Adventures on the Portugal ACT and Beyond - Part 2
- Suzie Prevett
- 20 hours ago
- 20 min read
The following morning we left early at around 7.30am, to start Day 4 of the ACT adventure, with a beautiful dawn break over Belver castle. We also managed to get fuel that early, although there was no water or coffee. Fortunately we managed to get some later at an Intermarche, plus a fuel top up. Our dirt road riding of the day had started with sand, so I wasn’t overjoyed, but it’s all practice. To my delight the latter part of the route was much more hard packed dirt, so easier to ride, with fast trails all in all (however by that I mean 50kph on open straights 😂). One thing you have to remember is that, like our UK ‘green roads’, these tracks are often used by all, so it’s not a good idea to bomb along them. Also it doesn’t present a good image.
We came across a couple of dirt bikers having fun on their two strokes, and much better at negotiating the sand than me, ha ha! We had a lovely stop for coffee early afternoon, which helped a lot. We came across a good few beautiful castles during the day, and a couple of rather interesting rocky tracks that I wouldn’t want to do on a big bike without being reasonably competent off-road! If you’ve only done one training weekend off-road and are on a sizeable adventure bike, be ready to adjust your route.
After one later section of lovely, slightly bumpy dirt road, we came uphill to Monsaraz Castle. We didn’t go right up to the castle itself, but parked in the carpark below where there was a van selling drinks and ice lollies. So we inevitably ended up with an ice lolly each, which we enjoyed overlooking an immense view. It was absolutely stunning and really nice to sit back and relax for a bit!
It had definitely been more like 40% off-road today and the easiest day so far. We got in to Moura and filled up with fuel ready for the following day, and ended up passing Moto Club de Moura, but realised what it was a little late and were in one way system, so we just kept going to our hotel. Sadly, the room was tiny, which made it interesting to try and find space for all of our kit and not getting their white linen dirtied. We did manage though…just!
Also, the pool was freezing, and they must have thought we were totally nuts when we asked where the pool was and ventured out for a dip. The only thing that ended up being dipped though was our feet!! On the plus side, the air con worked and it was an interesting old building. The staff spoke English, which was helpful with my struggling Portuguese, but the big bonus was the secluded parking, especially as we were near the centre of town.
After we got settled, we walked to a nearby bar and had a wine, beer and pastel del nata, then found the Moto Club for a small lager. Unfortunately, no one spoke to us despite me smiling enthusiastically at a few folk (maybe they thought I was a bit nuts, lol) and language was an obvious barrier, plus we weren’t in bike gear so they probably assumed we were a couple of random tourists.
We then walked to a supermarket for water, then back to the hotel and on to Andre’s for dinner. The hotel staff had recommended it and it was an absolutely excellent meal. Even Kelvin was very impressed with his random assortment of steak, pineapple, spiced apples, crisps and garlic aioli, and my shrimp curry was spot on. We reluctantly decided against pudding as we were just so full. When we left it was spitting with rain and apparently, we were due lots of showers the next day, for our fifth and final ACT day. Damn it!
We were able to have breakfast at 7am the next morning after a very poor sleep for me. I was awake from 12 midnight to about 3.15am, probably as I was so full before bed, plus the wine. At least breakfast was a good’un with loads of fresh fruit and natural yoghurt plus the usual pastel del nata. Definitely not something I’d usually have for breakfast at home (or the wine each night for that matter), but it was holiday time!
We managed to get on the road by about 8.30ish, already fuelled up and water on board. It felt quite a long walk to the bikes as the car park was out the back of the hotel, but it definitely woke our bodies up! Thankfully it was dry initially, but then the rain set in. At least we’d managed to load up in the dry. I was very careful riding over the cobbles in the streets, as it can be super slippery once wet, and everywhere in Portugal in the towns and villages there were cobbled streets.
We headed out of town and it was a lot of tarmac initially, then came the dirt roads, and nice easy ones at that to. Thankfully not much rock like we’d had previously, as some of the sections we’d done over the last few days could have been a very different kettle of fish in the wet.
Before we knew it we were at the mine we’d seen on the ACT video…Mina de São Domingos. We were lucky as we also got a little reprieve from the rain for most of the time we were there. It was absolutely amazing, so we stopped there for a good while taking loads of pictures and just having a good mooch around. The colours were a real contrast and the water had all sorts of different patterns in it. All of that plus the old mine structures dotted across the landscape resulted in a very Mad Max, apocalyptic feel.
We kept going after that and didn’t stop for a coffee (I know, shock horror) as we both felt happy after our two massive cups at breakfast!! Later on the track in the middle of nowhere we stopped for a snack of boiled eggs, apples and biscuits we’d saved / nabbed from the breakfast buffet. Also, Kelvin had to remove his new 3D printed mount for his tablet as the damn thing had snapped.
The latter part of the day was mostly dirt and fun, faster roads through the Algarve hills until we could see the sea in the distance. We’d passed a truck at one point and then later, when we had to stop again, they passed us. There were two ladies in the truck and they beamed as they drove past, waving enthusiastically at us. We waved back, reciprocating the big smiles, and felt glad that we were obviously welcome in their lands.
Finally, we made it to the end point of the track. It felt fantastic to get to the end and the two Brits we’d met two days before near Belver were there, plus a lot of other tourists. The chap we’d spoken to most came over and congratulated us for finishing the Portugal ACT and we had a quick chat. They’d ventured out on some of the day four dirt tracks and also had a fab time on the lovely tarmac roads, so that was great to hear. A really nice guy, but I didn’t get his name though. Doh!
Fortunately, one place was still serving food. A bit of a relief as I was Marvin’! Omelettes were the order of the day and I also got a lovely fresh salad. I’d had a great day of fresh fruit and leafage so my body was feeling a little happier with me. I walked up to the lookout over the beach, took some photos then we decided to head back up and inland about 85km to Almodôvar as it was way cheaper accommodation, quieter and nicer to…well for us anyway. The touristy Algarve is not so much our cup of tea, although nice to visit temporarily. We booked somewhere and set off.
On arrival at Casa de Campo Corvos e Cadavais there was a nice secure gate, followed by a long driveway leading to a big parking area. We were greeted by the owner of the property and her dog, and shown to our lovely big room… all for just €60. A way better option than the extortionate Algarve options, or the matchbox last night for £109 (yes, I know), although a decent breakfast nice and early had been a win! We arranged breakfast for 7.30am the next morning, and then we planned to go up to meet Aida. We had met Aida a few years ago in South America and also spent Christmas of 2018 in Mendoza, Argentina with her, so we were really looking forward to catching up. We sorted some route planning and found a place near Aida’s for the next night for £52 that was biker friendly and had secure parking, so key criteria met.
The following day after our early, basic breakfast it was a tarmac jaunt of about 300km, and we managed to get to near Aida’s place by about 2pm! Absolutely flying!! Well, on a DR650 going at between 60 and 70mph, it felt like it, ha ha! We managed to find their place, down a long track, which would be a mud bath in the rainy season, I’m sure. It was so great to catch up, plus meet her lovely partner Dom, with whom she’d set up a business called ‘Do Epic Rides’ offering primarily private and exclusive 1:1 off-road riding tuition. They literally have hundreds of miles of fabulous tracks of all different types of terrain.
We were able to do some laundry, sat around chatting, and then went on an impromptu bike ride after Kelvin had done his Kove’s 2000km interval oil change. I was kindly given their KTM 350cc to take out, whilst Kelvin took his Kove…a good test for it! I was definitely way out of my comfort zone in more ways than one, but I pulled up my big girl panties and went for it! Whoop whoop!
The sand was very different to anything I’d ever ridden before. It was super soft, and on the corners it could be exceedingly deep and I really struggled on those bits in particular; I’d slow down too much and then struggle to get going again, on several occasions resulting in being dumped on the floor! At least it was a soft landing…small mercies. Despite the very red face, the profuse sweating and aching wrists from holding on far too hard, it was great, and Aida and Dom gave me some very helpful tips!
I had an absolute blast, the bike was just such fun to ride, and a lot more forgiving than if I’d been on either of my own bikes. The most epic part of the evening was getting through the even deeper sand and popping out on top of a hill overlooking an immense beach (Praia do Salgado), not too far from Nazaré. The sun was getting close to setting and I felt elated. Definitely a moment that will be saved in to the ‘great memories’ bank.
We headed back to theirs on the trails, however due to losing the light very fast we got on to the tarmac up until the last little section before their place, but I managed not to fall off despite barely being able to see…bonus! We then took our bikes off to the hostel (Guesthouse of Alcobaca) and checked in, before Aida came to pick us up and take us back for dinner, which was so kind of her. Dom had cooked us all Carbonara, and it was just what we needed after all the hard work riding, and tasted delish! We sat around and chatted for ages, before Aida dropped us back at the hostel. An epic day, and great evening!
Sadly, we had a bit of a crap sleep followed by a paltry breakfast, but thankfully we were soon off to Aida and Dom’s for a decent coffee, another good chat and some sharing of photos. We were going to try and get a good chunk of the distance up to the Northern Spain coast done today, and they had a client to take out for some tuition, so we headed off after an hour or so, and got back on the road.
It was about 80km further on, and a really good shout as it was a beautiful hotel and also, after a walk around the village with beautiful views over the village and the two bridges, we were able to get dinner in the hotel’s restaurant that was only open to guests.
They offered a scrumptious ‘menu del dia’ for €18 each. I had a tasty mushroom risotto, then a cod jumble followed by flan for me, washed down with water and wine! Despite the longer stint on the bikes, I’d really enjoyed the ride. The roads were so quiet and the countryside was just stunning. Even on the long, straighter roads, it felt freeing, like a weight off my chest, and I just soaked it all up. After all of the full-on riding of the past week, it was also quite nice to have more of a relaxing ride.
We were now just over 400km from Castro Urdiales, which is where we’d intended to spend our last couple of days holiday. It was another great day, filled with more and more beautiful countryside, sweeping N-roads and perfect riding weather. The only slight hiccup was that I lost the back end on a roundabout due to some diesel or something similar. Luckily, I managed to save it before I ended up as a heap on the floor, however it gave me the heebie-jeebies about corners after that, which took a bit to shake off.
We reached Castro by 5.30-6pm at the hotel we had booked for our final night via Brittany Ferries. For those of you that are interested, by adding a hotel to our ferry booking, our total cost was actually lower than the original cost of just the return ferry trip! Go figure! There was a bit of a long wait to discuss adding two extra nights but the man who served me was friendly, funny and gave me the room for a much cheaper price than on booking.com, plus they had a secure parking garage and we got the last ‘double’ room. I spoke Spanish to him as it was actually better than his English, and more good practice for me. We then enjoyed a night of wine, tapas and very good cocktails, and I was very much looking forward to a couple of chill days.
We got up around 9.30am after a thankfully good sleep. It was so nice not to have an early start and have to pack everything up. Although I love adventuring, stopping still is also quite nice sometimes. The hotel bed was super comfy and it had been by far the best night sleep of the trip so far. That was followed by an excellent breakfast, and we took our time about it…big breakfast means only a small lunch needed, preferably some scrumptious tapas somewhere!
I’d been looking at the map and worked out there were plenty of decent looking walks around Castro, so much to Kelvin’s delight, after breakfast we went on a lovely long walk around the coastline heading North out of the main town. It was just stunning!! We then headed back to the hotel taking in a lot of the back streets, and there was plenty of energy about the place as by that time it was nearly 2pm.
Back at the hotel, I did a yoga and core workout, not that that would make up for all the wine and tapas consumed, but at least my body was happy for a bit of a challenge, and yoga in particular always makes me feel good.
We then walked to our favourite cocktail bar for some tapas…ok, ok, I know we’d only been there five minutes, but it was damn good! Then we set off to the park for another bit of a mooch around, and then to the supermarket to get gin for Julie my nextdoor neighbour who’d been feeding our cat, some tasty (hopefully) biscuits for my work colleagues and also some water.
Later on we walked all the way along the water break and back to a bar. It was then obviously wine time again, and watched a group congregated demonstrating about Palestine and Israel. We didn’t understand what they were saying but there were some definite tensions going on between a few bystanders and the demonstrators, but thankfully it soon calmed down.
We walked back towards the hotel and our fave cocktail bar again for a ‘dark and stormy’ and a mojito. To be honest we weren’t feeling the love as we were both tired as we’d walked so much today, so we headed back to the hotel for a shower and chill. What a great day though!
We had a late breakfast again and then a walk around the coastline the opposite way, ie more Southwards. Again, there was lots of rugged rock and it was just beautiful. We had intended to just walk a little way, but we ended up going all the way to the ‘Playa da Dicido’ beach and an old docking station.
Signs indicated that we weren’t meant to go through, but loads of people had, so just decided to go and have a looksy. I’m glad we did as it was quite cool, getting all the way to the loading dock, and under it. Then it was time for a coke and water at the ‘Bar La Playa’ before heading back again…one hell of an uphill walk on this leg!
Not to break the habit of this downtime, we later headed out again to our cocktail bar. Unfortunately, the cocktails were not so good as it was a different barman, so instead of another there we pushed the boat out and went to the next bar that we were in earlier. They had truly tasty tapas and an Aperol spritz was just €5.50! Winner winner! We chose several tapas between us as we’d decided not to venture in to town for a restaurant, and where we were it was nice to be able to hear and watch the sea.
To help the tapas go down we had a seaside stroll and found a bar with a band playing. It was really cool and seemed to be all Spanish people, including our breakfast waitress from the hotel who was throwing some Flamingo moves! I just had a bit of a sway to the music, watched the locals and then headed back to the hotel as Kelvin wasn’t feeling the love, ha ha!
It was go home day so we were up early and breakfasted, then loaded up, paid our hotel bill (actually quite reasonable for the quality and comfort) and headed on the back roads to the ferry. No surprise if you know us well, but we were there nice and early, ha ha! We spoke to a few people in the queue, including a lovely couple on a huge Harley who'd done the ‘Silent Route’ and said it was amazing, and also a couple on a tandem bicycle who’d cycled down through France. They’d had some gearing issues early on but thankfully they'd made it work and had a great time. Then whilst drinking a coffee at the waiting area cafe we had a chat to a guy who came over to ask about our bikes. All-in-all quite a positive pre-ferry experience!
Finally we got on the ferry, had a shower, changed and once we ventured out of the cabin all we could see were red warnings on the TV i.e. level 3 weather warnings (3 was the max possible) so to hold on when walking around the ship…great!! I was most definitely not looking forward to the crossing and I checked out all the exits, ha ha! We had a wander out on deck and spoke to a chap who was also on a bike who we recognised from the queue. We could see all of the people still waiting to board, including the cyclists we’d talked to earlier at the front of the queue. I couldn’t believe they were still waiting! Then it was time to get off to the bar for an Aperol and a beer to wash the sea sickness tablets down with. Thankfully the tablets worked as neither of us were sick on the journey.
The ferry left the port a bit late at around 1.30-2pm and the rain had come in hard by then. We went and sat in the bar for a while and then in the evening we had an early dinner before heading to our bunks. It was an interesting and VERY disturbed sleep. The ferry was frequently going up and then felt like it was dropping quite a way (it probably was given the red warning of severe weather). Not overly conducive to good sleep, but we got through, and I didn’t fall out of my bunk, plus no being sick, so all good!
We swayed to breakfast at about 10.30am ish and then went for a wander on deck to get some fresh air. It was most definitely blustery and the boat was rocking like crazy, but the warning was now a 2/3 (yellow). Lunch wasn’t great, but it filled a hole and we sat in the common area for a bit to kill some time. I also did a yoga and core workout just for a challenge, and used up another 45 minutes, and then I was just counting down the time to getting on to Terra Firma again!
We docked late at about 7pm, but we were off fast and through passport control well quick. It was then a quick zip up the M27 to our Hotel for the night…definitely a better call than trying to ride all the way home that evening.
Well, it’d been a really fabulous two weeks, and we’d highly recommend adventuring on the Portugal ACT. It’s interesting as it was bigger distance than we’d normally cover in that timeframe, however I actually really enjoyed it. We had LOADS of bike time and saw so much, and got to experience plenty of what Portugal has to offer. I just look forward to another visit and getting to explore the country more!
If you missed Part 1 of our adventure, then you can view it HERE!
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