Arrival at Faro airport. You take a taxi (not included) to your hotel. A member of the Algarve Cycling team will welcome you, explain everything about your tour and hand over your bicycles.

Your route takes you out of Olhao and up via Estoi to Sao Bras and into the cork oak region. You continue along the 'Rota da Cortica' (the cork route) through Santa Catarina and on to Tavira, 'the Venice of the Algarve', so-named because of the river Gilhao which flows through the town. You cross this river and enter Tavira. On leaving the town you cycle along through an area of lagoons with their large salt flats, from which the famous 'flor do sal' salt is extracted. You continue through the Ria Formosa nature reserve. You then leave the coast and cycle through the fertile Barrocal region with its many fruit orchards, finally reaching your hotel.

Today you cycle first into the Serra, a hilly region, criss-crossed by many river valleys. You begin with a gentle climb until you are nearly at Sao Bras. After that, it gets steeper and you have to cross the first river, the Ribeiro do Alportel before you reach the highest point of today's tour at Javali, 518 meters above sea level. Your efforts are rewarded with a marvelous view over the Serra and down to the coast. You continue with a terrific descent through a small valley to Barranco do Velho and from there on a good road down to Querença. You will come to another river, the Ribeiro de Algibre. You cycle on over a hilltop to Sao Romao following one long road with very little traffic. Sao Romao is a small village with a beautiful church. From there another downhill ride brings you to the third valley and then there is one more steep climb up to Corotelo, from where you have a mostly downhill ride back to Olhão.

To get you warmed up, you begin the day with a 15km ride from Olhao to Azinhal, 300 metres above sea level. You continue to Santa Catarina, 154 metres above sea level. It is here that a series of hairpins begins which wind all the way up through the wonderful landscape of the Serra as far as Alcaria Cume. This is where you reach the highest point of today's tour, 502 metres above sea level. A great downhill ride takes you to Tavira. Finally, you cycle for another 24 km on mostly level roads through the Barrocal region and back to Olhão.

Quiet side roads take you to Loule, a small market town in the middle of the Barrocal region. From there the route leads over a hill down into the Ribeira Algibre river valley and on steeply uphill to the attractive village of Salir, 225 metres above sea level. Soon after this, the road continues to rise, taking you through beautiful countryside with many very old cork oak trees. The very quiet and well-surfaced road leads to Barranco do Velho, 500 meters above sea level. After this, you take another very quiet road down to Sao Bras and then back to Olhao via Estoi with its famous Milreu ruins. You cycle right through the Old Town of Olhao to reach your hotel.

After a few kilometers of gentle cycling, you ascend steeply to San Miguel, the hill with transmitter masts that can be seen from far away in all directions. It stands at 310 meters above the sea. After that, you continue at this high level along a beautiful road with views of the Serra. You continue to Sao Bras and Loule, where you turn towards the coast. You ride along an attractive road with great views. It takes you through the two luxury resorts of Vale do Lobo and Quinta do Lago and then through the extensive surroundings of the Algarve football stadium. From here on your route undulates gently through Santa Barbara, Estoi, and Pechao and back to your hotel.

You cycle from Olhao to Estoi via Pechao and into the N2, the old main road to Lisbon. You take this road through Sao Bras and up to Barranco do Velho, 500 meters above the sea. After a short descent, you reach a beautiful road which takes you at this high level through Salir and on to Benafim. This road is newly resurfaced and very quiet. You then cross the Ribeiro Algibre River again and continue in the direction of Loule. The final part of your ride takes you back to your hotel through the Barrocal region and Santa Barbara.

Individual departure or extension.