• Duration: 8-11 days • Distance: 1185-1955 miles • Average daily ride: ±5.75hrs

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There's one place every rider deserves to experience: Portugal. The weather is brilliant; the roads are quiet, twisty and involving; the scenery is beautiful; and the people are friendly. Quite simply, it's riding heaven… especially as to get there means crossing the Picos de Europa – one of Spain's most popular biking destinations. So it's perhaps no surprise that the most-downloaded tour I produced for RiDE was a 10-day, high-mile trip to Portugal. It had everything in it… if you were ready for ten long days in the saddle, on everything from broad sweepers to bumpy single-lane roads.

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I've done a lot more trips over there since then, so this trip is greatly evolved with everything I've learned in the decade since. It puts together the best bits of Northern Portugal and the Picos – sticking to the broad, smooth and sweeping roads. It's timed to fit in with the Santander ferry crossing, with daily rides delivered in memorable but still pillion-friendly chunks. There's lots to see and do off the bike as well, making this a strong candidate for the title of "ultimate biking holiday". 

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What are the highlights? From the passes and gorges of the Picos de Europa to the sun-kissed peaks of Portugal's Serra da Estrela, there's no shortage of memorable mountain riding. For many people, the flowing ride along the Douro Valley, the heart of the port-growing region, might be the stand-out section of on-bike fun… unless you take your rest day there, to take the historic train or a river cruise through this amazing landscape. Then there are the historic castles and cathedrals to visit, the panoramic viewpoints… even a cheese museum, if you want to see something a little bit different.   

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What’s included on the route? Each day’s route includes recommended places to stop for coffee in the morning and afternoon, with a suggested lunch stop and planned fuel stops. Tourist attractions along the way are highlighted, so you can pick which to visit. Hotel recommendations are made for every overnight stop.

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How long is each day’s ride? It is a riding holiday, so these are day-long rides: check-out and hit the road by 9-9:30am, to get to the next hotel at 5:30-6pm. That's with stops for coffee and lunch: each day is a full but relaxed ride, not an endurance test. Saddle-time rating: five out of 10.

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Why seven riding days? The basic tour is timed to fit in with the ferry schedule to Santander: sailing from Plymouth on a Sunday to land in Spain on a Monday, then returning from Santander to Portsmouth the following Monday. That gives you a day in hand to have a two-night stop in one of the destinations – either for a rest day with a spot of sightseeing or to ride a circular route. But you're not tied to those Plymouth ferries: there are options to tie into all the Santander sailings and the Tour Pack has enough extra routes to let you expand the tour further, to fit with any sailing schedule.

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How is it supplied? Each download consists of an interactive eBook of notes plus individual GPX files covering each rides, for sat navs and suitable phone navigation apps. The complete tour and tour-pack downloads include individual files for each of the days – and I strongly recommend getting the tour pack which also comes with tankbag notes and a marked-up map as well as four additional daytrip routes, to expand the tour to fit with any ferry schedule. Please note that maps are marked-up to order, so there may be a delay if I'm on the road when you buy the tour.

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Sailing from Bilbao? Any trip can be adapted to run from Bilbao instead of Santander. If you need this, just get in touch.