In a little more than a week I will start my first tour where I have to get my bike on a plane. I fly to Portugal, Lisbon then cycle to Faro and leave from there.
After some research I decided I would just use the sections 1 – 8 of this komoot tour which follows the Eurovelo 1, because it seems like the best option if I want to stay close to the coast: https://www.komoot.com/de-de/collection/2482439/eurovelo-1-portugal-atlantikkueste-mit-dem-rad
I am open for suggestions and tips here though. Especially about this part:
I read in several posts on reddit and blogs that the section between Lisbon and Setubal is extremely sandy and since you need the ferries it's also not really fun so some people recommended to take the train from Lisbon to Setubal and start riding from there. Anyone who has done it and has an opinion here? I'm still on the fence.
Another thing where I might have f-ed up:
Early on in my research I read about 3 bike shops in Faro that pack your bike for the plane for a cheap price. This way I wouldn't have to worry about a box and stuff so in my mind I checked that problem as solved.
Well, it's not: I arrive in Faro on Sunday afternoon according to my plans. My flight leaves on Monday 6am. I realized that the bicycle shops I researched before ALL 3 are closed on Sundays (which I absolutely did not expect and stupidly didn't look up beforehand) and I can't find another one that's open.
Now I either just gamble that I get a box and packing material at the Deacthlon (open on Sunday until 10pm) but wtf do I do if they don't have a box? Or I really change my plans in a way so I arrive on Faro on Saturday because 1 of the 3 bike shops with the packing service is open Saturday afternoon. But then I am stuck in Faro all Sunday when I could get one more day of riding out of it.
Anyone who (recently) flew out from Faro and had to pack their bike?
by Gullible-Molasses-99