Coastal Area

Distance: 47 km

Activity Time: 6h30m

Difficulty: 00000

Best Season: April – October

Price: from 43€ (including gear, guide, snack and insurance)

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A bike ride to the beach that recreates an old local tradition….

The population of the areas surrounding Aveiro had the tradition to bike once a year, or at least once in their lifetimes, to the beach. Accompanied by their family, friends or in an organised setting they would go on this journey to relax on the beach and enjoy a picnic under the pine trees on their way back home. These were rare and special opportunities of leisure during which they could leave all their daily worries behind.

Along this tour we will visit three of Aveiro’s beaches and have the opportunity to visit the south part of the Aveiro lagoon. Biking a dirt road along one of its main canals brings us to the beach of Vagueira. Here we can still witness a traditional way of fishing, the so called ‘arte xávega’ where in the original setting oxen were used to drag the fishing nets through and out of the water. Nowadays the ox are mostly substituted by tractors. The next village, Costa Nova, is also worth a visit with its emblematic and colourful candy striped houses.

Heading to Aveiro we pass by to visit the unusual museum St. André, located in a boat moored beside the Oudinot garden. It is a trawler made in the Netherlands in 1948 and once used to fish ‘bacalhau’ (cod fish for drying). The museum shows how the bacalhau fishing took place. We follow our journey to the harbour where we can find the larger fishing boats and where we can still feel the importance that the fishing industry has in this area, particularly the bacalhau industry.

Arriving in Aveiro we have time to check out a nice esplanade and enjoy a drink and some local snacks.

For more information please contact: info@tugarbybike.com