CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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.
483 km from Vila Nova de Foz Côa to Vila Nova de Foz Côa, about 7 h 07 of riding. On the way it passes Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Vall, Alto Douro Wine Region and back through Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Vall. It crosses from Portugal into Spain - carry ID and check the toll rules. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Penascosa is a hamlet on the banks of the Côa, in a dry landscape of schist, scrub and old vines, and it has a double claim to fame. In the rocks beside the river is one of the three main rock art sites opened to visitors, with panels of engraved animals that include aurochs, horses and ibex, cut some twenty thousand years ago. The site is reached by guided tour from the museum in Vila Nova de Foz Côa, so the only way in is to book a place and turn up on time, and the walk to the engravings is short but can be hot.
Read the complete Penascosa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Penascosa is where the day begins. Next is Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Vall.
On the Spanish side of the border with Portugal, the river Águeda cuts through granite and schist on its way to the Douro, and on the rock faces along its banks, at Siega Verde, Palaeolithic people engraved horses, aurochs, deer and goats more than ten thousand years ago. In 2010 Siega Verde was added to the Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valley, the Portuguese World Heritage Site just across the border, recognising that these open-air engravings form one of the largest collections of Ice Age art in the world.
Read the complete Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Vall write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Vall comes up about 64 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 228 km into the recorded legs you reach Alto Douro Wine Region. Next is back through Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Vall.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Vall write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Vall, late in the day. Next is Penascosa.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Penascosa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Penascosa. That is the ride.
Penascosa → Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Vall is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Vall → Alto Douro Wine Region is 164 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Alto Douro Wine Region → back through Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Vall is 191 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Vall → Penascosa is 64 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.