Portugal

Portugal was our 11th VBT trip and 12th biking trip. It was the best or at least equal to our other great trips. The guides were the best ever and the hotels , especially the Farm House, were excellent. The biking was challenging at times but very good overall. We highly recommend the trip and very much want to return to Portugal. Great food, great wine and a beautiful country. We felt very safe on the roads and highways as Portugal drivers are very courteous to bikers. Absolutely nothing to complain about and as with all VBT trips, a great value.

This was our first VBT vacation. We were very impressed with the planning, accommodations, and route. It was a wonderful experience to bike along country roads with guides who knew the area. The hotels were lovely and the meals were delicious. Everything was top-notch.

How much more than I could ever anticipated. Enjoyable and problem free!

We are experienced riders and found this trip to be moderately challenging. Ride very doable with ebikes for hills, cobblestones and gravel. Majority of ride on roads with little traffic while we were there. Back up support was available to assist with chain problem. Rides a mix of ocean views, small towns, and agricultural areas.

We thoroughly enjoyed our first VBT experience. The tour route was very well laid out and we cannot not say enough about how impressive our tour leaders, David and Frederico, both of whom are natives of Portugal. Kudos to VBT for the way they planned and conducted our tour!

We loved this trip! Beautiful and varied biking routes; knowledgeable, competent and engaging guides, top-notch hotels, delicious food and interesting cultural activities. I wish I could do it all over again!

Excellent support of Manuel/ David. Timo was a hoot. Only one day was over planned. Recommend separate events ( hieroglyphics visit)

We love VBT and the best part of this trip was our leader, Manu. He is awesome! All VBT leaders are great, and he is at the top. It was the initial offering of the trip, and some kinks will be addressed, I am sure. Coordinating the boat and the buses (there were A LOT of buses) and biking is complex. We enjoyed the chance to mix with other travelers on the boat. We enjoyed unpacking only once. The Douro is not a river where you can bike alongside, like the Danube--so there is a lot of bus transfer time on twisty steep roads (some complained of car sickness). It is a hilly area--definitely on the "moderate" scale, not the "easy-moderate" scale. Climate always a question-in late April we had both cold (40's) and wet and warm (70s) and sunny. The olive oil mill and winery were good experiences. The archeological site was sketchy.... If you like hills and don't mind the bus, a good trip to some less accessible areas.

It was the inaugural edition of the tour but it ran like they had been doing it for years - well planned and well run. Paradors and meals were excellent. Our guides, Diego and Pol, were the best. Great guides and just fun to be around.

Fabulous trip! The guides were great, landscape unbelievable and the rain made it an adventure

Great trip with Country Walkers. The highest of the highlights, of course, were the guides, Ana and Helene, who were wonderful; kind, professional, knowledgeable, humorous, patient; just lovely, wonderful people. The itinerary was good and interesting and the accommodations and food were very good, although in Porto apparently the hotel we were booked in canceled the booking and the replacement hotel, while in a great location and very nice, had really minuscule rooms. (To its credit, CW gave us a considerable refund because of this.) The walks were good and all had long and short options, and because it was quite hot in some places the short options were welcome. We visited interesting places and met interesting people. I do have one complaint, and that is CW's total lack of help with managing covid-travel requirements. CW kept referring us to web sites, but with their experience on the ground, they could and should have given us actual, real-time advice. The e-med Navica test kits they recommended were just too hard to use (and not cheap), especially if you have only one device; they weren't needed at all to go to Portugal or Spain; and there are several inexpensive, convenient options for getting covid tests, including at airports and in towns, for only 29 euros.

We had an absolutely fabulous trip through the Minho & Douro Valley with Helene & Rita as our guides. This was our second Country Walkers tour and our expectations were very high based on our experience with the first trip. This tour far exceeded our expectations. Portugal is a beautiful country and the itinerary for this trip truly showcases just how beautiful it is. We feel as though this was a perfect way to visit Portugal. Our accomodations were amazing. From a Manor House in Calheiros, to a 5 start hotel in the Duoro Valley, to a medieval village among castle ruins in Marialva, all were very unique. They were places that we never would have thought to stay at and they suited the itinerary very well. The hikes that we did were somewhat challenging at times as Portugal is a very hilly country. The itinerary accounts for this and is very well planned out so that it is all in all very manageable. The upside of the hilly terrain is that the views are just spectacular! Last but not least, our guides Helene & Rita were the best. They, along with Oscar our driver, made the trip as seamless as possible. They were so knowledgable about the country and it was clear that they are very proud Portuguese gals who are very enthusiatic about sharing the love for their country. They were always one step ahead of us and would answer any questions you may have had before you could even ask. While we were on the trip, we experienced the power outage which could have been very difficult to handle. Helene & Rita handled it like pros and it didn't effect us at all. If you are thinking about booking this trip, do not hesitate. Book now! It was absolutely one of our best vacations.