Algarve cycling holiday

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION

As many of our clients arrive in Lisbon, we always advise, please travel by train to reach the Algarve.
The majority of our holidays are 7 nights with 6 days of cycling, they can all be expanded to include more!
Food is a BIG part of Portuguese life and the Vegetarian and Vegan trends are being positively supported with many new and varied restaurants popping up.
Portuguese local stores and supermarkets all have tasty and varied selections of seasonal fresh fruit and vegetables, the majority of products being sourced from within the country.
Visit between December and June and pick your own oranges from the vast orange groves en route!
The very freshest fish and seafood are the main ingredients in the Algarve cuisine, joined by the vegetables and fruits whose flavours the sun has made ripe and flavoursome. Combined they provide the elements for a culinary experience that you will never forget.

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE

The Algarve has a wide range of different areas where Nature is still to be found in an essentially pure state. These are conveniently protected areas where animals and plants are kept safe from the dangers of human aggression.
These protected areas are visited by migratory birds and it is also possible to observe otters, tortoises, flamingos, storks, herons or the rare purple gallinules.
Part of this holiday will take you through the Ria Formosa, a lagoon stretching along the Eastern Algarve coast from the village of Cacela Velha near Tavira to Faro. Created in 1755 by the last great oceanic earthquake, its sand dunes, islands and bars to the open sea are continuously shaped by tidal changes. Many archaeological sites show the remains of Roman and Pre-Roman settlements.
Since the mid-eighties, the Ria Formosa has been a nature reserve, where sea water birds find protected breeding places and many fish species of the Northern Atlantic as well as other marine organisms reproduce.
Besides salt harvesting, productive activities in this protected area are shellfish farming and small-scale fishing. The excellent water quality, without detectable contamination by industrial effluents, sewage dumping, agricultural and radioactive pollutants, favours the traditional gathering of seasalt.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

Several of the hotels we use on this trip are family owned, Hotel Apolo in VRSA and Loule Jardim being good examples. Handed down in generations through the years, the service and friendliness is second to none.

The Vila Galι Group, one of our accommodation providers, sees their management model as an integrating part of a sustainability project for society, in consideration of the current and future generations.
This management model considers that the Environment, Quality, Security, Health, Food Safety, Social Liability and Economic Feasibility are values of an integrated system governed by a set of ethical principles that respect the people and the environment, aiming for the continuous improvement.

On arrival, one of our locally employed team members will deliver a detailed briefing of what you can expect and experience on this holiday, probably adding their own individual encounters from living in the area! The nature, nourishment and entertainment, (such as village festivals etc.) will all be highlighted.

EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY

One of the most important members of our staff, Jose the Bike Technician was born and raised in the Algarve. Speaking only a little English we encourage conversations to exchange languages and learn from one another. Other team members that hail from the UK and Holland have over 50 collective years spent in the Algarve, living in and contributing to the local community. All our staff are valued and paid at least minimum wage if not more.