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.
From Coimbra it runs 328 km to Coimbra; allow about 5 h 06 of riding. The stops in between: Convent of Christ in Tomar, Monastery of Batalha, Monastery of Alcobaça and back through Monastery of Alcobaça. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Coimbra's Alta is a hill that holds the city's history in layers, and the Alta Universitária is its crown. Where Roman Aeminium once stood and a Moorish palace later watched over the river, the Portuguese kings built their own palace, which became the university. Today the Paço das Escolas, the courtyard with a view over the Mondego, is where students gather for photographs and where ceremonies take place, and the sound of the bell, long a sign for lessons, still rings out over the rooftops.
Read the complete Alta Universitária write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Alta Universitária is where the day begins. Next is Convent of Christ in Tomar.
The Knights Templar chose the hill above Tomar in the twelfth century, building a castle to defend the new kingdom of Portugal against the Moors, and at its heart they raised a round church, the Charola, modelled on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. When the Templars were suppressed in the fourteenth century, the Portuguese king transferred their property to a new order, the Order of Christ, which went on to finance much of Portugal's maritime expansion; Henry the Navigator was its governor. Over the centuries, the order added cloisters, chapels and dormitories, and the Convent of Christ became one of the great monuments of Portugal, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 1983.
Read the complete Convent of Christ in Tomar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Convent of Christ in Tomar comes up 47 km in. Next is Monastery of Batalha.
On 14 August 1385, near the village of Aljubarrota, a Portuguese army led by King João I defeated a much larger Castilian force, securing Portugal's independence. Before the battle the king had vowed to build a great monastery to the Virgin Mary if he won, and he kept his word. The Monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória, known simply as Batalha, which means battle, rose over the following century and more, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture in pale limestone, with flying buttresses, pinnacles and intricately carved portals. It was listed by UNESCO in 1983.
Read the complete Monastery of Batalha write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
At least 103 km in you reach Monastery of Batalha. Next is Monastery of Alcobaça.
In 1153, Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, gave a vast estate to the Cistercian monks of Bernard of Clairvaux, and they built here one of the greatest monasteries of medieval Europe. The church of Alcobaça, with its long, soaring nave of pale stone, is austere and beautiful in the Cistercian manner, and the cloisters, dormitory, chapter house and refectory survive almost intact. The kitchen is enormous, with a huge chimney and a stream diverted through it so the monks could catch fish directly. UNESCO listed the monastery in 1989. But the main reason most visitors come is a love story.
Read the complete Monastery of Alcobaça write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Monastery of Alcobaça, about halfway.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monastery of Batalha write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Monastery of Batalha sits at 186 km, about halfway. Next is back through Monastery of Alcobaça.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monastery of Alcobaça write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Monastery of Alcobaça comes up 233 km in. Next is back through Monastery of Batalha.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monastery of Batalha write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
279 km in you reach back through Monastery of Batalha. Next is back through Convent of Christ in Tomar.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Convent of Christ in Tomar write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Convent of Christ in Tomar, late in the day. Next is Alta Universitária.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Alta Universitária write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
The route ends here after 328 km.
Alta Universitária → Convent of Christ in Tomar is 91 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Convent of Christ in Tomar → Monastery of Batalha is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monastery of Batalha → Monastery of Alcobaça is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monastery of Alcobaça → Monastery of Batalha is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monastery of Batalha → back through Monastery of Alcobaça is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monastery of Alcobaça → back through Monastery of Batalha is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monastery of Batalha → back through Convent of Christ in Tomar is 48 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Convent of Christ in Tomar → Alta Universitária is 91 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.