It’s Wednesday afternoon and our first real climb looms ahead. Since leaving Porto, we’ve ridden south. Until now, while exploring the coast’s sandy promenades, lagoons and red-roofed villages, ‘hill’ rarely meant more than a railway underpass, or the ramp to the bridge separating Ílhavo and Costa Nova do Prado.

Now, hydration and snacks in Quiaios’s Jardim Paroquial prepare us for the long ascent ahead. Our reward, João promises, will be breathtaking views on the descent to our hotel. So we finish bananas and chocolate, top up bidons and pedal for the 262m-high Serra da Boa Viagem.

Impressive Atlantic breakers

We’d anticipated the moment with excitement and trepidation since passing Vila Nova de Gaia’s historic communal laundry and riding super-smooth cycleways past dunes, expansive beaches and well-kept seafront homes. With Porto behind us, we soon reached the day’s first coffee stop where the hexagonal Cappella do Senhor da Pedra perches atop its rocky seat amongst the Atlantic’s impressive breakers.

That first evening, after following boardwalks through tranquil coastal marshes and dense pine forest, we’d stayed in Ovar, the fabled source of the ceramic azulejos ceramics adorning so many of Porto’s buildings.

The next night, after exploring Aveiro Municipality’s lagoons, and quiet lanes, and catching the ferry to Ílhavo, it was Praia da Costa Nova’s candy-striped properties that backdropped the surf’s sleep-inducing lullaby.

Mouth-watering pastéis de nata

Led by João and Tony, our Exodus trip along the coast between Porto and Lisbon im-mersed us in authentic Portugal, its communities, people and stunning scenery. From the numerous pastéis de nata we tucked into with locals in their neighbourhood cafes, to their favourite picnic spots, we enjoyed a privileged perspective.

Three extra days in Porto also worked well before meeting our multinational group and sampling hearty signature Francesinha the night before crossing the double-deck Dom Luís bridge to leave Portugal’s ‘Pearl of the North’.

Steep rural roads

But for now, back to Quiaios and a rural road so steep that our group’s e-bikers were soon in ‘Turbo’ mode. Eventually, we topped Boa Viagem Mountain and surveyed the surf-battered coast beckoning us south for as far as we could see.

Then, speeding down to Fig-ueira’s beaches, our thoughts turned to supper and more days’ undulating exploration before journey’s end in historic hilltop Óbidos.

Look out for part two of our Portugal adventure in your July magazine.

Al Hidden is a seasoned traveller and retired writer, delivering snapshots of the world to Gloucestershire 400 words at a time.