Lisbon and Alentejo 2023

The comfortable Hotel Altis Avenida*****, situated in the city centre of Lisbon will welcome you from 2pm onwards. At 5pm, we will show you the most important parts of historic Lisbon during a guided tour. We will take a walk across the Rossio square and will stroll through the picturesque town quarter Chiado and Bairro Alto. You will have the rest of the evening to your own disposal.

After breakfast, we will leave awakening Lisbon by bus, which will bring us to a small Alentejo town, where our cycling stage will begin. After the adjustment of our bikes, our route will lead on small streets to Escoural, where we will have a midday break. Extensive cork oak forests accompany our afternoon route to Évora. The walls of this town, which were declared as world heritage in 1986, date back to the Roman period, the middle Ages and the 17th century. We will spend the night in the Hotel M´AR de AR Aqueduto*****, a luxuriously renovated and charming former city palace (swimming pool). We will enjoy our dinner together.

This morning we will cycle on small paths between pastures covered with cork oaks, wheat fields, vines and small Eucalyptus forests. Testimonies of Megalithic culture from times long gone can be found time and again. We will pass small villages with their typical white houses, whose door and window frames are often framed in the colours yellow or blue. We will be able to catch a glimpse of the castle complex of Évoramonte from afar, which lies on a mountain ridge. We will travel the last few kilometres to today‘s stage destination, Estremoz, by bus, in order to avoid travelling on a busier road. We will be spending the night in the Pousada da Raihna Santa Isabel (two overnight stays/swimming pool) in the midst of the historic old town. One can enjoy a stroll through the town centre, in which everything seems to made of marble. We will end our cycling day together over dinner.

This morning, our route leads on small streets through a prosperous landscape, in which wine in particular is cultivated. The Alentejo wines are now renowned far beyond the country borders. Apart from wine cultivation, the region between Estremoz and Vila Viçosa is known for its marble quarries. In many villages and towns, everything seems to be made of marble. In Vila Viçosa, we will stop to visit the old town, before travelling back to Estremoz, where our Pousada awaits us. Today we will dine in a restaurant popular with the locals.

This morning we will travel by bus in just under an hour in the direction of Serra de São Mamede. The low mountain range borders on the Spanish Extremadura and the landscape is particularly charming. The approx. 30.000 hectare nature park Parque Natural da São Mamede protects the abundant flora and fauna of the region. With some luck, we might also be able to catch a glimpse of the griffon vulture who live here. We will be able to see today’s stage destination, Marvão, from afar. This village, which lies on a mountain ridge, was considered an impregnable border fortress. The view from the medieval city walls up to far into the Spanish Extremadura is breath-taking. We will be spending the night in the Pousada de Santa Maria, which is composed of typical village houses, and where we will enjoy dinner together.

After a round tour through the picturesque Marvão and its castle, we will travel a swift journey to Castelo de Vide, a medieval town built on the slope with flowery alleys, which lead up the castle mountain. We will visit the old city and the Judaria, in which many refugees settled after the Spanish Inquisition. The journey then continues down the foothills of the Serra de São Mamede up to a plateau characterised by cork oak and cattle breeding to Crato. Here we will be welcomed by the Pousada de Flor da Rosa in the late afternoon. This modern complex building was successfully integrated into the ruins of a former Maltese monastery dating back to the 14th century (swimming pool). We will end the day in the Pousada’s restaurant.

We will leave Flor da Rosa on desolate roads to the north and will sometimes travel across villages in which time seems to have come to a standstill. One can still encounter farmers on their donkeys in this area. In the early afternoon, after cycling across slightly wavy terrain sometimes loosened by occasional eucalyptus forests, we will reach the Tejo. Here it winds its way between steep green banks and through a narrow riverbed. A bus will bring us in about 2 hours back to the Portuguese capital, where we will be welcomed by the Hotel Altis Avenida*****. We will end our journey with a closing dinner.  

We will enjoy a splendid hotel breakfast one last time, before departing on our journey home. As there is nothing on today’s programme, one can plan one’s departure individually. Busses travel at regular intervals to the Lisbon airport. Excellent hotels throughout. The Pousadas de Portugal are not subject to star certification, but mostly comply with the 4 - 5-star category (one double overnight stay). Mainly local and traditional dishes are served in Alentejo.

All prices are on request. We would like to point out that it might be cheaper if you book directly with the hotel due to daily rates.