Trip Length: 7 days, 6 nights
Trip Type: Active, culture and food filled adventure with hiking and biking
Highlights: Portugal is one of Western Europe’s least visited enigmatic countries, one with an incredibly rich history of culture, cuisine, and maritime exploration. It is now a popular destination in its own right, due in part to the medieval castles, quaint oceanside towns with cobblestoned streets, and a famous culinary scene to go along with the music that it is also known for. This trip combines all of those, in an active fashion including hikes along the Atlantic coast and beaches as well as bicycling and optional surfing and mountain bike excursions.
2023 Fixed Dates: April 22-28; May 20-26; September 23-29; October 7-13
Trip Price: $2499 per person double occupancy. Includes all activities, lodging, private van transport, and local Portuguese guide, fluent in English. Solo travelers are welcome to adventure with us on any of the dates above. Single/private supplements for accommodations throughout the entire trip are available for $399.
Trip Itinerary:
This itinerary can be moved and rearranged and made more adventure heavy or less adventure and more foodie/historical depending on the group.
Day 1 – Arrive to Lisbon airport, where our private vehicle, driver, and English speaking guide will all be waiting for you! We’ll bring you to your hotel and then have time to cruise around the city a bit and orient ourselves. No reason not to dive right into some tasty local food so we’ll do just that – and from a local’s perspective, and not the usual TripAdvisor or Lonely Planet. Happy hour and optional group dinner with your guide tonight at another great local’s spot.
Day 2 – After breakfast, we will head to the Sintra Region, a reported retreat of the famed Diana the Huntress and still shrouded in a bit of natural mystique. Sintra is like a Portuguese Fairy Tale city/region with enchanted forests, castles, palaces, and exotic gardens. It contains several UNESCO sites, which we will visit during a long and extended walk through town. After lunch, we’ll head out to the woods for a hike or optional (but included!) e-bike ride through the forest paths.
Day 3 – Cabo de Roca is the very most Western point of Europe, and a famous spot for sunsets and photographs. .We’ll visit it actively, via a long hike along the Coastal Trail which is a beautiful hike along the hills and cliffs over the Atlantic Ocean.
Day 4 – A morning walking tour of Cascais, Portugal’s famous coastal fishing town, Cascais is classy and charming and known as the Portuguese Riviera. First, we’ll visit the “Boca do Inferno” (Hell’s Mouth) which is a collapsed cave and series of highly weathered cliffs. Cascais has a delightful centre of traditional fishermen’s houses, which have been converted into chic shops and alfresco restaurants/bars. It’s a great place to wander and absorb the atmosphere. After lunch, we have the option of either a StandUp Paddleboard session out in the bay or else a bike ride around town and the surrounding hills, all included with your trip
Day 5 – Getting a bit off the beaten path, we’ll visit and hike or mountain bike option the Portuguese countryside at Serra de Montejunto. Serra de Montejunto is a mountain range surrounded by traditional Portuguese villages. After our activity we will take a quick ride to have lunch in the delightful town of Óbidos. With white houses adorned with bougainvilleas and honeysuckle, the village of Óbidos is encircled by a ring of medieval walls and is the most perfect examples of our medieval fortress.
Day 6 – Beach Day ! We’ll leave after breakfast for the beach town of Ericeria. Picturesquely draped across sandstone cliffs above the blue Atlantic, Ericeira is renowned for spectacular ocean vistas and excellent seafood restaurants. We’ll spend the day soaking up the sun and embracing local culture in the old town centre.
It is also a mecca for great European waves so a surf lesson option is available.
Day 7 – After breakfast check out of Hotel to head toward Lisbon: Airport Drop off Day. Lisbon sightseeing/attractions if there’s time
Trip Inclusions: Private transportation and English speaking guide, the entire week from airport pickup to airport dropoff; Six nights hotel, Day 1 through the morning of Day 7 (double occupancy); Breakfast Days 2 through 7; All hiking, two e-bike tours, one surf or standup paddleboard lesson, and one mountain bike excursion. It also includes unlimited phone and email support with our owner from beginning to end, including 24/7 support in English to a toll free US number while you are in Portugal.
Trip Exclusions: Does not include lunches or dinners, and as not everyone chooses to go in, it does not include entrance fees to the various castles and palaces we frequently visit. Also does not include optional rock climbing activity, or optional second surf or paddleboard lesson.