Mountains, valleys, vineyards, history… and gloriously empty roads. Welcome to motorcycling heaven in Portugal’s Norte and Centro

The N-222 beside the Doura River at Quinta do Seixo

If anyone wondered what motorbikes are for, the answer is: Northern Portugal. The riding is simply out of this world – from the steep hills to the terraced vineyards of the Douro Valley and the mountainous Sella da Estrela, with Portugal’s highest peak, Torre. The fun does start to fade the closer you get to Porto and the coast: too many speed limits, too much traffic. So stay out in the countryside and enjoy roads that could have been built with bikes in mind.

WHERE TO STAY

CHAVES

Five miles south of the border with Spain, Chaves has a Roman bridge and a nice town square. Routes 87, 88 & 89 Hotel tip Forte de São Francisco

COVILHÃ

At the foot of the Serra da Estrela, this university town is the ideal place to soak up Portuguese culture off the bike. Routes 90 & 91 Hotel tip Hotel Dos Carqueijais

SERTÃ

Who needs mountains when you have hills like those around Sertã? It’s a restful town. Routes 92 & 93 Hotel tip Convento da Sertã Hotel

OFF THE BIKE

BRAGANÇA

A small city with a smaller-town feel, thanks to the historic core behind the well-preserved old town walls. Lots to see in Braganca including a sizeable castle, a cathedral, a fine ducal palace and Portugal’s oldest town hall.

COIMBRA

Once the capital of Portugal, Coimbra is crowned by a palace at the top of the hill and stuffed with beautiful historic buildings between there and the lush river banks below. Make sure to visit the old cathedral.

DOURO RIVER CRUISE

People can spend days cruising the Douro – but one-hour cruises are available from several points (we’d go for Pinhão or Miranda do Douro).

DOURO STEAM TRAIN

If the boat’s too slow for you, why not try a steam train instead? Opened in the 1880s, the Douro line still runs a passenger service – now limited from Peso da Régua to Tua – along the most beautiful stretch of the Douro.

PORTO

It’s a popular city break – and Porto is a great place, but not for riding. Enjoy the sights (the Clerigos church, the Dom Lùis I bridge, the museums and the Foz do Douro lighthouse) and the fabulous food and drink.

QUINTA DO SEIXO

If you have time off the bike in the Douro Valley, a port-tasting tour is practically compulsory. Options range from the short and affordable to day-long €150+ junkets for connoisseurs. We’d suggest starting with a Premium or Classic tour of Sandeman’s Quinta do Seixo vineyards or the cellars in Porto.

TOMAR

A small town with big monuments: if the Convent of Christ looks remarkably tough, that’s because it was built by the Knights Templar as part of their huge, fortified headquarters. Mind-blowing.

VILA NOVA DE FOZ CÕA

Huge views of the terraced vineyards are just the start of the spectacle: prehistoric rock art is scattered through the valleys that feed into the Douro. Start with a visit to the museum.

OUR MOTORCYCLE ROUTES IN NORTH AND CENTRAL PORTUGAL

Map of motorcycling touring routes in north and central Portugal

87 CHAVES WEST LOOP

Start/finish Chaves
Distance 170 miles
Riding time 5.5 hours
This route from the quiet town of Chaves is so good it could ruin other roads for you forever. Why can’t all rides be on such perfect surfaces, with such brilliant bends, with so little traffic? At the end of the ride you’ll be wishing all roads could be as good as this… The good news is round here, they are!
Route map, Download the GPX file

88 CHAVES EAST LOOP

Start/finish Chaves
Distance 230 miles
Riding time 7 hours
This long day in the saddle is packed with simply mind-blowingly good roads. Long, gently arcing ‘straights’ feed in to sweepers that lead to tighter turns — and the occasional hairpin. With perfect surfaces and low traffic, it’s a fabulously rewarding ride. NB: just in case your sat nav starts to misbehave, you need to stay on the N-15 that runs parallel to the motorway: don’t get on the A4.
Route map, Download the GPX file

89 CHAVES THIRD LOOP

Start/finish Chaves
Distance 140 miles
Riding time 4.5 hours
So many good roads around Chaves – it’d be criminal not to ride the N-311 when you’re in the area so we had to make a third route. This is a shorter loop, so there may be time to visit the compact castle in Montalegre.
Route map, Download the GPX file

90 THE PORTUGUESE STELVIO

Start/finish Covilhã
Distance 180 miles
Riding time 6.5 hours
This route has taken some refining… but we’re finally convinced it’s the definitive loop of all the must-ride roads in the Serra da Estrela mountains, including riding the N-330 – the so-called ‘Portuguese Stelvio’ in both directions.
Route map, Download the GPX file

91 A LAP OF THE SERRA DA ESTRELA

Start/finish Covilhã
Distance 145 miles
Riding time 4.5 hours
Alright, there were one or two roads we couldn’t cram into the ‘Portuguese Stelvio’ route. But they’re in this one instead, which hugs the lower slopes of the mountains rather than clambering over the top. It’s another blindingly good ride.
Route map, Download the GPX file

92 SERTÃ LONG LOOP

Start/finish Sertã
Distance 190 miles
Riding time 6 hours
Central Portugal is blessed with three things that make it ideal for biking: great weather; spectacular hills riven by deep gorges; and madly twisty roads. It really is a great route for adventure bikes.
Route map, Download the GPX file

93 SERTÃ SHORT LOOP

Start/finish Sertã
Distance 160 miles
Riding time 5.5 hours
More crazily twisty roads through the quiet hills around the Zêzere River. Though lower in mileage than the other Sertã route, this version – using all broad, smooth roads – is more or less the same length of ride, as the roads are so twisty. Must-ride road N-339 Covilhã to Seia Clambering over the Serra da Estrela mountains in a flurry of hairpins, this awesome road earnt the nickname ‘the Portuguese Stelvio’.
Morning route map, Afternoon route map, Download the GPX file

Please note: This page contains the route files for The RiDE Guide to motorcycle touring in Spain and Portugal which came free with RiDE magazine in July 2018. These website page are not regularly updated, so please check all critical information before you travel. All route files are in .gpx format. Garmin and BMW users can download the main file, which contains all the routes and our recommended hotels as separate waypoints. TomTom users can download the individual routes and use the Tyre software to convert them. For many routes we also have Google Map links. However, as Google Maps will not plot routes over seasonally closed high Alpine passes (such as those in the Pyrenees) when they’re shut, these may not work for every route all year round.