Costa da Prata - Rota 1
A segunda e terceira maiores cidades de Portugal unidas por bicicleta
Costa de Prata é o nome dado à região costeira que engloba o litoral de Portugal entre a barrinha de Esmoriz e o concelho de Torres Vedras, no distrito de Lisboa.
Este passeio de bicicleta de 6 dias percorre, pela costa, uma das mais importantes ligações entre a cidade do Porto e a "capital" da região centro do Portugal, Coimbra.
Teremos a possibilidade de conhecer algumas características que tornam a cidade do Porto, uma das mais importantes a nível cultural e histórico. Percorrendo a costa atlântica conhecerá diversas maravilhas naturais, históricas, gastronómicas e as diversas cidades costeiras que se encontram distribuídas ao longo do caminho até à "cidade do conhecimento", Coimbra. Coimbra é uma cidade famosa pela sua nobre universidade, os seus monumentos históricos e, claro, o Fado de Coimbra.
Descrição da rota:
- Plana durante todo o percurso, apenas com uma subida de 4Km no quinto dia.
- 65% ciclovias, 20 % caminhos em terra suaves e campos agrícolas. 5 % de ruas pavimentadas com pouco tráfego.
Itinerary:
Dia 1 - Recepção no Porto
Dia 2 - Porto - Furadouro ( 47 Km)
Dia 3 - Furadouro - Aveiro ( 45 KM)
Dia 4 - Aveiro - Praia de Mira (40 Km)
Dia 5 - Praia de Mira - Figueira da Foz ( 50 Km)
Dia 6 - Figueira da Foz - Coimbra ( 55 Km)
Dia 7 - Transfere
O primeiro dia será passado no Porto, uma antiga cidade portuária outrora um posto do Império Romano, impregnado de história e tradição. Localizado ao longo do Vale do Rio Douro, no norte de Portugal, o Porto é uma das cidades europeias mais antigas e o seu centro histórico foi proclamado Património Mundial pela Unesco em 1996. Uma visita guiada (incluída) permitirá explorar esta cidade e toda a sua arte e tradição, como também os tradicionais azulejos azuis e brancos nas igrejas e casas. Inclui também alguns destaques contemporâneos, incluindo a livraria que inspirou, com os seus belíssimos detalhes, J. K. Rowling enquanto escrevia “Harry Potter” e o Palácio da Bolsa. Hotel 4 *: Porto Trindade Hotel
A saída do Porto faz-se por uma das pontes mais famosas de Portugal, a Ponte Don Luís, entrando assim na cidade de Vila Nova de Gaia. A origem desta cidade remonta a um castro celta, posteriormente integrada no Império Romano. Aqui pode-se visitar as mundialmente famosas adegas de vinho do Porto. Já em Miramar poderá observar a capela do Senhor da Pedra. Neste monumento, construído no topo de uma rocha situada na costa do oceano Atlântico, desfruta-se de vistas incríveis para o mar e para a praia de areia branca que se estende em frente. Há hora de almoço pode-se provar o verdadeiro gosto do mar, com o famoso peixe fresco de Espinho. Passando por Ovar, não se pode deixar de provar o conhecido pão-de-ló! Em Portugal fazer pão é uma parte integrante da cultura Portuguesa, assim como o é a produção de vinho, queijo e pastelaria. Terá também a oportunidade de ver a famosa Capela dos Passos, classificada como Monumento de Interesse Nacional e ainda diversos exemplos de azulejos típicos portugueses, não só nas fachadas de edifícios públicos, como também em casas de propriedade privada. Hotel 4 *: Furadouro Hotel
Seguindo pela costa em direcção ao sul, percorrerá uma estrada secundária durante grande parte do dia, atravessando várias aldeias de pescadores, incluindo a Torreira, possuidora de uma longa e fantástica praia. Atravessará ainda a famosa reserva natural das Dunas de São Jacinto, uma tranquila reserva natural de 6,7 quilómetros quadrados, equipada com trilhos e áreas de observação de pássaros. O esticão final será iniciado via ferry boat, atravessando a ria, para finalmente realizar os quilómetros finais até Aveiro. Aqui pode-se visitar o Mosteiro de Jesus, observar os azulejos da estação de comboio e fazer um passeio de barco pela Ria de Aveiro. Hotel 4 *: Moliceiro Hotel
Neste dia a rota leva-o a Ílhavo, localidade da empresa Vista Alegre, onde se fabrica porcelana portuguesa, fundada em 1815. Pode-se apreciar a fantástica paisagem da famosa Costa Nova do Prado, onde as praias se interligam com o ambiente rural, criando um ambiente único. Hotel 4 *: Maçarico Hotel
A pouco conhecida e bela Lagoa da Barrinha é o foco deste dia. A paisagem progride desde a beira-do-mar e da grande extensão de dunas de areia, até à lagoa e às florestas aromáticas de pinho. A Rainha da Costa de Prata, Figueira da Foz, é o destino do dia. É aqui que o belo Rio Mondego se junta ao Oceano. Hotel 4 *: Sweet Atlantic Hotel
No último dia de ciclismo a rota afasta-se do mar, mas continua sempre ao longo do rio Mondego, terminando em Coimbra. Esta cidade é muito famosa pela sua Universidade, a mais antiga de Portugal e uma das mais antigas da Europa. Ao longo do tempo Coimbra moldou a sua imagem para se tornar a conhecida “Cidade dos estudantes ". Hotel 4 *: Tivoli Coimbra Hotel
*Temporada:
- LS - Low season: Nov 01 a Mar 25
- RS - Regular season: Mar 26 a 25 Jun e Set 26 to 31 Oct
- HS - High Season: Set 01 a 25 Set
- SS - Summer Season: Jun 26 a August 30
Observações:
- Preços baseados para 2 pessoas que partilham o mesmo quarto standard;
- Quartos vista mar (quando disponiveis) ou quartos premium, preços sob consulta
- Preços podem sofrer alterações devido a alta temporada, feriados ou fins de semana
- Bebidas não incluídas ao almoço ou jantar quando incluídas no package
- Se em quarto triplo com os pais Crianças até 10 anos - desconto de 35%. Crianças dos 11 aos 14 anos - 20% de desconto. Crianças dos 15 aos 17 anos - 15% de desconto.
Extras
- Bicicleta Elétrica: 240€
- Suplemento para quarto individual: LS: 390€, RS: 420€, HS: 450€, SS.480€
- Viajante único: 200 €
- Noites extra: sob consulta
- Preço para Grupo privado: sob consulta
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What People Are Saying
Mary Alice, Seatle, USA,Great experience for 70+ year old couple. Loved tips for restaurants, museums and birding spots. Great support. Mary from Seattle
Grant Hart, Canada,Great experience and adventure. Hotels accommodations were great. Sergio provided great support even though we were self-guided. The route had some rough roads that might be better for mountain bikes
Liakat, USA,First time doing a self guided tour. Great experience, mostly ridding on bike paths along the water or in low traffic areas. Beautiful scenery. Sergio and his team were excellent, from fitting the bikes, explaining the route etc. checked up on us every evening to make sure we were ok. I would recommend this easy to follow route with Top Bike tours to first time riders.
Michael Ruck, Canada,Top bike Tours of Portugal provided an exceptional experience for an unguided, independent bike tour of the Portugal coast between Porto and Coimbra. Top Bike Tours set up the route and hotels along the way, arranged for our luggage to be picked up each morning and transferred to the next hotel. They provided well maintained Trek bikes, and a computer that had each day's ride programmed in (via a variety of trails/bike lanes/secondary roads that keep you off the main roads for most of the ride). We started in in Porto, and rode down to Coimbra over 5 days where we dropped the bikes off at our hotel for TopBike to pick up. Sergio and Top Bike also arranged extra hotel days in Porto at the start of the ride, and additional days in Coimbra and Lisbon at the end of the ride.
I'd highly recommend them for biking in Portugal, either for an independent trip, or on one of their guided tours.
John Park, Toronto, Canada,Porto to Coimbra bike tour, self guided.
Outstanding! Would definitely use this outfit again.
Sergio was quick to respond to emails and cheerfully made last minute changes to our hotel reservations that we were forced to make due to unforseen circumstances.
Bikes, directions, hotels were all four stars, top notch. We upgraded to superior room/ocean view and didnt' regret it. Sergio was generous allowing us to use the bikes a day previous to our tour in porto and two days after our tour in Coimbra with no extra charge. He also added "bar ends" to my handlebars at my request with no extra charge. He checked in with us each day to make sure all was good.
My only quibble was the GPS device used for navigating. the screen is small and hard to see in the sun. Sergio made a correct point though, that these devices last longer than a cell phone on an all day journey. I found it easier to use my cell phone to navigate with Ridewithgps.com route, (that sergio also provides the link to these routes!). but my cell phone wouldn't last the whole day biking. Also, when it rained I had to put away my cell phone, while we could leave the GPS device still on the handlebars without worry. Next time I will strap an auxillary battery to the bike so I can use my cell phone the whole day to navigate with ridewithgps route.
Coimbra was our final destination. We spent three nights there. In retrospect two would have been better, or even just one. . Easy train from Coimbra to Lisbon. (side note: If you do Sintra on your tour, I would do at least two nights there. Sintra was the highlight of our portugal tour. It was a train day trip for us from lisbon. we liked it better than lisbon).
We are hoping to come back soon and do porto to santiago compostela tour with Sergio.
Peter Birks, New Zeland,We have recently completed the Silver Coast bike tour. We chose to have E Bikes but I hardly used it as virtually flat the whole way. From the first decision to do the tour we were more than happy with the communication had with Sergio. On the first morning we met Sergio in the hotel and went through the itinerary for us. We then had a bike fitting and a practice ride. This was followed by Tiago taking us on a walking tour of Porto guiding us around all the historic places of interest ending up in a local port warehouse for an explanation on the life of making Port then came the tasting. On the morning of departure Sergio rode with us out of the city and sent us on our way. All of the accommodation was 4 star and of excellent choice. The riding was flat and some small amount on roads but most on cycle ways. Interesting riding along the coast small villages large towns through fire ravaged forest beautiful beaches. Having a GPS is an advantage to help navigate some of the towns. 2nd to last day there is a challenge but once at the top of the hill amazing views both up and down the coast. We did have a problem with one of the bikes and is was no problem for Sergio to drive down and replace the bike for us. I can highly recommend Fold n Visit and like that it is a small and personal company. Thank you Sergio and Tiago it was a great experience not to be forgotten.
Neil, USA,If you’ve ever contemplated a bike tour this is the trip for you. Sergio and Henrique provided a fabulous experience. The pace each day was great, the accommodations were top notch and the food each evening made this the perfect active vacation. We saw beautiful scenery, quaint little villages, miles and miles of beaches. One high light was watching the sardine fishermen being in their catch one evening.
Mbcbwy, USA,My husband and I just completed the Silver Coast bike tour with Sergio and Henrique last week. It was our first fully supported bike tour. The tour was wonderful! Everything was pre-arranged from lodging ( 4-5 star resorts along the coast) to meals and transportation and other details by Sergio and his staff. They were fun to be with and guided us through routes that had little or no traffic. Their historical knowledge led us to interesting museum and sites along the way. There was always time for a coffee break! I would highly recommend Top Bike Tours for your Portugal bike trip!
kevin Boyle, USA,I thoroughly enjoyed my sole, self-directed bike tour from Porto to Coimbra. The tour offers a nice balance of coastal scenery, historical sites, museums and beach time. The TBTP staff are friendly and helpful and the hotels were high quality and well located. I would gladly ride with TBTP again!
Gartex, Clyde, New Zeland,Recently we completed the Silver Coast ride. We had E Bikes which were a bonus at the end of the day.
We met Sergio at our hotel for our bike briefing which went through our ride. Sergio was very thorough. We then had a bike fitting at his shop. Tiago took us on a walking tour of the city which was extremely informative showing us the sights of the city. Sergio escorted us to the river to get us safely on our way and we took it from there with the GPS.
Thoroughly recommend, great service, backup and staff.
Steve, USA,Top Bike Tours company of Porto Portugal was recommend to my wife and I by Darren Alff, "The Bicycle Touring Pro" (see Youtube). We were pleasently surprised to find the 5 day guided Silver Coast Tour exceeded our expectations. Our guides Sergio and Henrique took care of every detail witch included booking the trip, picking us up at the airport, providing 4-5 star hotels during the trip, excellent rental bicycles, meals and side tours. If you are looking for an economical guided European bicycle tour, look no further...
Herb, USA,I learned about the Silver Coast tour through Darren Alff, "The Bicycle Touring Pro" (see Youtube) last Fall (2018) and recently completed it. Sergio and Henrique had it all planned out and provided wonderful support throughout. I was truly impressed with all the arrangements involved, from the pickup at the airport, the hotel reservations, the lunch stops, the evening meals. I don't see how they made all of this so affordable. I'm thinking of booking another tour with Top Bike Tours next year.
Gayle, New Zeland,We did the 6 day Silver Coast Bike Tour, down the Portugal Coast from Porto to Coimbra. As I did not choose this trip myself, my expectations were 40/100. Once I got home and took in the whole experience, my expectation exceeded by 100%. I have travelled and done a few things, but none that has given me such a hands on, incredible experience like this. Sergio couldn't do enough for us. We had an awesome trail on the GPS, gave us great bikes AND WE NEVER FELT UNSAFE. The areas we biked into you wouldn't come across by car, and the local things you saw on the way I can't begin to describe, the magnificent whole scenario.