Arrábida and Setúbal Sweep

A 297 km loop

Open this ride in the planner →

Why this ride

Scenery first, traffic last, with checkpoints that make sense on a bike. 297 km round from Samora Correia - plan on about 5 h 24 of riding. It goes by way of Silveira, Colares, Sesimbra and Charneca de Caparica. The climb of the day is Arrábida and Setúbal. Long stretches are under trees.

Roadbook

1. Fuel stop near Samora Correia fuel

   Fuel at 0 km.

2. Near Silveira, on the way back swim

   In 1810, the Duke of Wellington, defending Portugal against Napoleon's army, built a series of forts and earthworks across the peninsula north of Lisbon, from the Atlantic to the Tagus. The Lines of Torres Vedras were so strong that the French, arriving in front of them, simply stopped, and after months of hunger they retreated. Forts and redoubts survive on the hilltops around Torres Vedras, and some have been restored.

   This stop lies near Silveira, on the Atlantic coast west of Torres Vedras, where the land drops in cliffs to long sandy beaches. Santa Cruz, the nearest resort, has a beach backed by cliffs and rock stacks, with powerful surf and cold water. It is popular with surfers, and the beaches are lifeguarded in summer.

   The Atlantic here is cold, even in August, and the waves can be strong. Swim only in designated areas with lifeguards, and watch for rip currents. On calm days, the rock pools are fun to explore.

   Torres Vedras, inland, is a market town with a castle and a famous carnival, one of the liveliest in Portugal. The hills around are covered with vineyards and wind turbines, and the views stretch to the sea.

   On the bike, expect a steady crosswind from the ocean and patches of sea fog that roll inland on summer mornings and burn off by noon. Torres Vedras is the reliable place for fuel. Then come back to the coast to eat: sardines in summer, grilled over charcoal, with boiled potatoes and a salad of tomato and onion, cost little and taste of the Atlantic.

3. Colares food

   In Colares, the vines grow in sand. The vineyards, on the dunes near the Atlantic, are dug deep into the sand to reach the clay beneath, and the vines, low and sprawling, are protected from the wind by fences of cane. Because phylloxera, the insect that destroyed Europe's vineyards in the nineteenth century, cannot survive in sand, the Ramisco vines of Colares were never grafted, and some are very old. The wine is rare, tannic and long-lived, a curiosity of Portuguese wine.

   Colares is a village at the foot of the Sintra hills, between the mountains and the sea. Sintra, a few kilometres east, is famous for its palaces, the colourful Pena Palace on the summit, the Moorish Castle on the ridge and the mysterious Quinta da Regaleira, with its initiation well. The hills are often wrapped in mist, even in summer, giving them a romantic, otherworldly feel.

   West of Colares, the village of Azenhas do Mar clings to a cliff above the sea, its white houses stacked above an ocean pool. Cabo da Roca, a little south, is the westernmost point of continental Europe, a windswept headland with a lighthouse and a monument.

   The riding is superb but demanding. The roads through the Sintra hills are narrow, steep and winding, often cobbled and damp, with tourist traffic and buses. The coast road is more open, with views over the sea. Watch for fog, wet cobbles and wind.

   Fill up in Sintra or on the main roads before diving into the hills. Then take lunch near the sea, at Azenhas do Mar or Praia das Maçãs, where an old tram still clatters down from Sintra in summer; grilled fish and a glass of sandy-soil Colares red make a lunch you will remember long after the cobbles have stopped rattling in your wrists.

4. Sesimbra photo

   Sesimbra is a fishing town that has become a beach resort without quite forgetting what it was. In the morning the boats come in and the catch is sold at the harbour, and by lunchtime the grill smoke is already rising from the waterfront restaurants. The black scabbardfish, the espada, and fresh sardines in season are the local specialties, along with swordfish. Above the town stand the walls of a Moorish castle, with a view down over rooftops to the bay, and a smaller sea fort guards the waterfront.

   The town sits on the southern side of the Serra da Arrábida, within the natural park, and protected from the cold north winds by the ridge. That gives it a mild microclimate, and the sea is often calmer here than on the open Atlantic coast. West of town the land narrows to the cape known as Cabo Espichel, a windswept plateau ending in tall cliffs, with a large and slightly eerie eighteenth-century sanctuary and the long arcades where pilgrims once stayed. On the cliffs nearby you can find fossil footprints left by dinosaurs about a hundred and fifty million years ago.

   The riding is a pleasure. The road from Setúbal crosses the Arrábida with climbs, hairpins and views, then drops to the sea, and the road onward from Sesimbra to the cape runs through open farmland and scrub with a wide sky. It is rarely fast, because of traffic in season, but it is varied and scenic. Summer weekends can be very busy, and the wind at Cabo Espichel can be fierce, so a windproof jacket is wise even on sunny days. Late spring and early autumn are the best times, with warm sea and fewer people.

   Sesimbra has a population in the tens of thousands, so there is fuel, there are supermarkets, and the waterfront is lined with cafes and restaurants. The area has plenty of parking along the front, though it fills up on warm weekends. Pick a table with a view of the boats, order grilled fish and a glass of cold white, and let the sea breeze do its work. If you want a quiet moment afterward, head west toward the cape for the sunset.

5. Near Charneca de Caparica finish

   Start and finish here and you are on the south bank of the Tagus, in the pine-scented suburbs of Almada between Charneca de Caparica, Corroios and Sobreda. It is a residential area of houses, schools and supermarkets, without much to look at in itself, but its position is very good: close to Lisbon across the river, and close to the open roads that lead south to the Arrábida hills and the city of Setúbal.

   From here the Arrábida and Setúbal ride heads down the Setúbal Peninsula, and the contrast with the suburbs is quick and sharp. Within half an hour you can be on the coastal road in the Serra da Arrábida, a limestone ridge that rises straight from the sea, covered in dense Mediterranean scrub of myrtle, rosemary, wild olive and strawberry trees. The views from the ridge road down to coves of turquoise water are among the best in the Lisbon region, and the bends are proper, tight and steep in places. The road through the natural park has strict rules in summer, with access to some beaches limited, so check before you count on a swim.

   Setúbal itself is a working port town with a busy fish market and a famous local speciality, choco frito, fried cuttlefish served in strips. Down the coast, Cabo Espichel is a lonely headland with a pilgrimage church, cliffs dropping hundreds of metres into the Atlantic, and dinosaur footprints preserved in the rock. Wine villages such as Azeitão, between the hills, are known for Moscatel de Setúbal, a sweet fortified wine, and for a small, runny sheep's cheese.

   Back at the start, the roads are suburban: roundabouts, traffic lights, buses and patches of cobbles. Rush hour can be heavy, especially toward the bridges into Lisbon. The A2 motorway and the N10 run east of here, but for the Arrábida loop the smaller roads through Sesimbra or Palmela are more fun once you clear the housing. Expect wind near the coast and some sand on the tarmac.

   Fuel, food and coffee are easy to find nearby; the suburbs have stations, supermarkets and the usual Portuguese pastelarias. If you finish in the late afternoon, take a short ride west to the edge of the Caparica cliffs and watch the sun set into the sea, then reward yourself with grilled fish in Costa da Caparica, a few kilometres away.

6. Arrábida and Setúbal Sweep high point pass

   Palmela's castle crowns a hill above the Setúbal plain, and from this high point you see everything: the Sado estuary to the south, the Tagus and Lisbon to the north, the Arrábida range filling the horizon, and on a clear day a slice of the Atlantic. The Moors held the castle until it fell to the first king of Portugal in the twelfth century, and it was later the headquarters of the Order of Santiago, a military order whose knights helped defend the frontier. The fortress, now partly a hotel, has a bastion walk that is worth the climb.

   The Palmela region is the heartland of Moscatel and of the Península de Setúbal wines in general. Castelão is the signature red grape, and the sandy soils produce wines with a distinct, earthy flavour. Each September the Festa das Vindimas fills the town with music, parades, and the treading of grapes, and the smell of crushed fruit carries on the air. A tasting at one of the nearby cellars is a pleasure, though a rider must be wary.

   The riding around the hill is varied and pleasant. Winding lanes run through pine forests and past farms, climbing and dropping among the foothills of the Serra do Louro and the Arrábida beyond. There are blind bends, patchy surfaces and sudden dips, and spring brings wildflowers while summer brings hot dry air and the scent of pines. The road up to the castle itself is steep, with a tight hairpin and little room for parking, so a motorcycle is a great advantage.

   Fuel and services are no problem. Setúbal is large and sells everything, Palmela has stations on its outskirts, and cafes in the old town serve coffee and pastries with a view across the vineyards. The shortest route to the Arrábida ridge road starts from here and takes only a few minutes.

   If you plan an evening ride, the light on the castle at sunset, a warm gold on pale stone, is one of the loveliest sights in the region. Be careful afterward on the descent, when the road is in shadow and the tyres cool.

7. Scenic stretch near Pinhal Novo scenic
8. Back to Arrábida finish

   The Arrábida itself lies further south, beyond Palmela, but the estuary is worth a paragraph of its own because it shapes everything about this part of Portugal.

   The Tagus widens here into a vast lagoon-like expanse, among the largest wetland areas in western Europe, protected as a nature reserve. Mudflats, saltmarsh and reedbeds attract tens of thousands of waterbirds in winter, and flamingos are a regular sight, sometimes pink lines drawn along the water's edge. Spoonbills, avocets and herons feed in the shallows. The surrounding fields hold rice paddies, and the area has a strong tradition of horse and cattle breeding, with the cattle herders known as campinos wearing a distinctive red waistcoat and green stocking cap.

   The roads around the estuary are flat and fairly dull to ride but pleasant in a slow way, running between poplar rows, drainage ditches and the odd old warehouse. Samora Correia and Alhandra, the closest towns, offer fuel and food. Alhandra is a small riverside town with an old waterfront that has seen better days but still smells of tide and diesel in a way I like. In the evening, small restaurants serve grilled fish, clams and eel stew, the sort of cooking that comes from the river rather than the sea.

   If you head south to the real Arrábida, you reach one of the most beautiful stretches of the Portuguese coast. The Serra da Arrábida rises steeply above the sea, with white limestone cliffs covered in Mediterranean scrub, a monastery on the hillside, and a coastal road to Setúbal that offers sea views at nearly every bend. It is relatively short but wonderfully twisty, and best ridden on weekdays outside the high summer, as the beach traffic can slow everything down.

   Wind from the Atlantic is common, and mornings may bring mist over the water. In autumn and spring the light is soft and the birds are at their best.

Where this sits

Rides near here