Day 21 The Big Iberian Tour - El Real de la Jara

Edited by Christine

After 4 nights in Seville we are on the road again and have started what was always the main purpose of the trip, doing the Ruta Vía de la Plata: an ancient Roman route north, and part of the St James Way network.  We are taking the road-bike version to Leon before leaving la Ruta and going to Santander. La Ruta continues north to Gijón -- other versions go to Santiago de Compostela, but because we want to catch the ferry home we will turn east at Leon.

So far so good. Actually 10kms from the destination, Christine declared it was the best day's cycling she'd ever had although I think this had more to do with a premature sense that the journey was over. The last 10kms were a bit of an ordeal and finding the hotel was an absolute nightmare.

Day 20 The Big Iberian Trip - Seville

There's a quote, can't remember who said it, but it is to the effect that happiness is about accepting that life has adversities and then gaining enjoyment from overcoming them. Well today we had an adversity, not a big one in scheme of things, and despite the initial disappointment, it was fun overcoming it.

The day started well. We returned to yesterday's bar in the centre of Niebla for breakfast and more entertainment and were not disappointed on either front. It was packed but with a slightly different crowd. Three men behind the bar prepared coffee and toast and one took the orders and distributed the breakfast. He was amazing, leaning forward as he shot round the room and somehow remembering what the orders were and who had had what. Like last night, it was a noisy place with the Spanish typically grabbing any chance to socialise. We had two coffees each (not usually done in Spain where one is norm) and embarked on the bruschetta ritual. We gently sliced our toast, rubbed garlic onto its rough surface, drizzled olive oil onto the toast, covered it with tomato paste, lightly seasoned the whole thing and then devoured it, delicious! Breakfast came to 4 euros, good value!

Day 19 The Big Iberian Trip - Niebla

Niebla is about halfway between Lepe and Seville and was one of the few places where I could find somewhere to stay. It turned out to be an amazing place, really interesting and hopefully a sign of things to come as we journey to Spain's north coast.

It might sound a bit judgemental given that this is only our second day in Spain but already it feels a lot more interesting than Portugal. There seems to be more going on here, more to see in both the countryside and the towns.

Day 18 - The Big Iberian Trip - Lepe

Lots of news today.

The first piece of news is that Lepe is in Spain. After catching my 5th and penultimate ferry (the last one on this trip with be from Santander to Portsmouth) we crossed the border from Portugal and we're now in Spain.

Day 17 - The Big Iberian Trip - Tavira

To get back on schedule we caught the train from Lagos to Faro and then cycled 40 kms to Tavira. We then have three days to get to Seville when Christine flies to and from London. After that 4 day break we will set off on the main Spanish leg of our trip up to the north coast.

Today's trip was controversial. As we left Faro on a busy main road Christine saw a sign that said Tavira was 20 kms away and somehow this became fixed in her head as the correct distance. Despite the fact that we had plenty of time she then couldn't understand why we were on a route that was 40kms long. The tension between getting from A to B the fastest and usually easiest way and taking the scenic and usually more interesting route is a constant.

Anyway today started well and the train journey was great fun. The coastal train starts in Lagos, stops everywhere, takes forever and runs every 2 or 3 hours. Today the four carriages were packed with locals and holiday makers on their way to Faro airport. Bikes were stored in a tiny compartment at the end of the train. Initially there were 9 bikes but more kept arriving and after a few stops there were 16. The conducter was determined not to turn anyone away and every time a new bike arrived all the other bikes at to be moved to accommodate it. It was good to see everyone getting involved and despite the risk to paint work, people' cooperated.

Days 15 and 16, The Big Iberian Trip - Lagos

It's very windy in southern Portugal at the moment, so windy that we've decided to stay 2 days in Lagos.

Yesterday we cycled about 40k from Sagres but with a 40kmh headwind it felt twice as far. We chopped off​ all the wiggly bits and stuck with the cycle lane alongside the main road, but even I, Mr Schedule Man, had to accept that there might be better things to do than spend another day cycling into a gale.

Day 14 - The Big Iberian Trip - Sagres

After 13 days heading south, today's ride reached a milestone. This afternoon we reached the Portuguese equivalent of Land's End and, instead of south, for the next 250kms or so until Seville we will be traveling east. We have turned an important corner. We're now in Sagres which, despite giving it's name to Portugal's most popular beer, is a bleak and very windy place.

Day 13 The Big Iberian Trip - Odeciexe

After an overlong first day, a second day spoilt by navigational cock-ups, Christine's third day on the Big Iberian Trip went to plan. Helped by the distance, it was only 55km long, flat roads and very strong tail wind, we arrived at our destination without any significant moans or groans. If only every day could be like this.

Day 12 - The Big Iberian Trip - Vila Nova de Milfontes

Today didn't go that well, a combination of confusing road signs, poor navigation, and well intentioned but misleading advice meant that not only have we been led up the garden path but along a motorway as well.

Day 11 The Big Iberian Trip - Near the back of beyond

What would have been an excellent first day for Christine on the Atlantic Eurovelo was sadly spoilt by a complete breakdown in discipline towards it's end. If this was a football game Christine would now be facing a three day ban.

It was a hard start to the day. Staying down on the coast meant we had to climb 170m up through the town to rejoin the route. That went well, and was followed by a really lovely stretch of gravel cycling through high pasture dotted with beautiful Corsican pine looking like giant sprigs of broccoli.

Day 10 - The Big Iberian Trip - Sesimbra

It's great when a plan works. Christine flew out this morning from London, I met her at the airport, we cycled across Lisbon, caught a ferry and then cycled cross country to Sesimbra. We've cut a corner in terms of the Eurovelo route but we're now perfectly positioned to rejoin it tomorrow and continue our journey south.

I was worried about today and when I started cycling out the station in Lisbon it seemed that my concern was justified. The combination of hills, cobbled streets and ancient trams was lethal. Then I clicked into the cycle ways, devised a route to the airport along a cycle route and it was all fine.

Bigger report back when we get back on the route.

Day 9 The Big Iberian Tour - Cascais

Tomorrow is the most complicated day of the whole trip and to give myself plenty of time to get nice and stressed, I arrived at Cascais early. I'm​ now just outside Lisbon in a beautiful resort just to the west of the capital. Tomorrow Christine arrives and I've got to get across the city to meet her at the Airport. If her bike has survived the trip, we have then got to navigate across the city, get a ferry over the river, and find our way through Lisbon's southern suburbs to a resort on the coast. There's a lot to go wrong and perhaps we should have stayed in Lisbon tomorrow night. Unfortunately we don't have any spare days before we get to Seville (Christine has to go back to the UK) so the schedule is sacrosanct.

I've had an interesting day. It started with a definite fashion bloomer. The big question is whether or not to go to breakfast in your cycling gear. Now I'm full, no compromise Lycra person, total MAMIL, although in my case it should be OAPIL, and I don't hedge my bets by wearing baggy mountain bike shorts. Full Lycra is definitely OK if there is no one else there or if you are in a group and have gained critical mass with other Lycras. Today neither circumstance applied and when I walked into the packed breakfast room in full battle dress, wandering around trying to find an empty table, the room went quiet.

Day 8 The Big Iberian Tour - Praia das Maçás

I'm eating very well in Portugal. I get breakfast in the hotel, take pot luck on the coffee which varies from OK to terrible; get a coffee later in the cafe (incredibly cheap and generally good); a snacky thing like a sandwich for lunch and then a single course in the evening, usually fish. Last night I had polpo, (octopus) which is standard fare further up the coast in Galicia where it is served chopped up with beans. Here the approach was different and I was presented with a whole boiled octupus with artily positioned crushed potatoes and loads of garlic. It was the house specialty and they seemed to think that I come to the Santa Cruz just to eat it. Getting through it was a challenge particularly as my progress was closely observed. I think it will be my last octopus for a while.

Day 7 The Big Iberian Tour - Santa Cruz

I'm a week into my mega tour of the Iberian peninsula and it's going really well. Without trying too hard I've managed to cycle about 440kms and move south down the Portuguese coast to just north of Lisbon (the blue dot on the map shows where I am now). The plan has worked - every afternoon for 7 days I've turned up at a hotel and they knew who I was, they were expecting me!

I have been lucky with weather although it looks like the heat wave is at an end. It was foggy when I left Perniche and although this soon burned off it's been a muggy sort of day and the mist returned just after a I got to Santa Cruz. The forecast for the next few days is cloudy, a lot cooler, but no rain. I can cope with that.

Today's ride was only 50kms long but it was hilly. The coastal scenery is now verging on the dramatic but the price is hills and like yesterday I managed nearly 1000m of climb. What tends to happen is that you head inland and climb to get around some sort of obstacle and swoop back down to the coast and a little resort. I prefer the swooping to the climbing but the climbing isn't a problem.

Although I still haven't seen a Eurovelo sign I have seen a sign for the equivalent long distance footpath, the E9. Like the Eurovelo this follows the Atlantic and North Sea coasts 5000 kms from the southern tip of Portugal all the way to Estonia.
I've also seen lots a cabbages, fields of them and looking very healthy. Christine is a big fan of cabbage arguing that's it's the only proper vegetable.

The falling temperatures meant that compared to the last few days the beaches were relatively empty. Even the surfers have disappeared although I was impressed by a group of teenagers who were flying along with their surf boards on their bikes.

The route went through the village of Vimeiro which is where Wellington, or Wellesley as he was then, secured his first victory over the French in the Peninsula War, liberating Portugal in the process. There was a statue in the middle of the roundabout representing a British soldier.


Vimeiro is situated at the end of a very beautiful gorge, steep limestone cliffs covered in gorse which was in full flower. The route followed a dirt track through the gorge before returning to the coast and Santa Cruz.


Although the beach at Santa Cruz is stunning the town itself is a little run-down and, given the school holidays, surprisingly empty. Maybe the Portuguese have looked at the weather forecast and gone back to Lisbon.

Day 6 The Big Iberian Tour - Perniche

55 kms is definitely a civilised distance, particularly when it's as hot as it is at the moment (it's hitting 80 degrees). It means I can take things really slowly and arrive early afternoon. Sorry Christine, I know you're arriving on Saturday but I've now got a routine. It involves leaving about 9, stopping for coffee at about 10-45 and then having a light lunch at about 12-30. I then get dinner at around 7-30 which seems to be OK in Portugal.

Today's ride was a real mixed bag, a nice mixed bag but with very different parts. As well as varied scenery it also involved different surfaces including a lot of off-road.

Day 5 - The Big Iberian Tour - Foz do Arelho

Today I've had a really nice ride on my bike. The scenery has improved, I met of a couple of Dutch who were doing something nearly as mad as me, and I visited the beach that has the world's biggest waves. The ride was just over 60 kms long with 1100m of climb which, after a couple of 90km days, felt really civilised.

The coastline has become really beautiful. It is now rugged with towns located in proper sandy bays surrounded by multi coloured cliffs.

Day 4 The Big Iberian Tour - San Pedro de Moel

San Pedro de Moel is a nice place, picturesque and very popular. On a sunny Sunday at the beginning of the Easter school holidays it's a busy place jammed with cars. It sits at the northern end of the Silver Coast and what I hope will be an improvement to the scenery. So far it's all been just a bit too flat.

Day 3 The Big Iberian Tour - Figueira da Foz

My bike can take big tyres and today I wish I'd got them on, the going was rough, hardly any smooth surfaces, and the 80 kms felt long. It was also very hot and although for once I'm actually applying the lotion, I'm getting burnished.

The rough going started as soon as I got back to the route from Aveiro. The gravel path, now following the eastern side of the lagoon I tracked yesterday, was long, straight and relentless. The tide was out and the lagoon had been transformed into a wide expanse of mud and seaweed and locals with buckets were finding something edible.

Day 2 The Big Iberian Tour - Aveira

Aveira is a surprisingly nice place, surprising because the final approach, along tight busy roads in the rush hour, was horrible. It's actually about 10 kms off the route and after making it through the suburbs, its old historic centre, a small port at the end of a lagoon, was packed with Baroque buildings and nice restaurants. I writing this waiting for my eel stew, apparently the local specialty, and half a bottle of Douro to help it go down. It's a tough life!

Actually I think I deserve it. Today's 95km was flat and easy but I was in the sun for a long time. Yes the weather continues to be perfect.




Despite a bit of dodgy navigation leaving Porto, I got away early. The dodgy navigation resulted in me carrying the bike down some never ending stairs but at least I got a great view of that bridge. I then crossed it on the bike which was even more fun. After a final view of the lovely Porto the route turned south along the coast.

Day 1 - The Big Iberian Tour - Porto

I'm in Porto at the beginning of my longest cycling trip " The Big Iberian Tour", an epic 2000km journey south along the Portuguese coast and north through Spain via Seville. If all goes to plan, we (Christine joins the expedition in Lisbon) will be heading back to the UK, on a ferry from Santander, in mid-May.


The initial plan involved a relatively modest adventure along Spain's Ruta de la Plata from Seville to Giron. Based on an excellent website, this looks like a brilliant route but we then noticed that the Atlantic Eurovelo is now complete in Portugal and that we could follow this almost all the way to Seville. As time is not a problem (for me at least), the only question was how much of Portugal to cycle and which airport to start from. 'Most of it' was the answer so here I am in Porto.

Today all I had to do was get from the airport to my modest but comfortable hotel in the middle of the city. It's been a stressful day, so a short ride and a long relaxing afternoon was just what was needed at the beginning of the trip. Getting the bike to Gatwick, packing it into a big plastic bag, with all the vital bits protected by bubble wrap, and onto plane is something I've done before but it's still nerve-racking. I saw the bike go onto the plane, gave the baggage handler the thumbs up, and yes it made it to Porto in one piece.