ARRIVAL DAY
We'll be at Porto airport to meet you, and then we'll take you to our beautiful, historic hotel in Chaves, where we’ll have all the tools and pumps you need to assemble your bike. Depending on your arrival time, you’ll probably be able to go off and explore this ancient Roman town before dinner, or even take your bike out for a test run - perhaps the 10km to the Spanish border and back. “Chaves” means “keys”, and was historically a border stronghold known as the Keys of the Kingdom, hence the name. It’s also a Roman spa town, famous for its healing waters. Finally we'll enjoy a delicious dinner while we brief you on the trip and then it's off to bed for a good night's sleep.

DAY 1 - CHAVES TO VISEU - 171 KM, CLIMBING AROUND 3,000 METRES
After a hearty breakfast (eggs are fairly standard at all hotels in Portugal) we head off to the start of our tour, the little roundabout that marks the beginning of the N2. A quick photo opportunity with the first road marker, and then we’re off, following the Rio Tâmega as we head south towards the Douro Valley, one of the oldest wine producing regions in the world. You’ll see milestones at every kilometre along the route, but also mini, numbered markers denoting each 10th of a kilometre in between. Some towns and villages even make a big display of their position along the route.

At first the roads are fairly straight - what did the Romans ever do for us ? :0) - with long, gentle climbs, as we pass through forests of pine and the ubiquitous Eucalyptus. Portugal is one of the world’s major producers of Eucalyptus (who knew?), used for making paper and essential oils, but it comes at a price - it greatly increases the devastation of forest fires, and Portugal has had some enormous forest fires in the last ten years. When that stuff burns, it burns! After about 40km the road gets quieter, and then you can see a long, beautiful bridge that spans a deep valley. We usually like to have a stop for coffee about a third of the way into the day, and then lunch once we’re over half way. The terrain is much hillier now and we start to see glimpses of vineyards - and then suddenly that’s all you can see as you descend down the steep hills and terraces of the Douro Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its wineries and the estates (or quintas) of one famous wine or port producer after another. We cross the river Douro and make the steady, but demanding climb (about 30km) through rocky terrain, on winding roads, up the Serra da Bigorne, where there’s a café if you need a reward at the top. Then we have the equally long descent to Castro Daire, where we cross the Rio Paivô. Another short climb, only a couple of kilometres, and then we’re descending again to the Rio de Mel. It’s up and down (only short climbs) for the rest of the day, through sleepy, cobbled villages. We finally arrive in the interesting and historic city of Viseu, where we’re staying the night.

DAY 2 - VISEU TO - SERTA - 173 KM, CLIMBING AROUND 2,400 METRES
We leave Viseu and dip down into a forest, passing underneath the motorway, and the road surface is a bit challenging for a while, but it does get better. We ride through Tondela, well known in Portugal for its football club, as well as its local wines - we’re in another big wine-producing area of Portugal, the Alentejo, which translates as “beyond the Tagus river”. Things ramp up as the landscape is heavily carved by the many rivers that we cross. There’s one fairly big climb in the second half of the day (about 14km), but for the rest, it’s just up and down constantly. We travel through mixed terrain - vineyards, olive groves and eucalyptus forest, interspersed with scrubby land and more cork trees - to cross the Rio Dão, after which we’re climbing again. Still on the N2, we follow alongside the new motorway for a while, before the two roads finally converge, and we turn away to find quieter roads and more interesting views. We cross the Rio Mandego, which is the boundary between two different regions in Portugal - Viseu and Coimbra. Portugal is still very much a Catholic country, and you’ll see churches and little shrines just about everywhere. The roads are fairly straight between the climbs, where there’s usually a hairpin or two to help you out. At around 90km we turn sharp left and we’re back on the official N2 again. At Góis we start the 14km climb up to Amieiros; there’s a café at the top where you might like to stop for a rest and a drink. Then we have a fairly long descent down to the Ribeira de Mega, followed by a little bump in the road, and we arrive in Pedrógão Grande, where we cross the stunning Cabril dam. Finally we drop down into the town of Sertã where we’re staying in a beautiful and historic convent.