Porto to Lisbon cycling vacation, self guided

Planet

We are dedicated to promoting authentic experiences, supporting the appreciation and enjoyment of Portugal’s natural and cultural heritage sites while at the same time encouraging their protection by raising awareness of environmental issues with our travelers.

We are knowledgeable of the dire environmental and social consequences of mass tourism and thus consciously committed to only working with small groups of travelers. We are also committed to minimizing the impact of their activities on the environment, such as: protecting the environment, the flora, fauna, and landscapes; conserve natural resources in all destinations of this tour; minimize the acoustic pollution, elimination of residues and overcrowding.

With routes by the ocean side, cycling is a perfect way to explore our coast from Porto to Lisbon without pollution during your stay in Portugal. As this tour cross through several dune areas (dunes of San Jacinto, for example), we alert our guests for their importance in order to prevent: the advance of the sea, to safeguard the life of population and the fact that they are the best defense against the intensity of the wind.

We only work with small groups of travelers and we promote the maintenance of a social, economic and environmental system that meets the needs of the current generation without compromising resources for the use of future generations. Furthermore, the local people from the restaurants, accommodations and residents always pass the message of how to protect these destinations and each person can apply this knowledge not only in this tour but throughout the world.

After the 2017 fires, reforestation plans and protection projects in the Center of Portugal were created. First of all the fact of eucalyptus covered hills in this region is a big problem for the environment because these trees are very flammable. In the general way, these reforestation and protection projects are based in reforest with “firefighting trees” - chestnut and cork oak trees, for example. The Municipalities are still developing the best way to protect and reforest these affected areas, and we believe we´ll have an important role to spread the information to the tourists, and we have a goal to the future: each client will have the opportunity to spread an amount of seeds to a certain piece of land in order to contribute to the reforestation. We believe it will be an effective way of alert to the consciousness of the people to the native species role instead of the exotics.

People

We have been mindful of the social and environmental consequences of our work and have consistently sought to find sustainable and innovative ways to create a positive impact.

A fundamental aspect is that all who visit the region get to learn about the territory and history and for this to be possible nothing works better than a good relationship with the local population - the locals are the best to do the storytelling of their own region. We in turn support the local economy by booking directly with local accommodations and restaurants in every destination of this tour from Porto to Lisbon.

Through our sustainability policies, we further aim to support local economies and minimize the social impact of our activities by working with local guides and ensuring the needed respect for local traditions and cultures. In 2017 for example, the fires have destroyed more than 128.000 hectares of land in Center of Portugal. After that, is important make something. Some reforestation and protection projects are already underway, but tourism support is also essential. In this way, with this tour and all of activities in Center of Portugal are important to support the local economy affected by the fires.

Sustainable tourism, therefore, has become an alternative for the protection and preservation of destinations that do not want to give up certain social, cultural and environmental characteristics that should be threatened by tourists. Our philosophy is to show you the most authentic details of Center of Portugal in the most sustainable way possible.