This video covers Stage 6 of my tour, from Santa Comba Dão to Viseu along the magical Ecopista do Dão. This 50 km stage has all the ingredients for a perfect day’s cycle tour where you can truly discover the beauty of Portugal, travelling off the beaten track. But beware – it’s surprisingly hard to get to the start!
I’m not a hardcore bikepacking fanatic — just an ordinary, easygoing guy who loves cycling and loves Portugal. So I decided to combine both passions into a 14-stage solo cycle tour through central and northern Portugal — riding on bike paths (Ciclopistas) wherever possible, because this is truly Ciclopista Heaven! 🇵🇹🚴♂️
If you enjoy cycling adventures, travel vlogs, or you are planning your own bike trip in Portugal or simply curious how it went, then join me on this journey and subscribe to @CiclopistaHeaven to see how my tour unfolds!
📍 Route: Ecopista do Dão – Santa Comba Dão → Viseu (50 km)
🎥 Series Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-MZJApvh-LPG7P6YPNglotBw1IrA6Fjj&si=-uLyhvG7Ks-HxWQp
#BikepackingPortugal #CyclingPortugal #CiclopistaHeaven #SoloCycling #PortugalTravel #CycleTouring #AdventureCycling #PortoToOvar #ExplorePortugal #TravelVlog #greenway #viseu #dao
Links:
My YouTube channel: @cyclopistaheaven
🎼:Music:
The following royalty-free tracks were sourced from YouTube Audio Library:
Instant Crush – Corbyn Kites
Martian Outback – John Patitucci
The Girl from Saint-Anne-des-Plaines – The Mini Vandals
Twin Lynches – Density & Time
Hi, I’m Martin and this is Cloisha Heaven. Join me as I cycle through the heart of central and northern Portugal, taking in historic towns and cities and stunning scenery on this 14stage tour. I’m going to share the ups, downs, and challenges of exploring this beautiful country by bike. [Music] Hello everyone and welcome to stage six of my tour and I’m really excited about this stage. It’s going to be my first time on an echopishista, the whole 50 km of the echo pishta dao. So this is feeling like a dream come true. But I still hadn’t figured out how to reach the echopishta at Santa Comba station. Google Maps is telling me I need to cross the motorway bridge on the IP3. That basically means using this hard shoulder, which looks really dangerous based on these pictures from Google Earth. But the alternative didn’t look attractive either. The diversion I’d have to take to avoid the bridge. Would have lasted for ages and taken me well away from the Echopishta. But when I went back to take a closer look on Google Maps, I saw this old stone bridge right next to the motorway bridge. So I asked the local tourist guide at Santa Compado and they said, “You can’t use that bridge at the moment. It’s underwater.” They told me instead to take this road and then carry my bike down the steps which run parallel to the motorway bridge. I was really confused what’s going on here. So I went back to Google Earth and looked at the historical photos. What was there on the current Google Earth picture from 2023 was lying submerged in previous historic photos. In other words, when the reservoir level is high, you can’t use the bridge. Well, I’m glad I’ve now figured out how to get to the station. And even though it wasn’t fun carrying the bike down these steps, I was very glad I didn’t ride on the hard shoulder of the motorway. That’s where the bridge would have been. Better luck next time, maybe. Having arrived safely at the station, I was getting really excited at the prospect of starting the Ekapisha. And here’s where you can access it. But hang on a second. Oh, no. You’ve got to be joking. Access temporarily blocked. So, in the end, I did have to make a small detour, but finally, finally, I got to the Echoish, and I can tell you it was worth it. [Music] Yes. Now we’re cycling. This is what it’s all about. [Music] And here comes one of the highlights already. The bridge over the river D. This is how it looked on Google Maps, but the reality was different. It’s freshly renovated and it’s fantastic. [Music] [Music] Not much further down the path, there are yet more beautiful places to stop along the riverside. [Music] With this weather and these colors, I felt like I was in a psychedelic dream. [Music] Interestingly, the color of the tarmac changes as we go through different municipalities. Blue for Santa Compatau, green for Tondela, and red for Vizio. [Music] So at this beautiful spot, we’re about to enter the municipality of Tondela, where the first building we pass is TA station and its partner look toilets. [Music] For its scenery, infrastructure and sheer variety of cycling experiences, the Echo Pishta Dao has got to be second to none. [Music] That’s what we didn’t see. [Music] No donkey carts on this echopishta. I didn’t see anyone breaking the rules. I love this sign so much that I adopted it as the symbol for my channel. [Music] I didn’t stop in Tondela. Instead, I chose this picnic place for lunch. [Music] This was the place where I found the perfect rocky outcrop to take a selfie with a 10-second shutter delay. The first attempt wasn’t a success, but eventually I had enough training to get to the top on time. Now, back to the relaxing bike path. [Music] Here we are in the longest tunnel of the route. It’s well lit and it’s tarmac, so there’s not really a chance of falling, but still a bit of a claustrophobic feeling. [Music] This is a landscape of dreams, but also contrasts. Within a few meters, I was at the motorway. [Music] At Toridita, a ghost train is still standing at the platform as if waiting for new tracks to be laid so that it could finally leave. [Music] The vioaduct at Mustarinho is another great example of the infrastructure that’s been put in place for this path. [Music] Here comes another tunnel, but it’s only short, so there should be no reason to feel claustrophobic. [Music] [Music] Take a look at this meme mural on the way into Vizio. Like the Mona, her eyes are always watching you. [Music] A few meters from my destination, I ran into this unplanned and unsignaled detour. When I finally arrived at the Airbnb, I was greeted by this very friendly doormat, and I was even able to have a refreshing swim before going into town. Vizio in May is definitely not overrun with tourists. I had dinner at the Marish Cayera Casablanca accompanied by a glass of the refreshing local white wine. As I left the restaurant, I was amazed to hear the sound of a familiar British hymn being broadcast from every loudspeaker around the town. Somehow, the music seemed to set the right mood to celebrate completing the echoish dao and one of the best days cycling I’ve ever had. [Music] [Music]