Portugal End to End

The road through the spine of Portugal

Portugal's old N2 runs almost the entire length of the country, from Chaves on the Spanish border down to Faro on the Algarve coast. It's quiet, well-surfaced, and tends to climb in long, manageable gradients rather than vicious walls — the sort of road that rewards cyclists with hairpin descents you can lose count of and weather steady enough to plan around. The route here roughly follows it, covering 729km with nearly 10,000m of climbing over nine days. That isn't a gentle ride. It's accessible to regular cyclists who put in some hill training and a few back-to-back days in the saddle beforehand, but it isn't a soft introduction either.

The countryside changes more often than you'd expect. Vines give way to pine forests, then cork oaks, then olive groves and fruit trees, and the cover holds for most of the way south. There's a yellow N2 passport that gets stamped in the villages and small towns en route, which sounds like a gimmick but is the kind of thing you actually look forward to at the end of a day's riding.

From Chaves to Faro

The trip starts in Chaves, with an optional detour to the Spanish border on day one if you want the satisfaction of riding the entire country end to end. From there the route works south through the Douro valley, with vines stitched into the hillsides above the river, and on through Viseu, a town worth slowing down for. A night in Évora, the Unesco World Heritage city in the Alentejo, breaks up the lower half of the trip before the run down to Faro on the south coast.

The days vary in shape but the pattern holds: long gradual climbs, fast descents with more hairpins than the road map suggests, and small towns where tourist coaches don't tend to stop. The cycling is the point, but the parts of Portugal you cross are not the parts most visitors see, and the welcome from locals — and the steady supply of pastel de nata — makes more of a difference than you might think.

Bookings and logistics

The 2026 departure runs 26 September to 4 October, and there are two 2027 dates: late April and early October. Prices are £1,845 per person on a twin-share basis, with a £395 single supplement if you'd rather have your own room. Hotels are bed-and-breakfast and chosen for comfort, secure bike storage, and, often, a pool to fall into at the end of the day. Lucy Burnett leads the 2026 trip and the April 2027 departure.

Breakfast and a packed lunch are included; evenings are usually communal but you pay for your own dinner. Emergency gels and bars travel in the support van, though most riders bring their own preferred nutrition. The most practical airport is Porto, with a coach transfer to Chaves at the start (departing no later than 1pm, around two hours up the road) and a return from Faro at the end. Bikes can be dropped at the Sheffield office up to four days before departure and they'll be packed into the support van, driven to the start, and brought back to Sheffield for collection — useful if you'd rather not box your own.