The Algarve by Bicycle

Five nights cycling the eastern Algarve, from the hills behind Loulé to the Spanish border on the Guadiana, with guides and a support van alongside and the luggage sent ahead each day. Off the bike, a cellar of more than 11,000 bottles at Vila Vita Parc, oysters tasted on the farms of the Ria Formosa, and the salt pans of Castro Marim with a local salt harvester.

Length: Five nights
Pace: Two stays
Style: Cycling, coast, food and wine
Route: The central Algarve coast to The eastern Algarve

The central Algarve coastTwo nights
The eastern AlgarveThree nights

An aerial view of Vila Vita Parc, its gardens and pools on the clifftop above a sandy beach. — Photo: Vila Vita Parc

Days 1 to 3 · two nights

The central Algarve coast

Met in Faro and fitted for bikes at Barranco do Velho for a first ride through the hills, then a morning ride to the market town of Loulé with a guided visit. At Vila Vita Parc, a tasting in the cellar, which holds more than 11,000 bottles, can be arranged with the sommelier, and Ocean, the resort's restaurant under chef Hans Neuner, has held a two-MICHELIN-star rating since 2011; it serves from Wednesday to Sunday.

Where you stay

Vila Vita Parc Resort & Spa

Vila Vita Parc is set in 22 hectares of subtropical gardens on the Atlantic cliffs at Porches, above a secluded sandy cove. There are 203 rooms, suites and apartments and six villas, six outdoor pools and one indoor, a Sisley spa, and 13 restaurants, Ocean among them.

A cobbled path through cypresses and gardens to the white main house. — Photo: Octant Hotels

Days 3 to 6 · three nights

The eastern Algarve

A ride east by way of São Brás de Alportel and a visit to a local craftsman, into Tavira. Then along the coast towards Spain with lunch in Cacela Velha, and a last ride up the Guadiana River to the fortified town of Alcoutim, and the transfer back to Faro. From Octant Vila Monte, a boat leaves Olhão for the islands of the Ria Formosa and its oyster farms, and a local artisan shows how flor de sal is raked from the salt pans of Castro Marim.

Where you stay

Octant Vila Monte

Octant Vila Monte sits among orange groves in Moncarapacho, a southern Algarve retreat whose rooms and suites reinterpret local handicrafts, alongside two private villas. Days turn on À TERRA's cooking from nearby gardens and orchards and on boat trips across the Ria Formosa to taste oysters at a farm, and the pool is heated in winter.

Arranged on request

Flor de sal at Castro Marim

The traditional harvest of flor de sal in the salt pans of Castro Marim, with a local artisan, then a salt tasting and Algarve tapas.

Oysters in the Ria Formosa

A boat from Olhão across the islands of the Ria Formosa, stopping at oyster farms to taste the oysters with Portuguese white wine.

The cellar at Vila Vita Parc

More than 11,000 bottles, among them a six-litre Mathusalem of Louis XIII, with tastings and pairings arranged with the resort's sommeliers.

Bread from a wood-fired oven

Five hours baking bread in a wood-fired oven with the local community, a visit to a palm-weaving atelier and an Algarve lunch, for six to eight guests.

Ocean, with Hans Neuner

The restaurant at Vila Vita Parc has held a two-MICHELIN-star rating since 2011, open from Wednesday to Sunday, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Subject to availability.

Ways to make it yours

Two more nights at the last hotel, for the beaches of the Ria Formosa and, from June, the Chef's Table at Vila Monte, a private dinner for two to eight.
A day at Herdade dos Grous, Vila Vita's own estate in the Alentejo, a little over an hour away, for its red, white and rosé, and, when the estate offers it, a blending workshop with the winemaker.
Two nights in the Alentejo at São Lourenço do Barrocal, near Monsaraz: a private evening in the estate's cellar tasting five of its wines with olive oil, olives and homemade goat cheese, then a mountain bike ride with a private guide on unpaved trails through its vineyards to Monsaraz hill, with a picnic and estate wine.

This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.

Made around you

Most travel is bought. This is designed.

Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.

The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.