Cycling Camino de Santiago
7 days
total: 236km (147mi)
57% asphalt + 43% dirt-roads and bike lanes
level 3 (2.6)
daily average: 47km (29mi)
Day 1
Arrival
Welcome at Porto or Lisbon airport. Lodging in a 4-star Boutique Hotel near Porto region. Briefing about your bike tour in Portugal and Spain.
Day 2
Riding to The Historic Town on The Coast
This is the first day of your bike tour in Portugal and of your Pilgrimage. Today the bike ride is mostly flat , mainly along the Portuguese beaches on the Atlantic Coast. 🙂 You ride on asphalt, or on cobblestones, or on bike lanes. Great environment and beautiful landscape, where you can feel the breeze from the sea and enjoy the blue horizon.
52km (32mi)
level 2 (2.0)
290m (950ft)
Day 3
Riding to The Border, Always Following The Way
Another day on a bicycle that is not difficult (…prepare yourself for the next days!!). This is the last day that you follow the Portuguese coastline. Tomorrow you will be in Spain.
The ride of today is mainly on bike-lanes and on some cobblestones. …”Piece of cake, again”! 🙂
58km (36mi)
level 3 (2.6)
410m (1350ft)
Day 4
Crossing The Border to Spain
The bike ride of today is not easy: total of ascents (1030m / 3380ft) with many ups and downs along The Way. Today The Way is mainly on asphalt.
You leave Portugal and the bike tour takes place in Spain now. After km 24 you will have a long climb (3km) and, sometimes, very steep (12% grade, but with 6% grade average). At this moment you are at lunch time and the heat will not help you. Be careful with the descent afterwards, because the second half of it is around -16% of grade! Before the end of your bike tour of today you still have two more climbs (1km long both) with 20% of grade on just a small section, and the other with 13% of grade. As you can see it is not easy; please prepare your mind for this day. 😉
59km (37mi)
level 4 (3.8)
1030m (3380ft)
Day 5
The Luxuriant Vegetation and The Mysticism of The Way
The day of today is not a difficult day, but you still have some short climbs to do along The Way. Each day you can see more and more pilgrims on The Way, walking with their backpacks. Today you have many ups and downs, but they are always short, in general.
41km (25mi)
level 3 (2.7)
600m (1970ft)
Day 6
Mixed Emotions When We Arrive to Santiago de Compostela
You may thing that today it is an easy bike day because it is short, but it is not! Today is the last day of your pilgrimage and the city of Santiago de Compostela stands on the top of a hill. So, today the day tends to be always climbing. You are already tired from the previous days and the constant ascent doesn’t help you. The good thing is that on This Way you never feel alone. You will see many other people on the same situation, tired but happy, and everybody has the same goal: to arrive to Santiago de Compostela and to complete The Way. 🙂
26km (17mi)
level 2 (2.0)
570m (1870ft)
Day 7
Departure
After breakfast transfer to Porto airport (2-hour and 30-min drive) or Lisbon airport (5-hour and 30-min drive).