Algarve Coastal Route Bike Tour Reviews page 2
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★★★★★ DebbieFL
Debbie & Phyllis' Excellent Adventure
This was our 7th trip with Biketours.com, and one of our favorite routes, by far. The route was spectacular, and unlike a few of our previous trips - the towns were we spent the night each offered a delightful mix of sightseeing & dining options to take advantage of. And we can't say enough about Fred and the rest of the group at Algarve Bike Holidays. From the materials they provided ahead of time to the extra TCL by helping us with a flat on Sunday afternoon, so we didn't lose time on Monday waiting for the local bike shop to open - they went above and beyond. The hotels were particularly nice - some of the best breakfast buffets we've experienced so far. This was the first time we took a trip that was guided via GPS - and it is definitely the way to go!
- What was the date of your tour?
- 9/2 - 9/8 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ MEMALgarve
Really Great Holiday Trip on Wheels
We had a wonderful 4 day/5 night trip along the Algarve. The GPS was superb, the route was very well thought out, the food amazing and the Algarve everything we had hoped it would be- thank you.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 12/30/19-1/4/20
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Wendy Walton
Portugal by Bike
Our bike trip along the Algarve coast was just what we hoped it would be. Our self guided trip had just the right amount of contact with staff, our pick ups/ drop offs were seamless, there was more interaction at the start of the trip than we have had with others tours which familiarized us with the gos navigation system and got our bikes just right. There was a nice mix of accommodations and it was easy to add extra days to customize our trip.
- What was the date of your tour?
- April 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Emily Jaskot
Simply Incredible!
The bike trip was a perfect way to experience the Algarve region of Portugal. The bikes, ride routes, and hotels were fantastic. With rides between 20 and 35 miles per day, we arrived at each town with plenty of time to explore each wonderful town.
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★★★★★ Cheryl Jaskot
Coastal Dream
WE were a group of six with our group ages from 67-43. The local bike company was very communicative and accommodating. We all rode traditional bikes and trained on fairly flat surfaces. The course was fairly flat the first three days along gravel roads and boardwalks. The longest day was 35 miles and a lot of hills. The last two days were also hilly and along gravel roads. We had to walk some of the hills. The accommodations were great and food was easily accessible. Lots of amazing seafood was everywhere. There were also plenty of vegetarian and vegan options. We had a great time and would highly recommend this tour.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Michelle Dagenhart
Top notch amazing trip, and affordable!
The self-guided Algarve coastal trip was amazing in every way! Varied landscapes and terrain, beautiful coastal, farmland, marshland, and city views. GPS worked great and was mandatory given all the turns. Hotels were fantastic, usually ocean views, 4 stars, and amazing breakfasts.
- What was the date of your tour?
- April 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Neil Gordon
A mixture of old and new
A very nice mixture of quaint fishing villages and modern tourist towns. The cycling is mostly a mixture of unpaved trails and back roads, but there is some heavily traveled roads to navigate. Hotels are all 4 and 5 star. Bikes are heavy, buy designed for terrain. Excellent support.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 7
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ PeteN
Algarve Coastal Route
Very enjoyable scenic route. Great seafood, excellent weather (September). Good logistics. Challenging in parts however, due to traffic on roads and more hills than expected. We were glad to have ebikes. Tires supplied were not up to the trails and we suffered several punctures. I recommend checking equipment carefully before setting out.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 12, 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- This was the third
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Mychelle Fitzgerald
An Adventure
This is our 4th ride with this company and the Portugal ride had the most challenges but also was adventurous. The Garmin that they gave us to use was not very good. We also uploaded a Bike App but this was not always dependable as well. Each day was an adventure to find the next location. We did tap into our Google GPS (bike option) as well. We were never worried we would not make it. The hotels they put us in where first class. Each had a swimming pool, balcony views, centrally located and great breakfast buffets to start our day. Our last day we had trouble with one of our batteries on the electric bike. It did not charge properly (even though we had it plugged in all night). When we started we only had 4 our of 5 bars and within 15 minutes it went down to 3 bars. It was our shortest day ride (29 miles) so we didn't pack our charger cord (which we did not require on any of the longer days). We made it within 7 miles of the finish line when the battery went completely dead. It was a very windy and hilly day so we had to call the local tour team to pick us up. They were great to work with and very supportive of our success. The driver even drove us to the finish line so we could see the lighthouse. They took a 6 day ride down to 4 days for us to accommodate our travel schedule. The overall experience was good but the directional devices took my rating from a 5 star to 4 star.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2025
- How many tours have you completed?
- 4
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Delane
Beautiful Scenery !!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 24, 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Chuck1
Great adventure !!!
This was a wonderful trip.
Other than 2 issues I thought this was a well planned trip, great hotels / flawless luggage connections / good route aided by supplied GPS.
The 2 issues were :
The bicycles were not very good. Shifting was erratic as they obviously hadn’t been tuned prior to our trip.
The other issue was the promosed transfer to the airport at the end of the trip did not happen, we waited almost an hour in the hotel lobby only to hear through the consierge that the ride to the airport was not happening forcing us to catch a cab and rushing to make our flight connection.- What was the date of your tour?
- Oct 1st thru 7th
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Thomas Rossington
A Sometimes Rugged Ride
Perfect organization for hotel pickup, delivering us to the start point, bike setup, luggage transportation, return to hotel at the finish, and transportation to the train station the next day.
We found some parts of the route in more rural areas were rough trails with hills too steep to climb on regular bikes. Too bad there isn’t a developed network of bike paths along the coast. Saw lots of wonderful scenery, though, and happened upon som great coffee and lunch stops. We did have a couple of times where we had trouble following the Garmins. -
★★★★★ Bamboo
Great trip along the Algarve
We loved visiting the Algarve towns and beaches by bike and it was exciting to discover our next guesthouse with our luggage at the door.
Next time, we would have used mountain bikes instead of crossovers, which were heavy and not as smooth on the trails and cobblestones.
The maps were clear and we were able to self-guide without any problem.
Loved the feeling of biking from the spanish border to the westerly tip.- What was the date of your tour?
- March 16th
- How many tours have you completed?
- First tour
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat easier
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Karen Burnham
Self Guided Algarve Tour
The connections at the beginning and end of the trip with the bike company went very smoothly and the bikes and GPS were of great quality. Our favorite towns were Vila Real and Tavira, and the paths the first 3 days were delightful. Day 4 was grueling with all busy road traffic. We wish this day could have been avoided via rerouting. All the hotels were fantastic, and the breakfasts were wonderful. We would have liked to spend 2 nights in Lagos so we would have had time to explore. Reaching the lighthouse at the end of the week was such a feeling of accomplishment! Portugal is a great place to visit, so be sure to spend more time after the bike ride to explore.
- What was the date of your tour?
- May 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- Two
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
-
★★★★★ Angela Henderson
Portugal is SPECTACULAR
Portugal is beautiful, the people even more so! We will definitely be back!
The bike tour needs some work. The GPS system is too small, half the size of my cell phone, and the written instructions not detailed enough, or accurate to what is happening on the ground around you. Because there are no consistent street signs, or bike tour signs through the entire route, the written directions that go along with the GPS are critical to guiding you on this tour. The number of u-turns, poorly written directions, etc., made what should have been a straightforward three hour bike ride into a 5 to 7 hour bike ride, not allowing us time to really enjoy the areas we rode through.
The company also didn’t fit us to the bikes and one of our friends suffered with some pretty serious neck and shoulder pain as a result.
I think the company is good, I just think they need to do some refining of their program.- What was the date of your tour?
- October, 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
-
★★★★★ Betty Ngan
An adventure
We have previously done the wonderful Danube tour and a guided boat bike tour in the Netherlands. We rode e-assisted bikes with the exception of 2 riders in our group.
The Algarve bike tour was very different, and should be rated a 2 or 3 because this trail system is not as well developed. We found it challenging even with e-assist bikes. The tour has paved, gravel and dirt roads and even a boardwalk with gates. The segments of the trail were sometimes hard to locate on the gps and sometimes the maps did not agree with the gps. On the first day we followed the blue line on the map and rode over rough gravel roads until we encountered Angus, our coordinator, who informed us that that this was not the main route. But it wasn’t marked as an alternative route on the map.
We loved the food that we found along the way. A lunch at a seaside restaurant between Tavira and Olhao was the highlight of the tour. We enjoyed the old Portugal that remains, but much of the area west of Faro has been developed for tourism, so there are large resort areas for golf and boaters. We loved the very sweet Hotel Belavista da Luz in Praia da Luz.
We would recommend this self guided tour for younger more adventurous folks who can navigate and who don’t mind riding in rough loose gravel roads and highways with some rather harrowing highway crossings. The highways in the western part of the coast were not as busy, and we found drivers were generally respectful in the roundabouts. As our mileage increased we grew stronger over the 6 day ride, and we were proud to have made it to the 6 day when a broken chain stopped our progress.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Much harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
-
★★★★★ Shifty
Good trip
The scenery, transportation and accommodation were top notch. Several of the bicycles were difficult to shift, no water bottle holders and poor tread (five punctures). The GPS supplied did not always follow the route. The comment about most road riding is on traffic calmed roads is not correct. If any of your group has trouble riding in traffic you may want to look elsewhere. Having said all that I would repeat the trip after addressing the comments above.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September
- How many tours have you completed?
- 3
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Paul Crisafulli
Beautiful beaches, caves and countryside!
The perfect way to see all that Portugal offers! Great people, great food and beautiful sights. Tour guide company provided best hotels, great towns to explore and great service.
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
-
★★★★★ Bernice Thill
Authentic Beautiful Portugal
This trip is an amazing challenge by bicycle, from flat country roads to busy tourist towns to the climbing and winding hills and valleys that lead to sweeping views of the sea in Sagres and Cape St. Vincent. My husband and I are long-time cyclists and did a self-guided tour of the Algarve Coast. We found this ride to be challenging and rewarding. Our local representative was super helpful in lending tips and advice. The hotels were A-plus. The luggage transfer was flawless. The GPS device provided by the tour company was a great addition and helped us navigate throughout the trip. Written directions were harder to follow as not all roads are marked with bike route information. You must trust mainly the GPS and fill in with Google maps. The only reason I’m not giving this a 5-star rating is that our bikes were in need of some love. They were good hybrid bikes that could handle rough roads and smooth pavement. We biked on some cloudy, rainy days and it would have been nice to have the Dynamo lights working for safety. We also had some trouble with our chains slipping off the gears, and the suspension being really tight. You want suspension for some of the rougher roads. Otherwise, this was such an amazing trip by bicycle. If you love adventure, check this out.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Early March 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
-
★★★★★ Bernice Thill
Authentic Beautiful Portugal
This trip is an amazing challenge by bicycle, from flat country roads to busy tourist towns to the climbing and winding hills and valleys that lead to sweeping views of the sea in Sagres and Cape St. Vincent. My husband and I are long-time cyclists and did a self-guided tour of the Algarve Coast. We found this ride to be challenging and rewarding. Our local representative was super helpful in lending tips and advice. The hotels were A-plus. The luggage transfer was flawless. The GPS device provided by the tour company was a great addition and helped us navigate throughout the trip. Written directions were harder to follow as not all roads are marked with bike route information. You must trust mainly the GPS and fill in with Google maps. The only reason I’m not giving this a 5-star rating is that our bikes were in need of some love. They were good hybrid bikes that could handle rough roads and smooth pavement. We biked on some cloudy, rainy days and it would have been nice to have the Dynamo lights working for safety. We also had some trouble with our chains slipping off the gears, and the suspension being really tight. You want suspension for some of the rougher roads. Otherwise, this was such an amazing trip by bicycle. If you love adventure, check this out.
- What was the date of your tour?
- Early March 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
