Adventures on the Portugal ACT and Beyond - Part 1
- Suzie Prevett
- Nov 23
- 20 min read
Updated: 13 hours ago
Moto travel time again...yey!!! We'd booked a couple of weeks off work and planned to do the Portugal ACT (Adventure Country Track), which is a track that starts in North Portugal and ends at it's Southern coast in the Algarve. It's approximately 1250km long, is recommended to be completed over five days, and is about 65% 'off-road'.
Top tip: make sure your insurance provider covers you for such trips! Many now don't.
Unfortunately, Portugal had experienced one of its worst summers of fires, so we watched the fire map intently in the couple of weeks before, as many of them were over sections of the ACT tracks. If the fires kept burning, we'd head over to the Pyrenees ACT or just go on a magical mystery tour (my favourite type of adventure, ha ha!). Fortunately, more so for the poor people affected by the fires, things had calmed down a lot by the time we were due to travel, so our initial plan remained. Portugal ACT here we come!!
We got to the ferry port in Plymouth very early, and the weather had been quite changeable, but it was dry at the port and the sun even came out. We spoke to a chap and his brother-in-law who were going to Portugal. Also, a couple of bikers came over for a chat. Then after check in we sat at the cafe and chatted to a group of four bikers - 2 with bikes in a van and another two on Tenere’s. They were planning to do the TET loop North to South around Picos de Europa. Must be good riders on the Tenere! Hats off!!
We boarded the ferry, and were literally first on…we’d come to regret that later! We were very glad of our cabin booking option as it was a nice big cabin and a sofa this time on one side (a 2/4 berth outside cabin). It was then time to take the ‘Kwells’ followed by a trip to the bar…obviously, lol. Later, dinner was a homemade filled pitta for me, a café meal for Kelvin followed by a very early night for us as we were shattered. The sea sickness tablets definitely had a part to play in that.
We’d slept quite well despite the sway of the ferry during the night. I personally always find the ferry beds very comfortable. Sadly, breakfast was quite a disappointment being poor quality and cold (not the usual experience I have to admit), and then it was back to the cabin for a yoga session (well, for me at least…the beauty of a larger cabin)! It was nice to be able to get out on deck and have a good walk around, despite the rain. I almost fell on my arse, and did the semi splits where the deck had got slippery from the sea salt plus rain…luckily no one watching, other than Kelvin who, after checking I was ok (good husband points scored), then laughed out loud at me (short-lived points, ha ha)!
Lunch was a much better experience than breakfast; I had a salad bowl for €6.90 and Kelvin chicken and chips for €9.90. Great value as the portions were decent, and yes, I crammed as much in that bowl as I could! Another walk around then we ordered a coffee out of the drinks machine. It broke after paying, so we went to the info desk and the manager gave us both a free coffee each from the cafe with a huge smile…Great customer service! We watched an iPlayer drama I’d downloaded to pass the time, and then it was time to get kitted up. We waited in the bar for a call to go down to deck 2.
Eventually they called us and oh my word, what craziness!! Bikes were crammed in so close, I’d never experienced it like this before. We had to try to get past the rows of bikes like an obstacle course, trying not to clip any wing mirrors or shiny, sticky out parts. People were quite helpful which was nice, but I was sweltering by the time I got to my bike, which was the furthest distance away and right in the corner as we’d got on first. Once we finally got off there was a long queue for passport stamping and then we ended up coming out of the Port way off where I expected. However, we managed to work out where we needed to head towards and were able to escape Santander on the N623 and avoided the A road…Success! Then we took the N611 all the way to Reinosa, which was full of lovely winding roads, and hardly any cars. Bliss! Welcome to Northern Spain!
Arriving at our hotel for the night (Hotel Vejo), there was a bit of a wait to check in but I was greeted by a very friendly receptionist and I managed quite well in Spanish. However, when I got to providing my phone number, where I had to translate each number and remember where I’d got to in my number, it took me a bit of time and she then said “you can say it in English” ha ha! It turned out she spoke some English, but after that we carried on in Spanish, so I was chuffed with my effort. Having been in Spain earlier in the year, I think it’s helped the grey matter a little!
We took the bikes in to their small parking garage and three other bikers arrived soon after as well. In the hotel, we just relaxed, drank wine and rum and ginger ale at their bar. The wine was €1.90!!!! The rum was €6! My glass of wine would have been about £7+ in the UK at a hotel, so I was very happy. Dinner was ok, and €30 between us for spaghetti marinara, spaghetti carbonara and a patatas bravas. Considering we ate at the standard Spanish evening meal time at gone 9pm, we were almost guaranteed a night of indigestion.
As anticipated we had a crap sleep; too full, too hot, not enough pillow! A nice shower and buffet breakfast helped though and the tortilla was yum. We kitted up and it was a barmy 7 degrees outside…we’d not planned on cool temperatures so all our layers went on!
We followed the N-611 again, which essentially ran alongside the busier, straighter A road. It was nice and flowing with some lovely twists and turns, plus without the toll charges, so we were very happy.
We got 200km done before lunch and stopped at a bar for coffee and tapas, but unfortunately, so did loads of flies. The barman was super friendly and I met a very jolly lady (another customer) who helped me carry everything out to our table. It was now a more pleasant 16 degrees, and sunny, so we took off the waterproofs which had helped us stay warm in the morning.
Continuing on we made it to Candeias do Souto by 2.20pm. What a beautiful place, hidden in the countryside North of Bragança. After a tour of the property, which seemed to be a lovely winery museum also, we unloaded the bikes. We partook in the complimentary coffee and cake, chatted to an English couple living in France, and then went in to Bragança to a Lidl for some supplies to make sandwiches. We couldn’t be bothered to go back out again later so sarnies were the most appealing option. Obviously we washed them down with some local wine, it’d be rude not to. Only a few Euros and very tasty!
We ventured downstairs for a piece of apple cake and another coffee, then walked around the village and up to the top of the hill going out of the village to catch the beautiful sunset. It was so unbelievably quiet; we could hear every swoosh, swoosh movement of the birds flapping their wings way above us! There were also loads of chestnut trees, another feature that the region is renowned for. What a lovely evening!
We’d had a very on-off night’s sleep, and it was due to be a colder start again of about 5 degrees at 9am…brrrr! Breakfast was at 8.30am and then we were off to start our ACT adventure. Exciting!!!
We hit some dirt road almost straight away on route to getting fuel, which was just a DMD2 app chosen route. Nice! We topped up both bikes and water bladders, and then went in search of the official start of the ACT track. Once we found it, we went to reduce our tyre pressures, but the electronic gauge had failed so we just left them as-is. Why to carry a basic, non-electronic gauge!
There was loads of dirt road early on, and great fun with stunning views. On Day one you have two ‘hard’ options, which I must admit, I felt quite apprehensive about, but I really wanted to see the Roman bridges, so we decided to give them a go.
On hard track one we got quite easily to the Roman Bridge and it really was worth it. However, when we got there we met two guys on BMWs from Germany, who’d done some other ACT routes. They were really struggling to get up the track after the bridge and so we helped get the bigger BMW get going again after we all lifted it up from where it had fallen on the sharp, loose, uphill corner. It took the chap a few tries but he did eventually make it. Then the younger lad had his turn and he was definitely nervous as he was shaking a bit. Unfortunately, he came off on the corner, so we helped get his bike back up and got him back as far as we could on the corner so he’d have a run up. He was really struggling, but eventually between us we got the bike up.
It was then our turn. Kelvin made it up all ok and then, just before I had my attempt the chap with the first, bigger bike came back down and stood on the corner. It was really nice of him to walk back down to check we were ok and help if needed. Much to my surprise I made it up. It was a bit slippery, and possibly not my most elegant riding, but my trusty DR got up and out without mishap! Very chuffed with myself and my bike I must say. The two chaps let us go on ahead and we made it back to the standard track. It was a bit bumpy still after the loose uphill corner, but the Kove and DR seemed to love it. Happy days!
We made it to the Castle on the top of a hill (Castelo de Algoso) overlooking the valley, so we spent a bit of time here looking around. I could see down in the valley there was another Roman bridge, but what I didn’t realise at the time was that it was part of the second ‘hard’ option of the day. Well, it didn’t look too hard from up there…I’d be proved wrong though!
We got down to just before the bridge fine, with a few bumpy bits along the way venturing down in to the valley. However we then got to a steepish, bumpy, rocky downhill on a left hand bend, which you had to negotiate in order to get to the bridge.
I was very thankful it was dry at least, but my head was still majorly getting in the way! Now, looking back I know I could have done it but my head was having other ideas and I was just feeling super nervous for some reason, which means a much higher likelihood of me messing up or inadvertently pulling the front brake when I didn’t want to. So, I reluctantly handed the bike over to Kelvin, who made it look easy, but it was the right decision.
Getting out was also quite interesting! This time I did ride the bike, but it wasn’t at all graceful on the narrow, loose, uphill bends…however, I made it and the bike remained upright. It was hard work and I was very tired after these two harder sections, but glad I’d given it a go.
A little while later, we got to the top of another hill which had a heart carved out of a wooden sign and a ‘2 hobbits’ sticker…my friends Suzy and Gary had done the trip the previous year and placed it there, along with multiple others who’d done the same. I didn’t have one of ours. We sat for a while and enjoyed the immense, green view on this lovely day. I must admit, I was glad of the rest, although at this point was very much looking forward to finding a place to stay and getting there!
There were some lovely small villages along the way, although I almost got taken out by a tractor that was coming out of a side street as he wasn’t looking, and likely not anticipating that two nutty tourists on motorbikes would be passing through his sleepy little village. No harm done though, and I gave him a friendly wave regardless.
A little while later we stopped and booked some accommodation near Torre de Moncorvo called Quintas Do Valbom e Cuco. We weren’t actually that far away, so hoped it would all work out ok, but when we got there the reception was open and we were greeted by a very friendly woman. She spoke no English and my Portuguese was abysmal, despite two months of dedicated Duolingo, but we managed to communicate somehow.
Also, just before we reached the accommodation we could see smoke from a fire, which has evidently only started recently. Before we knew it there were planes and helicopters around dropping water, and loads of people had stopped on the road to watch what was going on. Fortunately, due to their quick action they managed to get it under control. Phew!
We were about to start on the 2Km walk in to town when the lady from reception indicated she was leaving and could give us a lift. Great! The place she’d recommended for dinner wasn’t yet open, although in Portugal at least their meal times were a bit more sensible, being at around 7pm. We only had about 45 mins to wait so we sat a bar nearby on one of the outside tables with the locals, drank some wine and waited for the restaurant (Taberna O Caneco) to open. The food was reasonable, and definitely much needed, followed by a walk back up the hill out of town for about 40 mins. It helped the food go down, but boy was I shattered. What a day!
Waking at about 7.30am, we made Coffee and munched a cereal bar each, then it was off to find fuel and water in town. It was going to be another epic day. The first half was really good, but then I was totally shattered for the second half. I’d decided early on that I didn’t want to do the hard option today (the only other day with an optional ‘hard’ section) as I’d found the sand riding challenging enough already. Yes, day two has plenty of sand as a bit of fore-warning!
We came across a lady herding sheep along a dirt track, so we stopped and turned the bikes off as not to scare the sheep back up the track. This was the worse traffic we encountered all day, ha ha! Getting back to the tarmac, we stopped for a coffee at Chico’s Bar near a long bridge over the Douro River and saw some German bikers who also stopped.
We were right on the Portugal-Spain border in the Douro valley, which had such stunning views and we followed the track on a huge loop up in to the mountains. It was well worth it!
After another coffee at about 11.40am, we fuelled up and met a really friendly old man. Being a little early still we decided not to find lunch, however this ended up being a bad decision in some ways as we didn’t find a decent lunch place after. There was loads of lovely remote riding, however given we arrived at a hotel at 6pm, it may not have been a bad thing. Kelvin had actually come off today on a sandy corner in a burnt out area, although he’s not quite sure how. The front end went in the sand but it was so fast. Luckily no harm done to the bike, but he got quite a nasty bump. There was so much fire damage evident throughout the ride today, it was quite hard hitting.
Also today, we came across one section of road that was closed as there was work being done on the road. As we got to the machinery and were about to stop to look at alternative options, a guy who appeared to be a local farmer and (hopefully) owner of the field, came up and indicated for us to cut across the field, so we did! We looked back to check we were heading in the right direction and he waved us to continue. There’s no way we’d have taken the route across his field had he not told us to, but we got across and then down the bank on to the fresh tarmaced road. We were the only people who’d been on it as it’d not yet been opened. Nice!
At around 3.30pm I was seriously flagging and we found a place for coffee and also booked a place to stay called Alojamento Santa Clara. It was nice to know we’d have somewhere to stay and another bargain. My concentration was seriously waning but that didn’t take away from the fact that the views were still seriously stunning, and I tried to appreciate them as much as possible despite my general lack of enthusiasm at this point.
We got all the way to the ‘end’ of the Day two ACT track, which finished at Vale Rossim, at a huge lake. It was quite a picturesque finish for the day, and did have some accommodation options, although quite pricey and nowhere around for a decent meal, so we were happy with our Alojamento choice. After admiring the lake we headed back in to the town. We’d got lucky as we had the place all to ourselves, and were able to park the bikes right next to our accommodation, but hidden from sight by a solid metal gate. It was £52 plus breakfast, so not bad at all in the grand scheme of things.
We walked in to town for 20 mins (about 1.5km ish). There didn’t seem to be many options, but there was a Pizzeria open (Luso Pizza), which some locals said was the best option. Sold! I opted for a tomato salad as I was craving some fresh veggies, and a Hawaiian and pepperoni pizza to share. That plus a couple of beers and a large wine put us back about €37, so not too bad at all, and really friendly. It was then a steady walk back before an early night at 9.15pm. Hardcore…or maybe not! I was done in.
I woke up and still felt tired, although the breakfast was the best one of the trip so far, so perked me up a bit. Some excellent scrambled eggs, great yoghurt and lots of bits to go with it, plus great coffee…just what I needed. The next thing we knew the manager came over and enthusiastically gave us some pastel de natas and espressos. We were very touched he’d taken the time to come and do this since we were the only ‘budget’ guests, and the rest were all from the much more expensive sister hotel next door.
The route today was epic, but if I hadn’t have had some decent off-road experience or was on a much bigger bike there’s a good few sections I’d have struggled with. We ventured, up and down over so many mountains, peppered with wind turbines as far as the eye could see. It was definitely rockier terrain today, and less sand than yesterday, so that suited me down to the ground.
Once again, we witnessed so much scorched landscape, and one town in particular was surrounded by blackened shrubbery and trees. They’d evidently managed to stop the fire just before it engulfed the main part of the town. It must have been a horrendous experience to be surrounded by fire like that, and some of the more unfortunate buildings on the outskirts had obviously been engulfed.
One part of the track did catch me out…a long downhill with a lot of gravel, which got deeper as you veered out to the right on a left-hand bend. Classic example of the head getting in the way plus target fixation. You may have gathered by now it’s the steep, off-road downhills that I struggle with! I ended up dropping my bike gently in a pit of gravel on the right of the track, as that’s where the bike just wanted to go, and I just kept looking at it as it got closer and closer…doh!! Anyway, no harm done and time for a quick breather anyway.
There had been so many sections that were a bit iffy, but I managed ok, keeping good constant throttle and just kept going! Whoop whoop! Unfortunately we didn’t manage to find any decent places to stop for lunch as there was so much off-road (despite being only apparently 40% on Day 3…I think that may be an error) so at 3pm stopped for a cereal bar and crisps. That was enough to keep us going and hopefully we’d get a proper dinner…fingers crossed!
The biggest heart in throat moment of the day was when I was tootling along, and I almost got thrown off the track by a branch that I knocked my handlebars. Fortunately I managed to stop just before I went off the edge! It definitely shit me up a bit!! I was exceedingly thankful that I hadn’t been going any faster or it would have ended very differently. So there’s some pro’s to not being a fast off-road rider!
We reached the end point of the Day 3 track at just gone 5pm, where we met three BMW riders. One lot who were a couple of mates had given up on the ACT route and had initially been attempting to follow it North to South like us. Having pre-booked all of the hotels they were going to aim for the Algarve, but on primarily tarmac routes. No big issue as Eastern Portugal had fabulous options in abundance. There was also a guy called Alan from Estonia who was doing it in reverse, South to North. That meant he’d technically completed the two easiest days and had the three slightly more challenging days ahead. We chatted about what lay ahead as he was a relatively new off-road rider, and hopefully helped him to prepare. He planned to just turn around if things got too tricky for him, which was sensible, especially as he’d found it a little challenging already.
We drank Sangria, beer and coke on the waterfront at the Alamal restaurant and the chap behind bar asked if we were doing ACT, as I think they’d had a lot of others doing it. I mean they had five of us there on a late September evening, so I would imagine in the summer it would have been a lot more popular. We also managed to get a ham sandwich for me, and pork, chips and rice for Kelvin, so at least it wasn’t going to be crisps and cereal bars for dinner. They definitely had a captive market there, and the accommodation was relatively expensive, but there were no cheaper options we could find online. Also, we were knackered and couldn’t be bothered to ride in to the town (Belver) and search for alternatives, so we decided to just stay there, and chill on the riverside. Not too much of a hardship, especially on a warm evening, with Belver Castle up on the other side of the river overlooking us.
I managed to book the ‘Alamal River Club’ hotel on Booking.com and get key code for the room, but at £87 it was the most expensive stay we’d had so far, and the worse standard so far. It definitely needed an update and refresh. However, we knew we were paying for the location and convenience, so it was what it was. Also, the room had ‘continental breakfast’ included, but based on the standard so far, we’d already decided that we’d give it a miss and set off early instead. I quite liked the idea of getting off earlier so we could have more time at the destination, and not so pressured for time, especially as we like to stop a lot. Also, seems as we’d generally done ok on timings I decided to book a place for the following night, which was £14 cheaper on Hotels.com. I was very glad I checked, as I often forget, but it can make a big difference.
Read more in Part 2 HERE!
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