Cycle & Spa: Alcobaça E-Bike Tour with Thermal Wellness Circuit

A wellness day where the cycling is the warm-up. 40 km and about 300 m of climbing on an Orbea e-bike, from Nazaré into the Alcobaça valley, with the UNESCO monastery in the middle, a long charcoal-grilled lunch at Restaurante Maria José and a 60-minute thermal hydrotherapy circuit at a spa hotel in Alcobaça to finish. The day is paced to leave you tired in the legs and unwound everywhere else. Book at least two days ahead, because we reserve the spa slot for your group.

The morning ride

This is the gentlest of our Alcobaça routes. The climbing is spread across 40 km, mostly on quiet country tarmac through orchards, olive groves and small parcels of vineyard. With the motor helping, none of it reads as hard, and riders who rarely cycle manage it comfortably. We match each rider to an Orbea Rise, Urrun or Wild FS before you roll out, and the guide sets the pace off the group.

The air changes within a few kilometres. The salt drops out, the eucalyptus comes in, and by the time the apple orchards of the Alcobaça valley open up you stop thinking about the bike. In summer we start earlier, so the climb out of Nazaré is done before the road heats up. There is little shade on the inland stretches between June and September. Late spring and early autumn are the best windows: soft light, orchards in blossom or in fruit, and afternoons warm enough that the spa feels like a reward rather than relief.

The monastery, the garden, the castle

Mid-morning you lock the bikes outside the Mosteiro de Santa Maria de Alcobaça. It is Cistercian, founded in 1153 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1989. The nave is long, white and deliberately bare, and the cloister stone is several degrees colder than the street outside. The tombs of Pedro I and Inês de Castro face each other across the transept.

From the monastery the guide walks you to the Jardim do Amor, where the Alcoa and the Baça rivers meet, then up to the Castelo de Alcobaça for the view: red roofs, the white façade of the monastery and the orchards running south.

Lunch at Maria José

Lunch is included, at the place our guides eat themselves: Restaurante Maria José, on the edge of Alcobaça. Charcoal-grilled Portuguese beef is the reason to come: T-bone, picanha or filet mignon, or black-pig pork if you prefer, served with bread, olives, simple greens and rice. A glass of red comes with the meal. This is the part of the day where the conversation slows and the schedule disappears.

The spa

From the restaurant it is a short ride across Alcobaça to the spa hotel. The included circuit is 60 minutes of thermal hydrotherapy: whirlpool and hot tub with thermal water, sauna, Turkish bath, footbath, rain walk, a cold-water bucket if you like to finish with one, and a relaxation area at the end. You choose the order. The hotel provides towels and slippers. The cycling is done by then, on purpose.

Before you book

The day takes about seven hours including stops, for groups of 4 to 8. It is rated easy and suits couples, friends and older riders who want a full day out without a hard ride. It is not a training day and there is no off-road riding; for trails, see our MTB and gravel routes at /tours. Bring swimwear for the spa, sun cream and a light layer, because the valley can be cooler than the coast in the morning. We provide the helmet, glasses, gloves and bottled water. Reservations close two days before the ride.