PeterLambTravels: Day 1 - Lisboa - Setubal - Troia

Dear all,

Winter is finally over and I needed to go out of the city to "disconnect" from the "daily life".

As it Easter and my family decided to spend a few days in Monchique, how about taking my bike and join them? I would have two days of biking and I could spend Saturday evening and all Sunday with them.

I planned the trip the weekend before, having decided to take a morning train from Lisboa to Setubal. The company that is running this train service is called Fertagus. The first train in the morning is at 6h43, the second one at 7h43 and the third one at 8h43. The train takes 57 minutes to Setubal. From Setubal train station it is a short hop till the harbour where the ferry boat to Troia departs. The are scheduled for 8h30, 9h30 and 10h30.

I packed my bike on Sunday, and nothing more to be done rather than waiting for Friday to arrive.

I set the alarm clock for 6AM and another one for 7AM but it turns I messed up and they would only ring on Saturday!! Well, I had a terrible night of sleep so it was good to sleep a bit longer. I left my flat around 8AM and there was plenty of time to catch the 8h43 train bound to Setubal.

The train station is about 2km away from my flat so it was an easy ride through empty Lisbon roads.

The ticket office was closed, so the tickets needs to be purchased at the automatic vending devices. The ticket to Setubal costs 4,35€ and the bike is free of charge.

At the ticket vending machine

Elevators were switched off so I took the bike on the escalators to the platform. The train that would take me to Setubal was arriving.

My bike and the train

Peter Lamb prior to board the train

The train has a dedicated space for bikes, wheelchairs and baby trolleys and it was there I went to.

My bike inside the train

I was not sure about the way to the harbour, but I found it without any stress. Afterall, there is plenty of time till the boat departure.

The queue to buy the tickets wasn't long. As I have "Lisboa Viva" card, that I use in Lisbon's public transportation, there is only need to recharge it with single way ticket, which costs 3,25€.

Long queue to board the ferry boat

Our ferry was not docked yet, so I took a small walk and found out that there were other bike touring woman going south. Great, I might not go alone on the trip!

Our ferry approaching on the left, a sister on in the middle and a catamaran passenger boat on the right

Packed ferry boat on its way to Troia

The ride is smooth and rather fast, but it was a bit chill. Me and the other bikers were chatting but although we are going on the same direction it seems that our pace will be quite different, so I think we won't be travelling together.

Troia peninsula and Arrabida mountain behind

Sleepy Peter Lamb on the ferry boat

Disembarking was smooth and easy and it was time to hit the road, finally! At start there are some hundreds of meters of a bike path.

Cycling path, Troia

Peter Lamb

The road is prety much flat with some nice views to the river Sado on the left side and the Atlantic Ocean on the right hand side.

After 25km of cycling (around 1h30 on the saddle), the hunger was starting to strike. I found a mini-market close to the road and I decided to stop for some supplies and a bit of rest.

Mini-market open :)

Sausages, bread and pear juice

I didn't spend too much time in there, afterall there are plenty of kilometers ahead.

Peter Lamb ready to cycle again

The road does not have much traffic and it is quite pleasent ride. Sun's shinning, not too strong though, spring brings back the birds singing, good frangnancy from nature... All in all, much better than being at the office!

Straiiiiiiiiight ahead!!

Another short break at Pinheiro da Cruz, where it was built this prison, prety much in the middle of nowhere. Apparently they sell wine to public. Lets say I cannot carry much on my bike :)

Building of prison's compound

Peter Lamb getting more and more sleepy!

Kilometers were building up and I was getting more and more sleepy, that I needed to have a bit more extended break. I was lazy to take the sleeping bag and mattress, so I just took a nap in the woods! Oh well, I woke up waaaaay much better :)

The road sometimes passes in small villages and one of them (I really do not recall its name) has a primary school that is the standard design of primary schools in Portugal (back in those days, when we had standard designs).

Primary school

The road around Sines is quite boring, as it is similar to a highway. It is also close to the refinery, so it is totally uninteresting for about 15km, which means 50 minutes of total boredom till you find something nice again. Right at its end there is a power plant that generates electricity from Natural Gas. The system is cooled down with ocen water, which means that the beach nearby has warmer water :)

The powerplant

Peter Lamb

Close to the powerplant it starts a road just along the ocean, heading to Porto Covo, which is my destination today. The road is very very nice!

The Atlantic Ocean

I had one more break (and one more ice cream!!).

Chilling out close to the beach, Sao Torpes

Peter Lamb and his bike

Right at this spot it starts the natural park of "costa vicentina". In my humble opinion, a must see, either by bike, trekking, or even visiting by car.

Natural park

The road it is not in mint condition (actually far from it), but with such a view, who cares?

The road to Porto Covo

Beach in distance

It is not only the seaside, but also the landside that is nice, specially now in spring time!

Yellow wonderland

Porto Covo is not that far and soon I reached my final destination of the day, after cycling a bit over 80km, and with the lack of sleep, I was prety much exhausted.

Porto Covo

Peter Lamb made it to Porto Covo!

Just a small detour to check the ocen, before heading to the camping.

Atlantic Ocean

It would be nice to sleep in this spot

Peter Lamb's bike in Porto Covo

Finding the camping was easy, as I have been there before. The receptionist is the same and I checked in in a question of minutes. 1 small tent + 1 person costs 6,95€.

I took a while to find my plot, as the camping is rather full.