Portugal: Lisbon + the Alentejo Bike Tour

A gourmet breakfast preps us for an easy ride past marble quarries and olive trees, through the wine village of Borba, and on to Estremoz. A short but energetic climb takes us to the citadel and a marvelous marble keep that was built to survey the countryside. After a light lunch in Estremoz, we ride back to Vila Viçosa where you will have some free time to relax or explore, before we meet again to dine like royalty as our friend Isabel invites us into her ancestral home, a mid-eighteenth-century palace built by a king.

Ride past rows of gnarly olive trees and pristine vineyards, through pastoral countryside filled with ochre and dotted with whitewashed farms. Following a light lunch in the pottery town of Redondo, we’ll stop for a cold drink in Nossa Senhora de Machede. Finally, we’ll end our day’s ride at Convento do Espinheiro, our luxurious hotel built around a 15th century convent. This evening, enjoy a complimentary tour of this incredible property and an optional wine tasting hosted in the hotel’s wine cellar. Tonight, we will dine at one of our favorite restaurants in Évora; our friend Lucia will prepare for us a sumptuous Portuguese fusion meal accompanied by boutique wines from the region.

This morning we ride through residential streets and pass under a 16th-century aqueduct that once supplied water to Évora, before emerging into the surrounding countryside. Opt to stop at a 6,000-year-old Neolithic dolmen, the largest on the Iberian Peninsula, before pedaling north along quiet country roads back to Convento do Espinheiro. After lunch at the hotel, we’ll meet up for a guided tour of this UNESCO World Heritage city. Walk through centuries-old streets and squares from the Roman Temple of Diana to the intriguing Chapel of Bones. Enjoy dinner on your own tonight in Évora.

Today’s ride takes us through pastoral fields, vineyards, and oak trees, where the only sounds are the chirping of birds and the jangling bells of flocking sheep. We’ll arrive in Arraiolos, revered for its colorful and hand-stitched woolen floor tapestries. We’ll relax on the terrace of a local restaurant to delight in some typical countryside fare before shuttling in the van or cycling back to our hotel in Évora. Our farewell dinner will take place at the hotel’s Divinus restaurant, surrounded by colonnades and gothic arches.

Relax this morning over a well-deserved gourmet breakfast before our drive back to Lisbon, where your guides will take you to your hotel or the airport.