CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
163 km from Braga to Braga, about 2 h 16 of riding. The stops in between: Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo, Historic Centre of Oporto, back through Historic Centre of Oporto and back through Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 1 km this is Douro Valley N222, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Braga is Portugal's most religious city, and also one of its oldest. It was founded by the Romans as Bracara Augusta in the first century BC, became a Christian bishopric in late antiquity, and has been a seat of the Church ever since. Its cathedral, begun in the eleventh century, is the oldest in the country and mixes Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque, and the city's skyline is a thicket of church towers. During Holy Week, its processions, with hooded penitents and torchlit marches, are among the most intense in Portugal.
Read the complete Braga write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Braga is where the day begins. Next is Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo.
Aqui nasceu Portugal, says the slogan painted on an old section of the town wall: Portugal was born here. Guimarães claims to be the cradle of the nation because Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, is said to have been born here, and in 1128 he won the battle of São Mamede nearby, against his mother's forces, a key step towards independence. The castle on the hill, a compact fortress with a tall keep, and the small Romanesque church beside it, where he is said to have been baptised, are the symbols of that story.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo comes up 20 km in.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
40 km in you reach Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo. Next is Historic Centre of Oporto.
Porto is a city built on a granite slope above the Douro, and for a rider that means two things immediately: the views are wonderful, and the streets are steep, narrow and paved with stone that turns slippery as soap in the rain. Tram rails cross the old centre, cobbles are everywhere, and traffic is dense, so the best plan is to park the bike once and walk. The historic centre, from the riverside quarter of Ribeira up to the cathedral and the Clérigos Tower, was listed by UNESCO in 1996.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Oporto write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Centre of Oporto, about halfway. Next is Historic Centre of Oporto.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Oporto write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Historic Centre of Oporto sits at 81 km, about halfway. Next is back through Historic Centre of Oporto.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Oporto write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Historic Centre of Oporto comes up 101 km in. Next is back through Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
121 km in you reach back through Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo, late in the day. Next is Braga.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Braga write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 163 km.
Braga → Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo → Historic Centre of Oporto is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historic Centre of Oporto → back through Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Historic Centre of Guimarães and Couros Zo → Braga is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.