Why this ride
422 km from Braga to Braga, about 6 h 11 of riding. It goes by way of Alto Douro Wine Region, Quinta do Fariseu, Fonte Frieira and back through Quinta do Fariseu. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Braga long day · Fonte Frieira
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 422 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 11
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
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.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Estrada Nacional 2
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 1 km this is Estrada Nacional 2, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 79 km
- Named road
- Estrada Nacional 2
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Braga
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.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Braga is where the day begins. Next is Alto Douro Wine Region.
2. Alto Douro Wine Region
The Douro river has been carving a gorge through the north of Portugal for millions of years, and for about two thousand years people have been planting vines on its slopes. The terraces, held up by stone walls, climb steeply from the water and rise through schist and slate in rows, and the effect, in the right season, is of a vast green staircase. The Alto Douro was the first wine region in the world to be officially demarcated, by the Marquis of Pombal in 1756, and UNESCO listed it in 2001. Port wine, the sweet fortified red that made the region famous, is still made here.
Read the complete Alto Douro Wine Region write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Alto Douro Wine Region comes up 44 km in. Next is Alto Douro Wine Region.
3. Alto Douro Wine Region
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Alto Douro Wine Region write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
89 km in you reach Alto Douro Wine Region. Next is Quinta do Fariseu.
4. Quinta do Fariseu
Quinta do Fariseu is a farm in the Coa valley in northern Portugal that sits on one of the great stories of European archaeology. In the 1990s, engineers preparing a dam on the Coa River came upon thousands of engravings carved on the schist rock faces along the valley, figures of horses, aurochs, ibex and deer, scratched into the stone by hunters thousands of years ago. Many date to the Upper Palaeolithic, some twenty thousand years old or more, which makes them as old as the paintings in the great caves of France and Spain. The find caused a public campaign, and the dam was cancelled, a rare triumph of heritage over engineering. Today the Coa Valley is a UNESCO site, together with its Spanish counterpart at Siega Verde.
Read the complete Quinta do Fariseu write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Quinta do Fariseu, about halfway. Next is Fonte Frieira.
5. Fonte Frieira
The setting is austere and beautiful: steep schist hills, terraced slopes planted with vines, almond and olive, and a sky that is very big and very blue in summer. This is the upper Douro, a landscape shaped by centuries of wine, and the terraces of the Port country, which lie a short distance west, are a World Heritage landscape in their own right.
Read the complete Fonte Frieira write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fonte Frieira sits at 177 km, about halfway. Next is back through Quinta do Fariseu.
6. back through Quinta do Fariseu
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Quinta do Fariseu write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Quinta do Fariseu comes up 221 km in. Next is back through Alto Douro Wine Region.
7. back through Alto Douro Wine Region
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Alto Douro Wine Region write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
266 km in you reach back through Alto Douro Wine Region. Next is back through Alto Douro Wine Region.
8. back through Alto Douro Wine Region
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Alto Douro Wine Region write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Alto Douro Wine Region, late in the day. Next is Braga.
9. Braga
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Braga write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 422 km.
Leg by leg
Braga to Alto Douro Wine Region
Braga → Alto Douro Wine Region is 98 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Alto Douro Wine Region to Quinta do Fariseu
Alto Douro Wine Region → Quinta do Fariseu is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Quinta do Fariseu to back through Alto Douro Wine Region
back through Quinta do Fariseu → back through Alto Douro Wine Region is 79 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Alto Douro Wine Region to Braga
back through Alto Douro Wine Region → Braga is 98 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.