Riding Out Of The City: Exploring Southern Portugal On Our BMW R1250 GSA

We're just about to leave Lisbon and we've stopped off at the Touratech shop here. We've talked to the guys, they've given us some advice for the route to take today. We're going to cross over the iconic Lisbon Bridge and head south to the Algarve. We're even going to catch a ferry to get there. Em's just putting the last things in the bike and we are ready to go. You're putting in the next destination Em? Yeah, route's in, we just need to go. Route's in and ready to go. That was so helpful just popping in to see them and get that new route and that road that they recommended. Yeah, it's great to have that local knowledge and access to a chain of that really isn't it? Wherever you go you can always pop in and speak to the people there. All right, let's get back on the road then and go over this bridge. I am excited to go over this bridge, I think it's going to be awesome. Yeah, me too. I have actually ridden across the San Francisco Bridge on a GS before so maybe it'll bring back some memories. So apparently in Portugal you can use the bus lane on a bike? Yeah, there's a picture of a little motorbike on the bus lane so we can use that. That's quite cool. I think they need to put that in place in other countries too. Somehow we're back riding through another city. Yeah, I thought I'd left that behind and I was straight back in it. So we are currently riding through Lisbon trying to make our way to the bridge. It's not too hectic, it's just very tight on the road so there's not really much nipping with our 104 meter wide bike, 104 centimeter wide bike. Are you guarding your horn, Sean? I've got the clutch at the moment. I can always seem to find the horn when I don't want it. When I actually need it, I can't find it. Are you going to get through that? No, I'm not going to get through there. Whoa, bike on the inside. I might be able to get past the bus. Go, go, go. Pedestrians, slippy tram lines. Hazards everywhere. Lime scooters. Drunk people. 33 o'clock. This is where we walked. Did you put like mystery tour option in the sat-nav because it's taking us everywhere. What I thought was going to be a simple scoot around the city to get onto the bridge and head south has turned into a little chaotic city tour. We are smack bang in the middle of Lisbon again. We followed the sat-nav. This apparently is the quickest way out. It is the quickest way but you can see as the main gate is just down that street and we're at the big square with the wavy floor mosaic pattern. So I think we've got to go around it. Yeah, we're going straight, very left and right. So this is going to be a tour of Lisbon in two minutes. All right, let's do this. Okay, let's try and get out of here. And the wacky races resumes. Remember seeing this? We don't think we came this far out, do we? It's off. There's a theatre. That's cool. 1644 it said on it. We didn't see this at all, did we? No, we missed this place but we've seen it now. That was good. It's really smart of him. What is he policing? The pigeons, I think. I think he's making sure that there's not too many pigeons on there. They've got a quota. He's got his whistle out. I feel like we're never going to get out of Lisbon at this point. Oh, roasting. Can I nip round here? Yes, that was good. I'm not sure. A5. Oh, we need that middle road there. I think we're going to go in this tunnel. Right. Tunnel to Marques. Is that a MotoGP Marques? Oh, it's a traffic union. Are we on the bridge? I think we are. We're just starting to be on the bridge, yeah. This is pretty cool. It's epic, isn't it? Oh look, that's where we were yesterday. There's the little... Oh yeah, there's the Bellum Tower and the monument to Henry the Navigator. Fairly well remembered, that. So this is one of the roads that the Touratech team recommended to us. So far, it's looking great. It really is, isn't it? Nice and peaceful. There's a lovely, like, mountainous landscape over there. And I think we're going to be on the coast in next to no time. Look at that gravel track up there. It goes right to that corner. Oh yeah. Right, that's the Portino. Do you want to go to that? Portino. Well, I think that's where we get the ferry to. That really thin strip of land. Yeah. We're just pulling into Portino. Or Portino? Portino, Portino, I think. It's a lovely bridge. And it's a one-way road into the village. Wow. Oh, what a lovely spot. And it's like a tiny little cove with a few houses in it. How cool is this? Really cool, isn't it? Watch out for that power line. What a beautiful beach and it's empty. Little restaurant cafe there. Stopped off here in this tiny little coastal village called Portino. It's a one-way street to get in. There's traffic light controlled. And it's an absolutely lovely spot. The beaches are super clean here and there's not so many people. So I think it's one of those local highlights. It was recommended to us by the guy at the Touratech shop. So glad we stopped by here. And this restaurant here was super, really good. Anyway, the weather's just started to change. It started to rain a little bit. So we've put on our outer layers and we're going to continue south. We must now be entering the village in which we get the ferry from, right? Yes, was it Sebutol, Sebutoyal or something like that? Sebutol, Sebutol. Why is there never a signpost when you need one? It looks a cute little place. Little beach town. To the island. Yeah. Ah, yes, one way. Yes, thank you. I have no idea which boat we're getting on. I'm guessing it's this one. Just get on the boat. Just get on a boat and see where it goes, shall we? And see what happens. Oh, are these all waiting? Oh, there isn't one at the moment then, is there? I'm not sure, are you? We're here at Setubol port. We're waiting for the ferry to take us across to the other side. It's going to cut out a little bit of highway riding and it looks like it's going to be a nice little ferry ride. Em's having a little rest down there. You okay there, Em? Yeah, I'm just chilling. Yeah, that's what Em is doing. And that's the map of where we're headed. It's just a short ferry ride to that little strip of land there. But it should be good. Should be interesting to ride the other side. Then it's mostly B roads and hopefully some coast road as we head further south to the Algarve. All right, the very much anticipated boat has arrived. The wait is finally over. That's going to make a noise, isn't it? Maybe park it near a wall? I'm not sure where they go. Where the bikes go, just in the middle? All right, well, we're on the ferry and we've stayed on the bike. There's nowhere else to go. The land is coming up quite quick. I think we're only going to be on air for five or ten minutes. I think it said 15 to 20, dependent on the tide or something. Oh, okay. But it's pretty calm weather today. It looks like a nice little... I know it's not an island, but all we can see is white sand and trees, a few apartment blocks. But it looks like a nice region. I was reading on the ferry board that there are a lot of dolphins here and a lot of wildlife in this region. And a lot of people come over to this part of Portugal to do bird watching and stuff. Oh, yeah. Might be nice to see a few dolphins. I think this really has cut off quite a lot of time for us. It probably has, actually. It's quite a distance over there. It's a big peninsula, isn't it? Yeah. Is that what a peninsula is? I think you're right. I think it is a peninsula. Are you with your big words? All right, we are docking now. I don't think you're going to get out very well here, Shaun. It's a pretty smooth line. It's very impressive. It's very impressive, isn't it? Nicely done, Shaun. Thank you. Got some bikers here waiting. It's a nice beach there, isn't it? Lovely beach. So we have around three hours until we are on the south border of Portugal. And that's with no motorways or no toll roads. So we're just going to enjoy this little cruise south. We are heading to Sines, just on the coast. Just picked up some food from the supermarket. So we're looking for a place to cook it. Apparently, this is the quickest way. We're just about to turn down this track here to Paiaio. And I think we'll pick up another road to Sines from there. So let's see what's up this track. Hopefully, some tarmac is up this track. There's lots of nice flowers. This is the quickest way, is it? It's not too bad. It's just a bit sandy. Nice little romantic sunset gravel track. You're such a romantic, Sean. I am, aren't I? You do take me to some places. A bit of road started again. A cool road, too. It was, wasn't it? That was really cool. Nice little gravel detour. Why? Fully loaded. Suspension can take it. Maybe we found, like, Portugal's sea roads. Abandoned roads. It's kind of cool, though. It's kind of beautiful, too, in a way, with that sun setting and the flowers. Yeah, it is. I feel like the beach is just going to be, like, at the end of this road. I know it's not because I can see the sand now. This is going to be one of those beach roads, isn't it? You're right. Oh, big pothole, big pothole. Active suspension in full work. That does work, doesn't it? After that bonus gravel track, we've arrived in Sines and it looks really nice. They've got a harbour there, a little town at the top, which we'll probably explore in the morning. But most importantly, we did find a picnic spot and somewhere to cook. And Em's already making dinner. Got pasta on and I found some really cool local mushrooms to try. I'm going to do a big salad and probably cook up some of these Aldi vegan meat products that I found. And yeah, enjoy the sea view. This is the perfect spot, isn't it? It really is. Yeah, we've been quite fortunate. Yeah, really fortunate. We've been looking for a spot for the last 30 minutes and this one came into view. So yeah, we're going to have dinner here and then we're going to go check into the hotel later. We really enjoy cooking by the roadside. It gives us a lot more time in the day. And in fact, we sat there until the sun went down. And then we came back to this hotel, checked in and we're going to get an early night because tomorrow we're heading further south down to the Algarve, taking in some of Portugal's amazing coastline.