Inland Portugal?

Almeida, one of the biggest fortress of the peninsular war, well worth a visit, the lines of Torres Vedras are also worth seeing, all only if you have an interst in Wellington etc.
 
No, not stopped touring, two great trips last year. TBH I struggle to write them up these days, sorry. Big trip to America in eight weeks time, you never know...

Can understand with the write ups, i go on a tour each year, but haven't the natural ability to scribe a report of the trip, not good enough to publish on here anyway, maybe I'm a lazy git, hence me using some of your routes as a template. Have a brill trip to the US anyway.

As an aside, but relevant to this thread, we are travelling to north Portugal in July, very near Miranda del Duoro, so maybe divert from the planned route to check it out.

Regards
Pete
 
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Hi there

Tell me what you would like to do and I'll give you an exhaustive list of pointers. All you need is to name it :). I am originally from Portugal and some of my friends do offroad there.
You have lots of options: green lanes, sand, beaches, mountain, fast corners, mountain hills, urban...

Cheers

Can you please advise as to the law with riding motorbikes off the tarmac roads. Is it possible to to see a track and just ride down it and see where it goes or will someone take offense at doing such a thing. I will be taking an old airhead GS into Portugal and was hoping to do some tame off roading but will be loaded with luggage so that will further restrict where my limited skills can take me. Any advise would be appreciated.

Stan.:thumb2
 
Miranda del Duoro... be ignored in the "Bar des Bombieros" adored in the "Benfica Club Bar" and enjoy a canyon cruise in the blistering heat of the afternoon with sherry afterwards....

:friday

Another waypoint on the route, thanks MrK!

Anyone got any good ideas for the route further south, planning Santander to Albufeira area and I have never travelled North Spain or Portugal before so any ideas are gratefully received. (Unless I'm losing my sight/hearing/mind(all true at 50! :rob) and missed previous posts with great routes already written up? :blast)
 
minas sao domingos

Hi visited the old mine at minas sao domingos yesterday as recomended at begining of this thread and found very interesting , not exactly the normal tourist destination but facinating all the same .
you need a bike to get from one end of the site to the other but no guided tours just information bourds in portugues , lovely little cafe,need phrase book, next to old workmens houses laid out like a pit village but white.
the road into spain from there via pomareo is brill just look out for bits of poor road service and then veiw of river just before bridge into spain fantastic.
cheers
 
Can you please advise as to the law with riding motorbikes off the tarmac roads. Is it possible to to see a track and just ride down it and see where it goes or will someone take offense at doing such a thing. I will be taking an old airhead GS into Portugal and was hoping to do some tame off roading but will be loaded with luggage so that will further restrict where my limited skills can take me. Any advise would be appreciated.

Stan.:thumb2

There is no 'right of way' laws as such, but as I was told by members of the Nomads Club, there's a basic respect for private land if signed, so locked gates are rare but avoided if found. You can soon divert and pick up a track again.
Tracks are a plenty, but if riding alone be careful as it can tits-up quickly. Firebreaks are tracks as the hunting guys use them as such.
The folk of Portugal are great, and only once some years back did we have a matey-boy with a shotgun turn us back, the local lads at the next gas statuion said he was a looney anyway....:pullface
Try to download Lusitania TOPO v0.96, as this free mapping gives excellent detail, and tracks under 2m wide have a red shading in the between the grey bars of an 'unpaved road', these tracks can be tight single track
I have just done a 1500km visit, with approx 100km of tarred road only.....and that's no joke.:thumb2
Went to Almeida, a great place, with a decent local's bar outside the 'one-way' main gate, a blue building with young staff who can speak English, good food too and cheap as....
Also, if you can get to Monsanto village do so, there are a couple of small hotel/guest houses there, we stayed at Casa De David, run by Stella. Further into/up the village is local's traffic only but plenty of parking space where the restriction start outside Casa De David. In the pedestrian zone is a great little bar and an excellent restaurant.

So, get over there and explore, don't be shy with the language barrier, people under 35 can speak english to a level, and people under 50 can speak a little french too as schooling was slightly different at their time. Take a basic Eng/Port dictionary too, but rarely have we needed it.......
Red wine, big steaks and CRF brandy are all very cheap, and the folk enjoy serving you their wares......

Cheers.

Timpo.

PS. Just been to Almeida, a great place, with a decent local's bar outside the 'one-way' main gate, a blue building with young staff who can speak English, good food too and cheap as....
Also, if you can get to Monsanto village do so, there are a couple of small hotel/guest houses there, we stayed at Casa De David, run by Stella. Further into/up the village is loal's traffic only but plenty of parking space where the restriction start outside Casa De David. In the pedestrian zone is a great little bar and an excellent restaurant.
 
Good stuff.. looking forward to testing some of these out in the coming days.. :thumby:

:beerjug: :beer: :bounce1 :ChrisKelly :fnikefork :friday
 


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