Porto to Lisbon Atlantic Ride

Beautiful scenery, great leader and group, wonderful seafood, great experience.

We had a wonderful group of 16 riders led by our excellent guide Dinis, assisted by Philippe and our driver Tomas. All three worked very well together and provided excellent service and support to we 16 riders.

This was our first cycling trip with Exodus and it was excellent. The trip was well-organized and everything from the guiding (with head guide Dinis accompanied with Tomas and Philippe), cycling, food and accommodation was great. We rented e-bikes which I would recommend for inexperienced cyclists given some of the hills involved. Apart from a couple of minor planning glitches which Dinis quickly resolved, the tour was advertised. We usually ate together as a group of 16 and bonded quickly. Weather was perfect for early September apart from a bit of drizzle and some wind on a day or two.

This was our first trip with Exodus and will not be our last! This company is very organized down to every detail. The description of the itinerary is very accurate, the hotels very nice , the Trek bikes were great and each bike had a handlebar bag for phones, sunscreen, snacks etc. Our leader João was superb and made each participant feel welcomed, and cared for no matter the skill level. João stopped to show us things of interest along the way each day, giving us the history and facts of which we would not have learned if we had travelled on our own. João did briefings each day, so we knew exactly what to expect and a debrief at end of each day with a well organized power-point presentation. He helped with dinner suggestions and even made the reservations for us. His enthusiasm and love of his job made it a very enjoyable experience. Also, Ricardo who was our other Exodus support person was superb! He cycled at the end of the group providing encouragement and support! Ricardo was always smiling and always available for our needs as well. He was a fabulous back up for any individual who needed help. We cannot say enough about Ricardo and how he helped to make this such a great experience for us! The third Exodus support person was Toni! He was so kind and thoughtful and made the most elaborate picnics for us. He drove the van and met us at various check points so we had access to our belongings if we needed anything. He had water to fill our water bottles and was available incase someone needed to have a van drive if they weren’t able to bike any portions of the day. These 3 individuals made the trip so wonderful for us! The itinerary is accurate in that the description of the steep hills toward the end of day 3 , really were steep! Also the long steep hills on day 6 were as described. We used pedal bikes and managed fine, we are mid 60’s but we are runners and in good shape. The first two days were flat and very easy for any skill level. The steep hills on day three at end of day were challenging on a pedal bikes, despite our good fitness level. However, we would do pedal bikes again despite the steep hills, it gave us a sense of accomplishment! E-bikes are available to people to sign up for prior to the trip. The views were stunning along the ocean. We were so impressed by this company, their attention to detail , their efforts to decrease their carbon footprint and we highly recommend Exodus to anyone. We are already looking at idea for our next Exodus trip !

The Team of Joao, Ricardo and Tony provided great support on this trip. There were some beautiful coastal views, lovely boardwalk cycles through nature reserves and the excitement of short ferry rides across estuaries. With the exception of Porto, Lisbon and Obidos, the places we stayed overnight and where we had coffee stops felt like the 'real' Portugal as there were no other British tourists. Joao's restaurant recommendations were very good - I had a week of delicious fish and seafood (meet and veggie options also available). The Pastel de Nata at the coffee stops and at some breakfasts were also delicious!