Maria,

Thank you for the lovely note. Kathy and I miss you!
We will be sure to complete the survey and add to Trip Advisor. We want to thank you very much for all your efforts in making our trip to Portugal a very special one. We enjoyed every moment of the trip.

We’ve done eight cycling trips to Europe with several different companies. This was certainly one of the top three trips. Only the fact that we were on a boat made the top two better. Clearly you and your company have been doing this for a while and your vast experience and professionalism makes for a most enjoyable experience. It was especially nice, and important, that you are so proud of Portugal. Your passion added to the experience.

We do have a special request. At one point on the trip you spoke about a couple of your favourite places in the Algarve, places you suggested were out of the mainstream and on the edges of the busier tourist places. Kathy and I intend to return to Portugal for a few weeks next spring. We want to stay in a smaller town that is less touristy and more “real” Portugal. We don’t want a “Miami Beach” experience but more of a fishing village. Could you give us two or three town names where we might look for extended stay accommodation? We would appreciate your help.

Best regards Maria. We look forward to hearing from you.

Peter and Kathy Greenwood

The Alentejo coast biking route was incredible! So much variety each day, changing from crashing waves along the cliffs to pretty flowers on a quiet country road. We loved the unique locations of the yummy picnics, whether on a private beach spot or in a cork tree orchard. Many thanks to the M & M team for making it all top notch – Maria & Mario were super outstanding guides. They’re warm, caring, funny, so very knowledgeable, capable and efficient and totally spoiled us! We’ve been on bike tours in France, Italy and Croatia – this Portugal Best Cycling tour was the best one of all! We’re telling all our friends about it! Muito Obrigada and Obrigado,

Vi skulle for første gang prøve en organisert sykkelferie, og hadde fått anbefalt Olivenreiser og deres portugisiske partner “Portugal best cycling”. Av flere mulige ruter i Portugal falt valget på kystturen fra Sesimbra til Odeceixe. Med tre vennlige, humørfylte oppmerksomme, omsorgsfulle og kunnskapsrike portugisiske og en norsk guide, ble turen en fornøyelse fra ende til annen. Alt av utstyr for syklinga fungerte bra, og oppstod problemer underveis ble dette fikset av guidene. Matstellet var førsteklasses, og vi mangla aldri drikkevann på syklene. Overnattingssteder underveis var av varierende kvalitet; fra utmerket til greit nok. Etappene var av noe varierende vanskelighetsgrad og underlaget under sykkeldekkene skiftet i løpet av dagen. Slik ble syklinga aldri kjedelig. Med god guideing var dette gjennomførbart for 18 svært forskjellige individer. En samling folk som ble bedre og bedre rista ihop i løpet av ei begivenhetsrik uke i Portugal

Vi hadde en 6-dagers sykkeltur langs Portugals kyst, kjøpt via Oliven Reiser. Totalt var vi ca 25 personer, og det ble en helt fantastisk tur. Guidene var blide, hjelpsomme og vartet opp med deilig mat og drikke til lunsj. Også mye humor. De kunne dele mye kunnskap om landet og historien. Naturen er variert og vakker, med milelange sandstrender, rismarker, fantastiske klipper med små strender langt der nede og mye annet. Jeg lærte hvordan jeg skal sykle når det er en sandete vei, og det funket! Varierende standard på veiene, men ikke altfor vanskelig. Turen er overkommelig for de fleste. Stort sett supre hoteller, også et par meget enkle. Anbefales!

A wonderful and unforgettable active holiday
We did the self-guided tour along the coast, and enjoyed every bit of it! Portugal Best Cycling made it possible for us to experience a wonderful and unforgettable holiday, complete with gorgeous scenery and fun and active adventure. Thank you Portugal Best Cycling! We recommend your services to all our cycling friends.

Wow, Portugal Best Cycling is a fantastic company in a beautiful country! We cycled “Along the Coast” with a Van Guided tour. Mario, our guide cared for us like family and treated us like celebrities. He was informative, attentive, and protective. He guided us, pampered us with gourmet picnic lunches on the beach and informed us on historical, cultural, and environmental sites. The hotels were varied, the lunches were healthy and decadent and the evening dinners superb, all served with local wines and sangria. The weather in September was perfect for cycling and the company generously gave us jerseys and parting gifts. From our first correspondence with Teresa to our parting breakfast with Mario, all members of Portugal Best Cycling were professional, efficient, accommodating and caring. I wish all companies provided the same quality of service. The price of this cycling trip was less than many other companies but provided more! Thank you for making our first cycling experience memorable!

We can’t say enough about it to everyone who asks. Everything from the magnificent people; weather; beaches; scenery; history; culture; churches; palaces; castles; narrow cobblestone streets; food and wine!!!!! It was way beyond our expectations. Our only disappointment was that the ocean was a few degrees colder than we had expected. Our guide Mario could do anything and attended to our every need – so perhaps he could look into raising the ocean temperature a tiny bit for next time.

The van guided tour was absolutely the way to experience Portugal. Out guide was right – it enabled us to really see some of this magnificent country up close. We not only saw it, but we felt the wind, smelled the ocean, tasted its delicacies, listened to the birds, breathed in the fresh air, and drank its wine and sangria. We rode over cobblestone, sand, dirt, gravel and pavement. We climbed what seemed like mountains, rode cliffs, dunes, valleys, rice fields, cork oak forests, cobblestone streets, towns and villages. Everywhere we turned the landscape was another spectacular painting.

Thank you Thank you Thank you for an absolutely wonderful experience.

Atlantic coast is gorgeous! Food and wine inexpensive and good. Mario, a tour guide for guided folks, was amazing, helpful and competent. Tour was hillier than expected – should have been rated “medium” for difficulty. We had a great time!

Perfect Cycling Along the Coast
We did a trip with Portugal Best Cycling May 2017. Our large group of 8 had a fantastic experience. We were only able to cycle 3 days and they were very accommodating and arranged a transfer for us. The hotels/B and B’s they selected were delightful and especially Monte do Zambujeiro which felt like we were on individual honeymoons while we were there. Every place we stayed had a really great breakfast and great food recommendations along the routes. It was a dream. Thank you portugal best cycling!
We also had some members of our group who had not done much cycling and they used the ebike’s. It was a great option for a variable experience group.

My husband and I recently completed the 8-day Along the Coast guided bike tour offered by Portugal Best Cycling, a subsidiary of Turadventur. The entire trip was fantastic! Our two guides were incredibly competent, helpful and friendly. We did an average of 35-40 km. per day, and, while the first day was truly rigorous, being a steep climb to a castle near Sesimbra, the rest was relatively moderate, on gently rolling hills, through farmland, on sandy paths along cliffs above the coast, on visits to windmills, an olive producer, etc. Our guides provided fantastic beach and cork grove picnics with a variety of selections (shrimp quiche, brie & prosciutto wrapped in pepper slices, almond tart) along with olive oil and wine tastings. We stayed in a variety of pleasant to spectacular well-appointed 3-4* hotels, including a gorgeous river-side country estate. Reasonably priced for the experience, service, food, and accommodations. A great way to get a taste of the Alentejo region of Portugal, if you have endurance and are used to biking moderate sized hills. Everyone was over 50 yrs. on this trip. Way different in rigour from our 2015 wonderful but totally flat bike trip in the Netherlands. But Sept.-Oct. biking with a breeze blowing and the sun shining is a fabulous way to explore a place.

Biking the Atlantic Coast
I just did the Atlantic Coast trip at the end of the season and had a BLAST. Our tour guides, Maria and Mario (yes, really) were fantastic, and the scenery was everything I had wished for. Beautiful, oceanfront riding, time at the beach, great food and wonderful accommodations. The only thing to prepare yourself for is that the first morning’s ride, Sesimbra up to an old fortress, is a tough way to start the week! But the view was worth it. Am already looking forward to hopefully going back next summer.

We did a self-guided ride using PBC’s Along the Coast tour and adding a few days of their Algarve tour finishing in Lagos. The tour was amazing with a route we could never have worked out ourselves. The directions and map (plus GPS) were excellent and we never got lost.

The scenery was incredible and most of the time we were seeing it on our own – a benefit of the great routing. There were only a very few times we were on roads with any traffic and the drivers were courteous. Overall the hotels selected were excellent; we particularly enjoyed the farm at Monte do Zambujeiro, Pedravia and the Pousada at Sagres.

I contacted Theresa about a tour and she very quickly had a plan worked out which we then clarified details.This went quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately PBC doesn’t take credit cards so I paid by wire transfer. There are some risks to wire transfer and I think it would be a good idea to accept credit cards even if the cost is a bit higher – I would have been more comfortable.

Maria met us at the hotel in Seisimbra and provided the bikes, guides, maps etc and did a great job of getting us orientated. She also drove us to the top of the hill outside the town – in hindsight this was a good decision!

She was also very helpful and efficient when we needed it. Unfortunately, I got quite sick in Odeceixe and I could not ride so my wife contacted her and she very quickly arranged for a taxi big enough to get us and the bikes to Aljezur. We were there by 10;30 am and our large room was ready – I spent the rest of the day in bed. I cycled (just) to Pedravia the next day and then we had to get a taxi to Sagres the following day; all arranged quickly and well by Maria. Thank you so much.

We also booked the PBC shuttle from Lagos to Evora which was much easier and saved us a lot of time compared to taking the bus or the train plus we got delivered right to the door of our hotel. Thank you so much Georges.

Overall this was an excellent cycling trip, very well organized and I’d highly recommend PBC.

Self Guided ride along the coast
My son and I completed a self guided bike trip along the south western coast of Portugal in Sep 2015. The trip was organized by PortugalBestCycling . They were excellent in the preparations and in providing on-going assistance throughout the 5 day trip. The routes were clearly marked, and Teresa was always available to talk to and guide. The hotels were really good and often went beyond our expectations in terms of service. Overall an excellent trip – thanks to Teresa and her team.

Alentejo Algarve coast cycling/kayaking 7 nights
We had an amazing experience cycling from Sesimbra all the way to Bordeira beach in algarve. Turaventur did an excellent job organizing our trip. All details, expectations for our trip were met and surpassed. Teresa and Joana were diligent in planning and accommodating our requests and needs. They delivered as promised. We loved every aspect of our trip. Kayaking in Arrábida, accommodation in Palmela and Bordeira beach were highlights. Thank you Turaventur for an amazing experience. Highly recommend

July 2019

Sylvia

Good morning,

Just wanted you to know that I got very good feedback from Clients Jully – along the coast.

They were really happy With the People, Food and itinerary. The also said that the maps and descriptions were one of the best they have had.

So – thank you for taking good care of them : )

Regards
T
Oliven Reiser

The Alentejo coast biking route was incredible! So much variety each day, changing from crashing waves along the cliffs to pretty flowers on a quiet country road. We loved the unique locations of the yummy picnics, whether on a private beach spot or in a cork tree orchard. Many thanks to the M & M team for making it all top notch – Maria & Mario were super outstanding guides. They’re warm, caring, funny, so very knowledgeable, capable and efficient and totally spoiled us! We’ve been on bike tours in France, Italy and Croatia – this Portugal Best Cycling tour was the best one of all! We’re telling all our friends about it! Muito Obrigada and Obrigado, Doreen & Philip from Canada

We had a phenomenal trip. Great weather, gorgeous views! The cycling was reasonable – some long climbs, some steep climbs, lots of downhills too and flats. All very reasonable for a novice a cyclist. Very well organized, great support from the cycling company. We self-guided and at the end of day 1 had a significant bike malfunction. The team had us repaired and ready to go first thing day 2 – great service. Decent maps and great suggestions for stops along the way. An amazing trip! Highly recommend.

My husband and I just returned from this self guided tour and thoroughly enjoyed the sights, sounds, and tastes of our trip along the coast. The food was outstanding that we ate at the variety of restaurants that we stopped at. The mileage was reasonable, the sights were beautiful, and the small town feel of coastal Portugal left us wondering if we could move here in our retirement. Teresa and staff were always on hand to help or answer questions and I am not sure there is a better way to see Portugal, except another bike trip!

We had a phenomenal trip. Great weather, gorgeous views! The cycling was reasonable – some long climbs, some steep climbs, lots of downhills too and flats. All very reasonable for a novice a cyclist. Very well organized, great support from the cycling company. We self-guided and at the end of day 1 had a significant bike malfunction. The team had us repaired and ready to go first thing day 2 – great service. Decent maps and great suggestions for stops along the way. An amazing trip! Highly recommend.
Written August 12, 2019

Mario, Joanna & Fidel the best riding experience ever!
They are so kind, funny, thoughtful and made the entire experience fun. As a first time rider I struggled through the different terrains but they constantly motivated us and the lunches were honestly the best thing to look forward to. Highly recommend the upgrades and the beautiful experience with beautiful Portuguese people. Joanna is a fun, loving and safe driver. Mario is thoughtful and funny. Fidel is the best at motivating and funny stories.
Honestly one of the best holidays I ever had!
I will be keeping in touch with them all and I hope they will visit Australia one day so I can return the beautiful hospitality they extended to us.

July 2022

This was a mountain bike experience we did not expect as rated beginner to intermediate-nothing beginner about it. Fitting all the bikes at the start was aproblem as did not go to bike shop and one bike was the wrong size. Local company Megasport did respond promtly. No paper maps were provided and it we had not had a tech. expert with us, we could never have found the way.
However the hotels were good with excellant breakfasts. The beaches along the coast are beautiful to walk-they are surfing beaches so swimming not an option.

July 2022

We took the self-guided PBC “Along the Coast” tour in May/June-a party of three.This is our 3rd tour with PBC and we recommend them highly.In particular: the routes, often on backroads, through rice fields, along cliff tops, and quiet country roads (gravel/tarmac); the quality of the bikes; support (via Whatsapp); friendliness; selection of accommodation; cultural/culinary recs; and obvious love for this amazing country.The route was varied. Day 1 out of Sesimbra was hilly.Following days were easier on the coast/inland to S. Cacem,then down to the coastal towns of Porto Covo, Villa Nova de Milfontes, Odeciexe. The planned kms were all doable.We requested additional rest days to enjoy exploring the towns/beaches, which PBC were happy to accomodate.The seafood meals along the coast were superb and the beach/pool swims welcome.Everyone we met was so friendly/patient with our little bit of Portuguese! A terrific way to see the countryside – slow travel.Thankyou PBC for such a great tour.

July 2023

I did a 6-day solo self-guided cycling tour from Sessimbra to Aldeia da Pedralva with the assistance of Portugal Best Cycling. The routes were amazing, alternating from challenging on the first day to some easier ones later on. I highly recommend PBC who take great care in preparing the routes, providing assistance when needed (due to unusual bad weather!) and in general looking after you during the entire trip. The bikes provided by PBC are of high quality and well suited to the variety of small roads ans tracks. Some of the views were breathtaking, and the itinerary goes through unspoiled areas that are worth discovering! You can also enjoy amazing local food at the various stops. I am definitely planning to do another tour with PBC, most likely with family. Lastly, PBC was very flexible in changing some of the usual itinerary to suit my own needs and gave me invaluable advice in adapting some of the routes.

October 2023

Portugal Best Cycling (Turaventur) took us on a fabulous tour through Portugal’s Alentejo and Algarve regions (we did a customized bike/hike/kayak tour for 10 days for a group of 11). We had many experiences that we wouldn’t have found on our own, from visiting a cactus farm, to visiting a cork factory, to finding beautiful locations for tasty picnics, to visiting Teresa’s family farm where we had a barbecue and saw a newborn donkey and an amazing collection of mint condition antique cars. Teresa has an incredible “joie de vivre” that is infectious, and she knows her way around out-of-the-way bike routes. She also has a talent for choosing the perfect hotels and restaurants (great locations, reasonable prices). Joana brought us all of those tasty picnics, became everyone’s friend, and drove the support van. We would highly recommend this group for anyone who wants an active travel experience in Portugal.

November 2023

We are a family of four with two sons, 12 and 13. We scheduled a six day bike trip on the Portugal coast. We were delighted to be guided by Manuel and supported by Joanne. They provided us with everything we needed plus much more. We learned history, culture, cuisine, language. We enjoyed trips to an ancient windmill that ground wheat, a small artesian olive oil producer, fishing villages, rice paddies, a honey producer, and farm communities , plus additional excellent side trips. We enjoyed the mixed experience of eating local food in local restaurants and higher end food in fancy restaurants. Our accommodations were wonderful. The biking was stupendous!!! We biked to all the places I mentioned above. We enjoyed hills and ocean views. We biked through forest of cork trees and learned about cork farming and production. Our stronger bikers were able to add adventures while our other family members enjoyed a rest and more beach or pool time. We were ecstatic with our adventure and grieved its conclusion!

June 2024