The group alongside the Douro River in Portugal. Our inaugural tour to this region provided brilliant roads, lovely scenery, top hotels and great weather – said to be our new “best” tour!!
We start with a briefing on the ferry
Lots of posh cars on board – Maseratis…
We offload our bike & all luggage goes in the van
“Hi John & Jen, we decided the Portugal & Spain Tour would be the perfect way to spend our honeymoon as we wanted to go somewhere on our bikes but we didn’t want the hassle and stress of organising everything. The quality of the roads were unbelievable, from tight twisties to the fastest of open roads. Superb hotels in fantastic locations and we had a fabulous time with some lovely like minded people.”
[since booked 2nd tour to Black Forest in 2020]
Wendy Wakenshaw (now Tyzack) 1st tour, CBR600F & Phil Tyzack, 1st tour, Triumph Sprint, Somerset
Lambourghinis & Ferraris
Andy B goes “back-marker” for motorway
“Hi John & Jen, we both thoroughly enjoyed the inaugural (that’s for you John!) Portugal & Spain Tour with a great bunch of like minded people. Thank you all for your company. The roads and scenery were stunning with a good mix of twisty and long sweeping roads, traffic free in places making for enjoyable riding. The hotels we stayed in were excellent, no changes required and we sampled some lovely local tapas and regional food along the way. We do appreciate how much effort you both put into researching all the roads, hotels, petrol & coffee stops and sorting out any problems along the way. It takes all the stress and worry away from us so that we can just enjoy riding our bike. The luggage van is an added bonus, taking a load of weight off the bikes. Some nice planned surprises along the way too. All in all a great tour, a great addition to your portfolio. Thanks for another memorable holiday. Best regards”
Alan & Julie Grieves, 7th tour, Ducati Multistrada, Leicestershire
The ferry was late so we have to ride some motorway
New van – new graphics
Drinks in the hotel bar
Jackie, Rod, Phil & Wendy
“Hi John & Jen, I have to say that the Portugal and Spain tour was the best tour I have been on with you. The hotels were wonderfully varied, all of an exceptional standard and in a variety of very different locations. My personal favourite was the Quinta. The roads were some of the best I have ridden on with very grippy surfaces – the only limitation being my ability as a rider. I could honestly not find anything that I could fault, it was fantastic trip with great bunch of people. Now looking forward to planning next year.”
Iain House, 3rd tour, Triumph Street Triple R, Hampshire
Andy W, Gary & Roger
Roy, Andy B, Ian H, Alan & Julie
Eliza, Heather, Jan & Ian
Saddos!!
“Hi John & Jen, many thanks to both of you for a fantastic tour to see some amazing scenery and roads in Spain and Portugal, and stay in a great selection of lovely hotels combined with a great bunch of people. Perhaps not obvious to everyone is the amount of research you did before this tour to make it what it was. A first class tour and at a great price as well, I personally hope to return and hope to do this tour again in the future. Keep up the good work, it was a pleasure to meet you both. Fantastic! Kind regards”
[since booked to do the same tour again in 2020!]
Gary Moult, 1st tour, Suzuki GSXS1000F, Cornwall
Dinner is included in a local restaurant
Loads of tapas…
with Sangria…
Hi Jen & John, Ian and I just wanted to say thank you so much for another enjoyable tour, it was great & we had a brilliant time. All the hotels were lovely, so difficult to choose a favourite! The roads / fab scenery were amazing. Roll on the next trip…”
Ian & Heather Phillips, 5th tour, Kawasaki ZZR1400, Devon
And cider poured in the traditional way
John starts the joke telling
Breakfast area
Hi John & Jen, thanks for a great holiday, I absolutely loved it!”
[since booked to do the same tour again in 2020!]
Roger Gale, 1st tour, Suzuki V-Strom 650, Bedfordshire
Secure garage parking
Roy struggles with waterproofs!
Horses on the Camino de Santiago
UNESCO town walls
Lunch is tapas
By afternoon coffee stop the sun is shining
Their Harley had a puncture so Malcolm & Kari arrive by car
Our next 4* hotel at the end of the Camino de Santiago
A fabulous indoor pool
A free night in Santiago de Compostella
The stunning Cathedral
Lit up by night
Our hotel by night
We need a volunteer back-marker
Morning coffee stop
David rides as “back-marker” (thanks Heather)
But has to have a new sticker first!
Picturesque lunch stop
Newlyweds Wendy & Phil
Just what are they up to?
Jen’s in the lead today
Iain’s also on a Street Triple R
Roger on his Suzuki V-Strom 650
Phil on his Triumph Sprint 1050
Rod & Jackie on their BMW R1200GSA
Lovely scenery
Gorgeous scenery in Portugal
6 nights in Portugal
The HUGE pool at our next hotel
Jen with Ian & Heather
Malcolm enjoying a beer!
Drinks before dinner
Iain loves this quinta!
We’ve arranged a surprise…
The group in Portugal with a glass of Mateus Rose!
Dinner is included tonight
John’s up again…
Rod has something to show us!
The next morning we stop at a huge dam
Sea planes arrive collecting water
Morning coffee stop
Brilliant twisty pass
You WILL ride this!
Just voted one of the top 10 roads in Europe by Ford Motor Co
Lunch stop
Our next 4* hotel for 2 nights
In the old capital Guimaraes
The UNESCO old town
Lots of restaurants to choose from
Warm enough to dine outside
Next day is a day off…
Many of us take the train to Porto
The “fat controller” collects cash
David catches a few zzz’s (and he wasn’t alone!)
Andy
& Phil (thanks Heather!)
The station at Porto
Great architecture
Local transport
We didn’t go in here!!
We head down to the River Douro
Such pretty buildings
Lots of tourist boats
So colourful
We stop for a drink
Lots of buskars
Extreme sports
Interesting market stalls
Take the cable car up
The Cathedral
View from the top
Walk across the bridge
For fab views of the city
Take the cable car down – Phil & Wendy
Lunch by the river
More market stalls
Super Bock bar
All the Porto houses
Young lads jumping off the bridge!
A selection of Porto!
She was really good
Back in Guimaraes, the birthplace of Portugal
Alan & Julie stay in Guimaraes
They visit the Palace
Thanks Julie
Live music tonight
Lovely back streets
Delicious sardines
After dinner drinks
Coffee stop next day
View from the cafe
Other bikes there
Julie & Alan
We stop for a photo opportunity overlooking the Douro River
Plenty of space for us to stop
Hundreds of bikes pass by
We stop for a surprise lunch…
Lovely tapas
With fab views
Then a visit to a Porto producer
We have a guided tour
See the bottling
and labelling
Roy suggests it really should be positioned here!!
Huge barrels
Storage
Steam train passes by
Lovely setting
Chilled out pooches
Heather has a new friend
We bought some Porto
For all to have a taste
Cheers!
Drinks in the hotel bar
Beautiful biker babes (but where’s Kari?)
David’s keen to try some
David’s ticket from Guimaraes turns up!
Dinner is included tonight
Our hotel in a remote medieval town
Always a morning briefing
John’s in the lead today
Impromptu coffee stop…
You MUST be happy riding hairpins
There are high-concentration twisties
We stop at a reservoir
More fab views
Then we stop at the highest point in Portugal – over there!!
Our next 4* hotel for 2 nights
The next day many choose to go for a ride-out
Fab roads
Ian & Heather, Andy, Gary
Up in the clouds
Great sweepers
Andy, Gary, Alan & Julie
Alan & Julie – Ducati Multistrada
Alan & Julie
In a remote mountain village!
Dead end!
Gary on his Suzuki GSXS1000F
Great roads
Gary then Jan & Eliza
Villages tucked away
Twisties & Hairpins
Andy on his BMW S1000XR
The prettiest village for lunch stop
Jan & Eliza came from Hong Kong!
Fuel stop – cash in the bag!
Alan & Julie
Ian & Heather – Kawasaki ZZR1400
“Big Boy” Andy
Back at the hotel
Andy W & Jen brave the pool
Kari enjoying a G&T
Four BN off-road guys arrive!
John with Eliza
Us!
Dinner is included both nights here
Another lovely morning
Fuel & coffee stop
Lunch stop
Ian riding without Heather
Phil
Iain
Roger
Afternoon coffee back in Spain
In wolf country!
The setting for our final hotel
It’s frothy man !!!
Characters strike the bell
Andy has chips!
Dinner is included the last night
More jokes from John
Andy shows Rod…
how to waft a towel for Jackie!!
Rod takes a turn
Phil’s up next
Then Malcolm
Kari takes a turn
Andy’s up again !!
Jan tells a story
We’re treated to the “Penguin” joke!
Guess the vegetable…
So Wendy’s played before!!
We head into the Picos Mountains
We stop for a photo opportunity
Wendy on her CBR 600F
Roy on his Kawasaki Z1000SX
David on his Honda Deauville
Andy W on his Piaggio MP3
Fabulous views
Andy B
Watch out for wildlife
Hello !
Pretty lunch stop
The t-shirt shop is open!
All back to the ferry
And that’s all folks! An eventful inaugural tour thanks to the contributions of many of the participants!!! Our planning paid off as we thought the routes with fantastic roads to ride, great hotels, breaks, days off & timings all worked a treat. We hope that a marker moving off, accidents due to rider error, dropped bikes, police fine, Merc shunted up the rear etc…didn’t detract from what was otherwise a great tour!!! Thanks to everyone who took a turn riding as “back-marker” after our designated person had to cancel at the last minute. We look forward to seeing many of you again on future tours. Ride safe, John & Jen.
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