Algarve  Bike Tour Reviews (page 2)

  • Best of the Algarve
    (4/5) Timothy Libassi November 9, 2022

    Beautiful road biking through the Algarve countryside

    · Best of the Algarve by Road Bike

    Beautiful tour through the countryside of the Algarve. The routes provided kept you on quite almost car free roads for the most part and where it couldn’t you are still on well maintained secondary roads with a good shoulder to ride on. The weather was great, not too hot during the day and no rain while we were riding. The carbon fiber road bikes were high quality, well-tuned and setup for us on the first day. The hotels were good to great, we stayed an extra night in Sagres, which was not only a great way to break up the trip but also the nicest hotel on the tour. The Garmin provided worked fine, we had one glitch where it sent us to the wrong hotel, but since we had also downloaded the tours to our phone, we worked it out quickly. Communication was great with biketours.com and even better with the local tour company who kept track of my bag which the airline had lost and had it to me just in time for the first day of riding. Overall a fun trip, I would go back to Portugal in a heartbeat.

    What was the date of your tour?
    october 2022
    How many tours have you completed?
    1
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    • 5/5 Value
    • 3/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • Algarve Coastal Route
    (5/5) Mark Stow November 26, 2022

    Good biking, excellent service

    · Algarve Coastal Route

    This was our seventh cycling trip and our third self guided one. Based on our experience we would rate the cycle tour company quite highly. We were provided with good bikes which were appropriate for the terrain and the appropriate maintenance equipment which came in handy as we did have a flat tire on day 5. The gps provided came loaded with the day by day routes and was invaluable in finding the out of the way paths that we occasionally found ourselves on. The hotels were very nice with most having balconies and ocean views and all provided an excellent breakfast to start the day. The van pick up and drop offs were on time and we enjoyed the local knowledge that Angus shared along the way. The scenery was spectacular from the salt marshes and dunes in the East to the cliffs and ocean vistas in the West.

    What was the date of your tour?
    November 2022
    How many tours have you completed?
    7
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • Best of the Algarve
    (5/5) Jamie PRORACKI January 7, 2023

    First bike trip experience

    · Best of the Algarve by Road Bike

    Great first trip of this type. Also first time to mainland Europe. This was a great way to experience the land and meet and interact with so many people. The food was amazing and most of the accommodations were top notch.

    What was the date of your tour?
    December 2022
    How many tours have you completed?
    1
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    • 4/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • Algarve Coastal Route
    (4/5) Bernice Thill March 15, 2023

    Authentic Beautiful Portugal

    · Algarve Coastal Route

    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
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    •  (photo by Bernice Thill)
    •  (photo by Bernice Thill)
    •  (photo by Bernice Thill)
    •  (photo by Bernice Thill)
    •  (photo by Bernice Thill)
    • 4/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
    • 5/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • (4/5) Bernice Thill March 16, 2023

    Authentic Beautiful Portugal

    · Algarve Coastal Route

    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
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    • 4/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 4/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
    • 5/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • (5/5) Michelle Dagenhart 11 months ago

    Top notch amazing trip, and affordable!

    · Algarve Coastal Route

    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
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
    • 5/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • (5/5) Allan Ruus 10 months ago

    May Algarve Family Trip

    · Algarve Coastal Route

    This cycling trip was a wonderful way to see the Algarve, much better than driving to hotels/vrbo and walking around to see the sites. The coastal nature parks with all the birds are impressive. The hotels were great locations, clean, breakfasts excellent, staff friendly and helpful. GPS worked perfectly and Biketours replaced one of the bikes within 3 hours of when a couple spokes broke.

    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
  • (5/5) Donna Barron 10 months ago

    Great Way to Experience the Algarve

    · Algarve Coastal Route

    We had a wonderful adventure riding along the Algarve. We loved that we rode on different surfaces and saw a lot of variety. The GPS was a little slow at time with directions.

    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    • Riding the Algarve (photo by Donna Barron)
  • Algarve Coastal Route
    (5/5) John Koester 10 months ago

    Great trip on the Algarve coast!

    · Algarve Coastal Route

    This was a very enjoyable trip on the Algarve coast. The route was easy to follow on the GPS and the bikes worked flawlessly. But the accommodations were the real stars. Each place we stayed was superb. We had a great time and highly recommend this trip on the southern coast of Portugal.

    How many tours have you completed?
    1
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    Somewhat harder
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • Best of the Algarve
    (5/5) Karla Frank 10 months ago

    Perfect Portugal Cycling

    · Best of the Algarve by Road Bike

    We can’t say enough about how wonderful this trip was! It was perfect in every way. Our holidays always include cycling so this was the perfect way for us to see the Algarve region of Portugal. Algarve Bike Tours was top notch in every way. They arranged everything for the trip including hotels, cycling routes, bike rentals, and luggage transfers. Everything went off without a hitch. The hotels were all different styles, and included a fantastic breakfast to fuel our ride for the day. The cycling routes were just the right amount of distance and climb to challenge us but not exhaust us. The bicycles were in good condition and met all our needs. We brought our own pedals, clips, shoes, saddles and helmets. Also, we never had one flat! Our luggage was always at the hotel when we arrived and the hotels were happy to accommodate us if we arrived a little before check in time.
    We can’t say enough about the Algarve region! The roads were nice, the people friendly, the scenery beautiful, the food and coffee plentiful and delicious! Motorists were very considerate of bicycles, even in the busier city areas.
    We have done many cycling holidays and this rates at the top, if not the top of all our trips!

    What was the date of your tour?
    May 2023
    How many tours have you completed?
    This is our first with biketours.com. We have done over 20 bike holidays.
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    •  (photo by Karla Frank)
    •  (photo by Karla Frank)
    •  (photo by Karla Frank)
    •  (photo by Karla Frank)
    •  (photo by Karla Frank)
    •  (photo by Karla Frank)
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Peggy Lister 10 months ago

    Algarve self guided bike tour

    · Best of the Algarve by Road Bike

    Great experience! The accommodations and the daily breakfasts were all top notch!

    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
  • Algarve Coastal Route
    (5/5) Lowell Snow 10 months ago

    Perfect Antidote to Winter

    · Algarve Coastal Route

    Warm, clear days. Manageable daily miles all along the coast. Excellent food. Good bikes and great support. Can’t ask for much more than that

    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
  • Best of the Algarve
    (5/5) Timothy Thornberry 9 months ago

    Outstanding! Portugal is amazing!

    · Best of the Algarve by Road Bike

    Entire experience was great! 6 days of riding in Algarve! Routes were great! Hotels very nice! Portuguese people were gracious hosts! Wonderful experience! Can't wait to do it again! (Recommend a rest day in the middle. traveling and biking is hard on you!)

    What was the date of your tour?
    June 2023
    How many tours have you completed?
    2
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 3/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
    • 5/5 Guides (if applicable)
  • Algarve Coastal Route
    (4/5) Paul Crisafulli 6 months ago

    Beautiful beaches, caves and countryside!

    · Algarve Coastal Route

    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
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 4/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 4/5 Route selection
  • (5/5) Carol Stack 6 months ago

    Fabulous Easy Biking Trip

    · Algarve Coastal Route

    We were very impressed with the arrangements made for our self guided bike trip across the Algarve. All the staff we met were incredibly helpful (shout out to Angus and Curt), the e bikes were terrific, the route fun and interesting -- it was just a delight. One hotel (Jupiter Algarve) was too much of a party hotel for us -- but we survived the late night music. The route had originally been configured west to east and we rode east to west so there a couple instances in which we were riding the wrong direction on one way streets. We had a wonderful time and so enjoyed seeing Portugal up close and personal.

    What was the date of your tour?
    August 2023
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Who is this tour suitable for?
    First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
    Do you recommend this tour?
    Yes
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    • 5/5 Value
    • 4/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 4/5 Hotels or boat
    • 5/5 Scenery
    • 5/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 5/5 Route selection
  • (1/5) Amanda Jennings 6 months ago

    Serious amounts of traffic

    · Algarve Coastal Route

    This ride has you in a lot of heavy traffic and even on the motorway at some places. The ride takes you through heavily touristed areas and then areas with nothing. This country very much highlighted the haves and the have nots in the country. I did not like the ride, it wasn't worth all of the traffic that we had to deal with.

    What was the date of your tour?
    September 2023
    Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
    As expected
    Do you recommend this tour?
    No
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    • BikeTours.com staff reply from Biketours Tour Advisor October 18, 2023

      Thank you, Amanda, for your honest feedback! Although we strive to provide the most safe and least-trafficked roads, in can be a challenge in certain countries and inevitably we have to link paths on roads with more traffic. We hope you were able to bring home some good memories of your trip. If you ever want to consider another one - we'd be happy to point you in the direction of tours with better bicycle infrastructure.

    • 1/5 Value
    • 1/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 1/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 5/5 Tour documents
  • (3/5) Jeffrey Yarne 6 months ago

    Do your research

    · Algarve Coastal Route

    Note: we have ridden the flatter and paved bike trails of the Danube and Bruge to Amsterdam. If those rides are rated 1, this ride should be more than 1.5 primarily due to the amount of loose gravel paths coupled with deep ruts from cars. Also is you are close to 5’1” even the extra small bikes with narrow tires might be tough to handle. The area is warm in late Sept 2023. And if you are expecting smaller towns we found the stopping places generally large catering to many tourists which is the primary industry. There are some wonderful places to eat. All hotels had air conditioning although some were noisy others were nice and set back from the crowds. The Portugal people are very nice and the local tour company is as accommodating within reason although if you break a chain in the midst of no where it is a challenge. It would be good to bring at minimum a master link and chain river tool for a roadside repair.

    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
  • (4/5) Betty Ngan 6 months ago

    An adventure

    · Algarve Coastal Route

    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
    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal
    • Day 5 (photo by Betty Ngan)
    • Marina and cobblestone path (photo by Betty Ngan)
    • Fabulous food (photo by Betty Ngan)
    • 5/5 Value
    • 5/5 Included meals
    • 5/5 Bikes + equipment
    • 5/5 Hotels or boat
    • 4/5 Scenery
    • 2/5 Ease of navigation
    • 3/5 Tour documents
    • 5/5 Local tour company services
    • 3/5 Route selection
  • Best of the Algarve
    (4/5) Chris Downey 6 months ago

    Tour of the Algarve

    · Best of the Algarve by Road Bike

    Great routes through the Algarve for road biking. The hotel were great except for the final hotel in Albufeira where we were given two single beds and each had a plastic mattress protector! A change I would recommend is incorporating Lagos in the bike tour and as an end destination to allow for spending an afternoon in that City to explore the coast after a morning of biking.

    Countries included in this tour?
    Portugal