, pedal through holm oak forests and skim along clifftops laced with head-turner views. Your maps will give you a choice between easy and trickier cycle routes, so you can tailor the trip to your ability. This Algarve self-guided cycling holiday isn’t all rural idyll, though. Your halfway rest day in Lagos gives you the chance to explore the city's 14th-century walls and cobblestone lanes. Rest your calves or do as the locals do and walk to Ponte de Piedade lighthouse. We spend the six nights on this cycling holiday in three very different hotels in Sagres, Lagos and Pedralva, including a modern “designer” hotel with wonderful sea views and a 24-room property that was once a deserted village made up of 24 houses. It has since been converted to retain its character, using traditional building materials and restored furniture. The hotels employ at least 75% of the staff from local residents. Our customers provide income to an area that does already benefit from considerable tourism; however the areas we travel through and some of the hotels we use are relatively small and untouched by mainstream tourism. Evening meals are included for three out of the six nights, on other nights guests are encouraged to eat out in local restaurants. The food at the Pedralva property is generally homemade and uses ingredients grown in the property's kitchen garden. The hotel chefs focus on using locally-sourced seasonal produce where possible, some of which is actually grown at the property itself so has zero food miles! Most of our hoteliers have also demonstrated commitment to sustainable practices in the following areas: waste management, saving water and saving energy - this includes Solar panels, automatic lights, recycling of waste, the option of not washing customer towels every day and a garden for produce. Tap water is also drinkable in Portugal, so plastic mineral water bottles don’t necessarily need to be used (recycled). Few holidays have as little detrimental impact on the environment and local residents as a cycling trip. It is a quiet, low impact activity requiring comparatively little resources to support. All the cycling routes are direct from hotel to hotel so there are no transfers for cyclists to the beginnings of routes (only luggage between hotels). We offer the possibility of travelling by train to and from the UK for this trip and can book this for you if required. Please enquire for further details. As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we've screened this (and every) holiday so that you can travel knowing we've worked to maximise the benefits of your holiday to local people and places, and minimise any negative impacts.
Hotel
A dedicated guide for this region is not available yet.
