LoveVelo 1 & BikeSul 5
LoveVelo - 1
I'm rating our Algarve Tour in two parts - arranging the tour and delivering.
We arranged the tour through LoveVelo. It was difficult from the moment we picked their tour. First my deposit using a credit card was rejected see photos and I was advised to make a bank transfer. I just can't understand why a company selling to Americans cannot make their credit card system work all the time in America.
We've looked at the routes being key to the success of our tour. Our first note was GPSx ready in two weeks of 250409 see photos. Later LoveVelo said GPXs were out of their control see photos. Our flights to Lisbon were on May 8th, the GPSx came on the 6th see photos. On May 1st I started working on routes starting with the hotels and putting in as much shoreline as I could. I would not take the chance of being in Portugal using a small screen to figure out routes.
BikeSul - 5
BikeSul's van with our bicycles inside picked us up in Faro and drove us to Tavira to start our tour. The driver was the person who prepared our routes. He clearly told me the benefits and shortcomings of our route. We could have avoided lots of traffic by riding inland. Since we wanted to ride along the coast he avoided as much traffic as possible. We're from CT, ride along the shore, and know there's heavy traffic on US1 which cannot always be avoided. There also was heavy traffic in and out of the cities where are hotels were. I did not see any parallel routes would have reduced traffic. Our route was picturesque - ocean, beaches, cliffs, hills, wind turbines, etc.
NOTE referenced photos are available only on Trip Advisor, Google & Yelp read more