Lagos
Rolling, past Alvor and Meia Praia.
- Distance
- 22 km
- From
- Portimão
- Climbing
- 200 m
- On the bike
- 1.5 h
one way, by road
nearest delivery town
one way
unhurried, with the assist
What is worth stopping for in Lagos
Not an itinerary. These are the things people come back and mention, in no particular order — see two of them or all four.
- 1Many caves
- 2A lot of beaches
- 3Castles
- 4Church
Before you ride to Lagos
- Ponta da Piedade is the sea-stack headland south of town — the formation on every Algarve poster. There is a staircase from the clifftop down to the water.
- Lagos ran the first slave market in Europe, in the building on Praça Infante Dom Henrique. It is a museum now and it states plainly what it was, which is the right way round.
- Meia Praia is four kilometres of flat sand and you reach it before the town. If you want the swim before the sightseeing, it arrives first.
One bike, and it does this ride
200 m of climbing over 22 km is nothing the motor cannot absorb. It is a hybrid with a motor on it — if the assist runs out you ride on, on seven gears.
- Model
- Wayscral Everyway E200
- Battery
- 468 Wh
- Gears
- Shimano Altus, 7 speed
- Rider height
- 150–170 cm
€30 a day
Book a bikeIf that is too much, or not enough
Silves
- Castle
- Church
- River
- Orange garden
Gentle river road inland, shaded most of the way
Worth knowing · Silves was Xelb, the capital of the Moorish Algarve, when the coast towns were villages. The red sandstone castle above it is the largest Moorish fortification left in Portugal.
Monchique
- Peak of the mountain
- Monchique town
- Souvenir shops
- Healthy ride
One long steady climb. Bring the charger and take the bus back if you want
Worth knowing · Fóia, above the town, is the highest point in the Algarve at 902 m. On a clear day you see both coasts from it — and on a bad day you see cloud, which is most of what there is to see.