Hidden Nazaré E-Bike Tour: Roman Chapel & Volcanic Hilltop

Three hours, 25 kilometres, and the rough story of fifteen hundred years of this stretch of coast. The bike is the simplest way to connect what's hard to reach by car: a Visigothic-era church on a dirt track, a volcanic hill that sailors used as a beacon, and the medieval ridge town the modern Nazaré grew out of.

The route in shape

You leave from the seafront on an e-bike. Most riders choose a step-through with a Bosch Active Line motor, comfortable for anyone who's ridden a city bike in the last year. The first climb is the short one up to Sítio, the headland church above Nazaré where the funicular tops out. From there it's gentle rolling on quiet asphalt and packed gravel inland through the pine forest of Mata Nacional do Pedrógão, with one short dirt section down to Ponte das Barcas. Total climbing is around 200 metres spread over the three hours, and the e-assist makes it a flat-feeling ride.

São Gião — the rare church

The first proper stop is the one most visitors to Nazaré never see. The Igreja de São Gião sits alone at the end of a farm track in the parish of Famalicão, surrounded by olive trees and the occasional grazing goat. It dates to the 6th or 7th century: pre-Romanesque, built in the Visigothic style, and one of a handful of religious buildings of that age still standing on the Iberian Peninsula. The horseshoe arches inside, the dressed limestone blocks, the simple cruciform plan: this is what the Romanesque grew out of, three or four centuries before the Romanesque happened. It was declared a Monument of National Interest in 1986 and restored. There is no ticket office. Most days you'll be the only people there.

Monte de São Bartolomeu

From São Gião you ride to the foot of the Monte de São Bartolomeu, a 156-metre volcanic hill rising out of the Pinhal de Leiria pine forest. Magmatic in origin, it's the only piece of Mediterranean scrubland for kilometres around: cork oak, strawberry tree, mastic. Sailors used it as a landmark from 35 kilometres out at sea. The summit chapel is small — a single nave, an altar, a sacristy — and tied to the legend of Our Lady of Nazaré through the relics that gave the hill its double name (São Brás and São Bartolomeu). On the 3rd of February each year the pilgrimage marks the start of Carnival. The rest of the year you might share the summit with a kestrel or two.

Pederneira — the town before Nazaré

The last stop is Pederneira, the medieval ridge town on the cliff above the modern Nazaré seafront. Before the 17th century the Atlantic came right up to the foot of this hill and the fishermen lived here. Pederneira was, after Alcobaça, the most populated town in the region. As the sea retreated they walked their boats down to the new beach below and the upper town hollowed out. What remains is the Largo de Pederneira: a whitewashed parish church, a former Misericórdia hospital, and a belvedere that puts you eye-level with the gulls. The chapel bell rings at noon and you can hear it from anywhere in the old town.

Time of day and time of year

An early start is the quieter one. São Gião is at its best with low light coming through the east windows, and the pine forest on the way out still smells of resin from the overnight dew. Riding later gets you to São Bartolomeu around the time the wind comes off the sea, which is when the panorama opens furthest. You and the guide agree the start time when you book. Spring through October is the sweet spot. Helmet, eye protection and water are included. Bring a layer for São Bartolomeu: it's exposed and the wind doesn't stop. Private group, one local guide, pace and time at each stop set by the riders.