basic plan​

• New Zealanders fly to London, bikers ride to the Algarve, family fly to the Algarve arriving same time as the bikers for 9 days. Family fly back to London, bikers head back to London.​

dates​​

• Restricted by October 2026 half term break, which runs between 17-Oct and 1-Nov. possible itinerary:

  • Wed 14-Oct: ride from London to Plymouth, catch overnight ferry to Santander

  • Thu 15-Oct: - Tue 20-Oct: ride through Spain and Portugal

  • Tue 20-Oct: family fly from London to Faro, Portugal (2 hour direct flight)

  • Tue 20-Oct to Thu 29-Oct: family holiday in Ferragudo, Portugal

  • ​Thu 29-Oct: family fly from Faro, Portugal to London (2 hour flight)

  • Thu 29-Oct - Wed 4-Nov: ride through Portugal and Spain, overnight ferry to England

  • Wed 4-Nov: return to London​​

​

flights

• Flights from London to Faro are common, direct and relatively cheap.

​

accommodation for family holiday

• Prefer to stay in Ferragudo as we were there in October 2025 and we found it a great location.​

• Looking at three bedroom places with a pool for around £2,000 for nine nights; possible options are:

  • ​FABULOUS bbq-roof terrace 330°views, sea at 1km!

  • Private retreat; pool and garden

  • Entire villa in Ferragudo, Portugal

​

considerations

• do we make this a road ride or an adventure ride?  There are great options either way. As of November 2025 the general consensus is a road ride, so any further planning will be in this direction.

  • road trip - some of the best road riding can be found in northernSpain and Portugal with fabulous road surface, lots of mountains and sparsely populated areas.

  • adventure ride - there is an Adventure Country Route (ACT) routes for Portugal available. ACTs are similar to the Trans-Euro Trail (TET), but designed for larger adventure bikes and aren't as technical.​

• There are quite a few mosquitoes in Portugal; pay to pre-load on vitamin B12 and bring some sort of repellent.

• David needs a new passport

​

bikes

• David will take either his MV Agusta or Aprilia Tuareg, depending on if its a road trip or adventure ride.

• For the others, I think rental will be prohibitive due to cost based on length of trip.  I'd recommend buying and selling at the end of the trip. Bikes can be stored at David's and you can use his address for registration etc.

  • Insurance is legally required for riding in Europe.​

  • You will need to take the registration papers with you; these can take six weeks to come through from DVLA, so bikes will need to be purchased before you arrive.

  • Superbike Factory have the largest stock of secondhand bikes in the country. They will buy back the bike and you should be able to get an indicated value based on adding the time an milage when dealing with them; but they won't do a guaranteed price.  The will also deliver and pickup bikes and offer a warrantee.

​

ferries

• There are three options for ferries from England to Spain and back, all operated by Brittany Ferries, but as of January 2026 the full schedule for 2026 hasn't been posted yet. To ride through France would add an extra 900 miles each way, with very little of interest along the way (other than Le Mans).

  • Plymouth to Santander: runs Sundays and Wednesdays, takes 21 hours, doesn't run in November

  • Portsmouth to Santander: runs Mondays and Fridays, takes 33 hours

  • Portsmouth to Bilbao: runs Tuesdays and Thursdays, takes 33 hours

  • Santander to Plymouth: runs Mondays and Thursdays, takes 21 hours, doesn't run in November

  • Santander to Portsmouth: runs Wednesdays and Saturdays, takes 33 hours

  • Bilbao to Portsmouth: runs Tuesdays and Saturdays, takes 33 hours

• Apparently, if you book at least one night's accommodation with Brittany Ferries you get 30% off the cost of the ferry tickets.  This offer is only available over the phone. One of the hotels in the deal is in Potes.

​​