The Silver Coast - Porto to Coimbra
The second and third largest cities of Portugal linked by bike
Silver Coast is the name given to the coastal region encompassing the coast of Portugal between the mouth of the river Douro in Vila Nova de Gaia and the municipality of Torres Vedras, in the district of Lisbon.
This cycling holiday ride will take you through one of the most important links along the coast between the city of Porto and the "capital" of the central region of Portugal, Coimbra.
See some characteristics that make Porto one of the most important cities (culturally and historically). You will be going down the Atlantic coast, visiting wonderful places (natural, historical and gastronomic), through several coastal cities, to the "city of knowledge" Coimbra, famous for its noble university, historical monuments and of course Coimbra's Fado.
Route description:
- Flat route, with only one climb in the 5th day for about 4 kms.
- 65 % bike lanes, 20% smooth dirt roads and sometimes into the agriculture fields, 5 % paved roads with low traffic.
Itinerary:
Day 1 - Porto reception
Day 2 - Porto - Furadouro ( 47 Km)
Day 3 - Furadouro - Aveiro ( 45 KM)
Day 4 - Aveiro - Praia de Mira (40 Km)
Day 5 - Praia de Mira - Figueira da Foz ( 50 Km)
Day 6 - Figueira da Foz - Coimbra ( 55 Km)
Day 7 - Transfer
Accommodation, Hotel 4 stars: Porto Trindade Hotel or Hotel 5 stars: Porto Infante Sagres Hotel (included in premium option)
You will make the coast towards the small village of Furadouro. Leaving Porto, you will cross the city center of Porto, heading toward the river through one of the most famous bridges in Portugal. After crossing the Don Luis I bridge, you will enter the city of Vila Nova de Gaia, where you can observe the famous cellars of Porto wine. During this journey you will observe one of the most important icons, the chapel of Senhor da Pedra located in Miramar Beach. You will have time to taste traditional fish dishes at lunch time in Espinho. Arriving in the city of Ovar, there is the opportunity to taste the famous bread-cake, the highlight for tourists with a tradition of more than two centuries, and the convent sweets. Being Ovar a fishing ground can still taste the famous stews of fish or eels. You will have the opportunity to see the famous Chapel of the Steps, which is classified as a National Interest Monument. Accommodation, Hotel 4 stars: Furadouro Hotel or Hotel 5 stars: Hotel Solverde Spa & Wellness Center (included in premium option)
Continuing the path along the coast, on the road N327, towards the city of Aveiro, known as the little Venice of Portugal. Ride by several fishing villages, one of which is the town of Torreira. Continuing our way see the famous natural reserve of S. Jacinto, where you can observe several species of birds. To accomplish the crossing to Aveiro, make the passage via Ferry Boat. Arrive at the famous city of Aveiro where you can visit the Jesus Monastery, observe the tiles from the train station and make a boat tour on the Ria de Aveiro. Accommodation, Hotel 4 stars: Moliceiro Hotel or Hotel 5 stars: MS Collection Aveiro - Palacete de Valdemouro (included in premium option)
On this route of 48km, you shall know the city of Ílhavo, famous for the manufacture of porcelain, Vista Alegre. With over 200 years of tradition as well, you can observe the fantastic scenery of the famous Costa Nova do Prado, where the beaches are intertwined with the rural, creating a unique environment where there is the opportunity to view the famous haystack houses on the waterfront, easily recognizable by the paintings on vertical colored bands. Accommodation, Hotel 4 stars: Maçarico Hotel or upgrade to superior room in "Premium" option
You will be pleased to meet the hidden and beautiful barrinha lagoon, also "fed" by the Ria de Aveiro. The adventure follows the famous pine forest inserted in the dunes, where the aroma of the trees combines with the sea breeze, sea area that is quite exploited by sailing boats and windsurfing. Coming finally to the "Queen of the Silver Coast," Figueira da Foz, famous for its long beaches, where the beautiful River Mondego flows. Accommodation, Hotel 4 stars: Sweet Atlantic Hotel or upgrade to superior room in "Premium" option
Move away from the seaside resort frequented by "Coimbrenses" and the Spanish population of the area of Extremadura. In this path of 55km, you will go away from the coast, yet always accompanied by the Mondego River, with headwaters in the highest point of continental Portugal, Serra da Estrela. The river is renowned for its purity and transparency. The scenery will be motivating to get to the town of Coimbra. Despite the famous fado "(…) Coimbra has more charm in the time to say goodbye (…)", you will enjoy the cultural potential to its fullest and the endless monuments, full of nostalgic fado houses and "knowledge", imbued in the university environment. Accommodation, Hotel 4 stars: Tivoli Coimbra Hotel or Hotel 5 stars: Hotel Quinta das Lágrimas (included in premium option)
*Season:
- LS - Low season: Nov 01 to Mar 25
- RS - Regular season: Mar 26 to 25 Jun and Set 26 to 31 Oct
- HS - High Season: Set 01 to 25 Set
- SS - Summer Season: Jun 26 to August 30
Observations:
- Prices are based for 2 people sharing the same standard room;
- Sea view (when available) or premium rooms, price on request;
- Prices can suffer updates due high season, holidays or weekends
- Beverages are not included in Self Guided and Guided option when meals are booked
- Selected drinks are included in Premium package when meals are booked
- If in a triple room with parents Children up to 10 years old - 35% discount. Children from 11 to 14 years old - 20% discount. Children from 15 to 17 years old - 15% discount.
Extras
- Electric bicycles price: 270€
- Supplement for single room: LS: 390€, RS: 420€, HS: 450€, SS.480€
- Solo traveler: 200 €
- Extra nights: on request
- Private group price on request
- City taxes is not included in the price package (approximately 2€ per person per night - payable on site - in Lisbon city tax is 4€ per person per night)
- Ferry (boat) in river / lake crossing is not included in price package (approximately 2€ to 10€ per person)
Gallery
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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...
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.