The 2010 A2Z Adventures Catalog has plenty of new Tours and Expeditions, in Portugal and all over the world. To download it, please click here.
Choose your favorite trip and have fun with A2Z Adventures in 2010!
Our 2010 dates are now online. Check our wide variety of bicycling and hiking tours, in Portugal and all over the world, at www.a2z-adventures.com
Very soon our new trips for 2010 will also be online.
We are working on our 2010 tours. Meanwhile, it´s nice to get emails like this one:
My wife and I, together with 3 other couples did a road bike tour with A2Z Adventures last year in Portugal. We are all avid cyclists and were impressed on a daily basis with the rides we did each day.
We have travelled extensively throughout the world and believe that our trip to Portugal was simply one of the best trips we ever did. The tour company was very professional and well organized. Each daily ride appeared to be hand-picked for us. The accommodations were a mix of good, great and really great. We were not disappointed with any of them.
Frankly, the entire trip beat our expectations. After a few days we gained trust with Pedro’s (one of the owners) ability to make dinner reservations and were treated to meal after meal of fantastic food and local culture. It sounds too much like a cliché but each day only got better. Pedro and our second guide were absolutely fantastic with our group. They truly made our trip exceptional as they took the time and effort to make sure we got the best meals in town, saw the best sites and drank the best cappuccino’s in all of Portugal.
Paul Williams - Vancouver, Canada.
Thank you Paul and all of you that traveled with A2Z Adventures in 2009.
You are the reason why we are here!
Just finished a bike tour in Portugal. We had a group for Norway that included a very special woman - Louise Skog. Why special? Because being 79 years old she showed all of the younger people - including the guides - how cool you can be at that age. Never complained, and she had to walk many of the hills and face a day when it rained like crazy, always smiling and in a great mood. What a beautiful example! Long live Louise!
Decorreu de 6 a 12 de Setembro mais uma edição da Grande Rota das Aldeias Históricas Gary Fisher em BTT, organizada pela A2Z Adventures. A edição de 2009 contou com a presença de um total de 15 ciclistas de 4 nacionalidades, oriundos de Portugal, Brasil, Austrália e Estados Unidos.
Foram realizados os 540 km desta rota que une actualmente 10 das 12 Aldeias Históricas de Portugal em 7 etapas.
A grande novidade desta edição foi a utilização de novos traçados nas duas etapas finais entre Linhares da Beira, Piódão e Castelo Novo - estes traçados já fazem parte da remarcação prevista da GR22 no seu 10º aniversário, em 2010. Estas etapas foram unanimemente consideradas as mais duras e selectivas, com a passagem pelas Serras da Estrela, Açor e Gardunha a fazer “estragos”.
Confirmam-se assim grandes novidades para a edição 2010, que terá também datas disponiveis na primavera, com menos calor e campos floridos! E, já sabe, pode fazer a GR completa ou apenas as etapas à sua escolha.
Our hotel in Peneda.
One of the many waterfalls of Gerês.
21st Century woman!
Just got back from a week of hiking in the Peneda-Gerês National Park. Sunny days and beautiful hikes made this week in Portugal´s only Natural Park just perfect.
To know more about our Gerês, the Shepherds Way Hiking trip please click here.
Pedro Carvalho
Mary Murtagh from the Liverpool Echo discovers a long forgotten corner of Portugal with the help of A2Z Adventures.
“It´s the part of Portugal the tourists forgot. The Centro region has been ignored, neglected and almost abandoned over the last 50 years with the job-seeking locals joining overseas visitors on the coast and in the capital. But now the area is experiencing a long-awaited and well-deserved renaissance.
It has much to offer the curious visitor – beautiful countryside, year-round warm weather and fantastic walking, hiking and biking terrain. And best of all, you feel like you have it all to yourself.
Even most Portuguese people have yet to wise up to the spectacular heart of their homeland.
So, for now, you can walk all day in valleys and forests and never see another soul. Enjoy it while you can”.
Read the entire article here.
“My guides Pedro Pedrosa and Nuno Santos helped plan, tested and even painted signs for the walking trails. Their company A2Z Adventures offers guided tours to the region and their knowledge of and passion for it is palpable and infectious.
In just 48 hours they transformed me from a central Portugal ignoramus into a devotee“.
O grupo A2Z chegou finalmente a Kargyak a 4200 metros de altitude, depois de 4 longos dias de caminhada em Zanskar nos Himalaias (Índia).
Todo o grupo se encontra com o espírito elevado e aproveita a motivação extra “provocada” por todas as crianças da Sun School de Kargyak.
Certamente que a oportunidade de rezar com o Dalai Lama em Padum também contribuiu para para uma atmosfera ainda mais especial durante o trekking. Definitivamente não foi só uma oportunidade única de ver o Dalai Lama a apenas 5 metros de distância mas também a oportunidade de partilhar com os habitantes de todos os vales circundantes, com os seus vestidos coloridos tradicionais e com pedras turquesa, os ensinamentos espirituais do Dalai Lama.
Após esta breve pausa de um dia em Padum, era tempo de começar a caminhar em direcção a Kargyak. A beleza do trek deste ano deve-se ao facto de termos sido acompanhados por dezenas (ou mesmo centenas) de aldeões que retornavam as suas casas. Definitivamente esta companhia tornou a caminha mais fácil e divertida com vários momentos para recordar de conversas sem sentido: nos sem conseguir falar Ladakhi, e eles sem conseguir falar inglês.
Agora o grupo prepara-se para deixar Kargyak em direcção ao Shingo La e mais tarde a Manali, deixando uma importante contribuição na escola de Kargyak com varias árvores plantadas pelo Michel, um novo jogo de lógica proposto pela Giovanna (Soduko), um check-up medico completo as crianças pelo António e Ângela e novos lenços doados pela Maria de forma a que os seus sorrisos não sejam disturbados pelos narizes sujos. O grupo também deixou para trás o Tiago e Patrícia que ficam na escola como voluntários até Setembro.
Durante a estadia em Kargyak o grupo teve um jantar em casa do Dorge, seguido de uma festa com as amas (mães) de Kargyak. Um jantar de momos de vegetais regado a Shang e Arak (as bebidas locais feitas de cevada). Nenhuns comentários sobre a festa que envolveu musica tradicional Ladakhi e (para delicia dos locais) portuguesa, mas foi divertida e moderada o suficiente para recomeçar a caminhar o dia seguinte.
The A2Z Adventures trekking group finally arrived to Kargyak at 4200 meters, after four long days of trekking in the Himalayas, Zanskar, India.
All the group is in high spirits and enjoying the stamina provided by all the children of Kargyak Sun school.
The group also had the very special opportunity to pray with the Dalai Lama in Padum - this certainly helped to create an even more special atmosphere!
It was an unique chance not only to see the Dalai Lama so close to us but also to share the moment with villagers from the surrounding valleys, dressed in their most traditional clothes full of color and turquoise stones.
After this short one day stop in Padum it was time to start the walk towards Kargyak. The beauty of this year´s route was that it was followed by dozens (or even hundreds) of villagers that were returning home. This definitely made the walk easier and more enjoyable with several moments to remember the most unusual dialoges between the group and the locals: us unable to speak Ladakhi; them unable to speak English.
Now the group is getting ready to leave Kargyak heading to Shingo La and later Manali, leaving behind a great contribution to the school - new trees planted by Michel, a new logic challenge proposed by Giovanna (Soduko), a complete medical check-up by Antonio and Angela and new handkerchiefs by Maria so the children smiles are not disturbed by dirty noses!
The group also left behind the A2Z members Tiago and Patricia that will stay here until September helping out at the school.
During the stay in Kargyak the group also had dinner at Dorge’s house followed by a party with the amas (mothers) of Kargyak. A dinner made with vegetable momos (dumplins) and watered with Shang and Arak (the local barley drinks). A great party that involved traditional Ladakhi and (to the delight of locals) Portuguese music, but it was moderated enough to start the trek the other day…
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