Why this ride
Repeated coastal bends, headlands and frequent viewpoint stops. It also links naturally to Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Vicentina Coast
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 143 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 27
- 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.
Access context
Check wildfire closures, heat and local road works. Specific flag: wind; seasonal traffic.
Seasonal context
Mar-Nov
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Sines
First impressions of Sines are industrial, and it is best to admit that at once. There is a big deep-water port and a petrochemical complex on the coast, and the flare stacks and tanks are visible from some distance. Yet the old town beyond the plant, set on a low headland over a bay, is a pleasant, quiet place of white houses and a castle, and it has a great claim to fame: Vasco da Gama, the first European to sail to India by sea, was born here in the fifteenth century.
Read the complete Sines write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sines sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Vila Nova de Milfontes.
2. Vila Nova de Milfontes
Vila Nova de Milfontes sits where the Mira river reaches the Atlantic, on a low headland with white houses, a small fortress and a very good beach on either side. The fort at the river mouth, built to defend the town against pirates, has been turned into a guesthouse, and the old streets behind it are lined with cafes and small restaurants. In summer it is a favourite with Portuguese families, and in the quieter months it settles back into a gentle small-town rhythm.
Read the complete Vila Nova de Milfontes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Vila Nova de Milfontes comes up 36 km in. Next is Aljezur.
3. Aljezur
Aljezur is two villages in one. The old part climbs a steep hill under the ruins of a Moorish castle, while the newer part spreads along the valley floor beside a small river. The castle, a short walk up cobbled lanes, is a modest ruin, but the view from its walls over the valley, the whitewashed roofs and the fields running to the coast is excellent. The town is the capital of the west Algarve coast and sits in the middle of the Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park.
Read the complete Aljezur write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
73 km in you reach Aljezur. Next is Sagres.
4. Sagres
Sagres is where Portugal runs out of land. The village sits on a bare, wind-scoured promontory at the south-western tip of Europe, and a few kilometres away the lighthouse at Cabo de São Vicente stands on cliffs about seventy-five metres above the Atlantic. The ancient world believed this was the end of the earth, and the Romans called the cape the Sacred Promontory. The sea here is deep blue and often rough, and the light has a clarity that comes only with a long fetch of open ocean.
Read the complete Sagres write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sagres, late in the day.
Recorded source links
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