Five-day tour to Alentejo and Extremadura Spain
This year’s tour started with five Algarve Senior Biker (ASB) members from the Algarve meeting in São Marcos da Serra.
Led by David Shirley, ASB organiser, they travelled via Ourique to Castro Verde for a short coffee break before continuing on the nice quiet roads of the Lower Alentejo to Serpa for a light lunch in the old town.
After lunch and meeting up with Walter Kollert, the main organiser of the trip, in Pias, the bikers visited the local winery owned by the Margaça family and, of course, had to try a few sample glasses. A few cases were purchased and loaded into Tus Gentes’s sidecar for transport.
After checking into our overnight accommodation, we had dinner at what appeared to be the only restaurant open on Monday in Pias.
Daybreak on day two and we were greeted by sunshine as we headed over the border to Spain. At Encinasola, we paused for lunch in the pretty village square. Then it was time to head north through the beautiful mountains of the Extremadura region to our next overnight stop in Jerez de los Caballeros with glorious views all the way.
After dinner, we all spent a pleasant evening in the hotel bar enjoying a few drinks and watching football with the locals.
After the visit to Jerez de los Caballeros, the next day’s ride was on some beautiful mountainous country roads to Elvas and back into Portugal and our next overnight stay near Portalegre. On the way, we visited the Delta Coffee Museum in Campo Maior.
Starting early in the morning, we left the hotel with clouds threatening rain to ride the twisty road up to the lovely hilltop village of Marvão to take in the views in all directions from the castle walls.
Then it was south to Reguengos de Monsaraz which was to be our last overnight stay with a visit to the Sharish Gin Distillery on the way.
We had a short walk into the town for a typical Alentejo-style dinner in the evening.
A great way to celebrate the completion of our tour of around 900km through this beautiful region and there is no better way to enjoy it than on a motorbike with fellow biking friends.
By ASB
