Planning to go to Vila Real de Santo António for your next holiday? You will surely amaze by this stunning Portuguese town!
If you want to visit Portugal for your next holiday, enjoying bike holidays in Vila Real de Santo Antonio can be an amazing choice for you to try! Vila Real de Santo Antonio is a charming Portuguese town, located in the mighty Rio Guadiana, on the easternmost edge of the Algarve. The town has a peaceful atmosphere, not rushed but has a truly unique appearance, more like Lisbon than its immediate neighbors, with a magnificent central square and decorative Pombaline architecture.
The city overlooking the cooling waters of Rio Guadiana, in the north, is the salt marshes of Sapal de Castro Marim, while in the south are pristine beaches on the east coast of Monte Gordo.
Villa Real de Santo Antonio is the perfect town for a day trip exploring. The daily bike tour Villa Real de Santo Antonio has a surprising amount to see, especially given the relatively small size of the town. In the heart of the city is the famous Praca Marquis from the Pombal square, there is a charming marina and following Rio Guadiana is a relaxing walk to beautiful beaches.
When riding around the city, you can really see the town of Ayamonte in Spain across the river.
However, Villa Real de Santo Antonio is definitely worth a visit. You can book our bike tour Villa Real de Santo Antonio if you don’t want to bother looking for accommodations at Villa Real de Santo Antonio and so on, our bike holidays Algarve will arrange it just for you.
Our bike holidays Vila Real de Santo Antonio as we explained above and our bike holidays Algarve will take care of everything from places to stay to good bikes, from moving your luggage along to a hotel room. The payment is safe with us. Ride South Portugal offers the best bike rental and tour in the Algarve to help you to explore this beautiful region! You can also try a bike tour with joy and amazing landscape in southern Portugal 🙂
Freedom & flexibility. You can start your break on any day of the week and are welcome to add extra nights to the beginning or end of your stay, or along the way, if available. Our bike holidays Algarve can also give you useful tips for travel to and from your chosen destination.
We don’t underestimate the role of a comfortable, well-planned, meticulous itinerary through inspiring scenery. You can be as active or relaxed as you wish, visit the sights you want to see and enjoy every minute of your holiday.
All our biking and walking tours are graded as some routes offer more challenges than others.
We are pleased to offer electric bikes as an option on most of our bike tour Vila Real de Santo Antonio and also a range of single-center breaks – great for first-timers.
Back to one of the most stunning Portuguese town in the Algarve. It‘s impossible to describe all about in this charming little town.
Here are the amazing places to ride around while you’re enjoying bike holidays in Vila Real de Santo António!
Praça Marquês de Pombal
Every Pombaline town must have a magnificent central square, and Vila Real de Santo António is no exception.
Praça Marquês de Pombal is the location for concerts and processions during the town festival in June and celebrations for the patron saint of Nossa Senhora da Encarnação in late August.
The chief architect of the royal palace, Reinaldo Manuel dos Santos, was responsible and arranged a perfect box.
On each side are handsome white-washed houses of the same height, with terracotta roofs and underneath are “calçada Portuguesa” lines radiating from the central obelisk. This monument balances the rational architecture of the square; 50 palms high, uniting houses (30 palms) with church (80).
Town center
Vila Real de Santo Antonio town center is the right place to riding a bike around. It was built around Praça Marquês de Pombal. You can find plenty of shops, bars, and restaurants in the town center. The town center has a very relaxed atmosphere and a modern feel. Be sure not to miss the town market (Mercado municipal). You can find fresh fish and delicious fruits and vegetables there. Everything for very reasonable prices.
If you want to explore the cultural side of this town, you can visit the Centro Cultural António Aleixo. This is a cultural center where you can see exhibitions. Another cultural sight is the Manuel Cabanas Museum. Here you can see Manuel Cabanas’s work, who was a local wood engraver and painter.
Praia de Monte Gordo
Monte Gordo is a famous seaside holiday resort in eastern Algarve. The city comes alive in the summer when most of the tourists come here to enjoy their holidays on Praia de Monte Gordo. Located only 4 kilometers from the Spanish border. Monte Gordo is visited mostly by Portuguese and Spanish tourists, but you will also find many other countries.
Monte Gordo Beach has good facilities and you can find many restaurants within walking distance. If you want a beautiful beach and a warm climate, come to Monte Gordo.
Cacela Velha
A few minutes from the center of Vila Real de Santo António, Cacela Velha is a stunning little hamlet on a low cliff above the easternmost pool of the Ria Formosa lagoon.
These are the knots of white houses that had been inhabited since the Phoenicians and were recaptured from the Moors by the Knights of St James in 1249. There was a square with a single store, a 16th-century church and a small fortress from around the period the same is still guarding the cliff top.
With the scent of citrus and almond trees in the air, you can contemplate the sparkling waters of the lagoon, and look at the beaches on barrier islands.
Praia Verde
Praia Verde close to Castro Marim is one of the most beautiful beaches on the Algarve. This is a peaceful beach, surrounded by green pine trees. The perfect place to relax and enjoy your vacation.
Praia Verde has clear white sand, which is very nice. Its soft, stone-free sand makes it a pleasure to walk around the beach barefoot. The beach is also very spacious, flat and clean. In some places, you can see lots of seashells.
Mata Nacional das Dunas de Vila Real de Santo António
From Vila Real, there is a direct bicycle path to Monte Gordo. The road is straight through the pine forest called Mata Nacional das Dunas de Vila Real de Santo António. This forest is also quite popular with pedestrians. When walking in this place you will smell the pine tree. This is a very beautiful area.
Vila Real de Santo António is also the town where Ecovia Litoral began. This is a cycling track that follows the entire Algarve coastline. That is why the city is quite popular among the bike tour Vila Real de Santo António.
Castelo de Castro Marim
Every culture that passes through the region is rooted in this hill above the marshes. After the Moors were driven out in the 13th century, the castle as we see it has now been rebuilt.
After Portugal lost Ayamonte on the opposite bank of Guadiana, kings Afonso III and Denis I ordered reconstruction in the 1270s and there were two separate writings from this period to commemorate the works.
Take time for the Renaissance chapel, a small museum with ancient artifacts and most of all the views from the fortresses on the walls.
Ayamonte
You can cross to Spain and the town of Ayamonte on the left bank of the River.
There has been an impressive suspension bridge since 1991, but before that, the only easy way to jump over the border was by ferry.
This service still departs 24 times a day in the summer and is a far more pleasant way to do it.
Remember to put your watch forward for an hour on the way.
Go for a walk along the Ayamonte lattice on the old narrow streets, stop at a bar in one of the squares and treat yourself to some tapas like boquerones (anchovies in vinegar) or chipirones (baby squids) fried). Also, watch fishing boats in and out of the marina, and stop by the Renaissance Nuestra Church of Señora de las Angustias, which has an extraordinary statue of the patron saint of the 17th-century city.
Those are the best things to do during your vacation in Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal according to our bike holidays Algarve.
However, Vila Real de Santo António can be a place for extraordinary cycling adventures or just to relax if that’s what you’re looking for! Cycling is also an environmentally and eco-friendly way to see Vila Real de Santo António scenes that are usually not seen, a deep way to get to know the people, food, culture, and history of Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal.
What are you waiting for? Book your bike holidays in Vila Real de Santo António and other amazing bike tours in Algarve with Ride South Portugal for an unforgettable trip.