A2Z Adventures blog

Looking for a good opportunity to visit Europe, but the flights were too expensive?

With these great last minute spring fares you can enjoy the thrills and charms of popular European spring destinations for as low as $255*.

Take a flight and enjoy one of the many A2Z Adventures tours, from a Road Bike tour in the Historical Villages of Portugal to a walk in the Douro Region.

More information about the flights at Lufthansa website.

Our new 5 day walking and mountain biking tours are a great option for a shorter stay in Portugal or for those who wish to extend their stay in Lisboa or Porto, getting to know one of the most pristine areas in Portugal - the Schist Villages region.

Starting at only 300€, these new tours can be adapted to your specific needs and, because you will stay in only one inn, you won´t have to deal with constant transfers.
Low-cost flights from several major airports in Europe to Lisboa and Porto make these tours even more appealing.
Now is the time - discover Portugal with us!

For more information and prices, please go to www.a2z-adventures.com

You think about cycling, biking, walking, trekking, hiking, guided tours, self-guided tours in Portugal…
Now, all paths lead to one name A2Z-Adventures!

www.walking-portugal.com
www.cyclingportugal.com
www.self-guided-portugal.com

The Tour of Mont Blanc Trekking Expedition is over. 8 incredible days around the Mont Blanc Mountain Range, doing the most famous European Trekking circuit. Year after year it increases is popularity and more people do it. Locals estimate 25.000 people do it each season (!). And the recent North Face Ultra Trail of Mont Blanc, a non-stop trail running annual race in this itinerary, helps to promote it. Every year they sold out 2000 entries to this late august event. And a lot of racers are seen in the previous weeks training in the track. We passed by a lot of them.

But our group was also in great shape. Ken & Ron from Boston, USA, where not only physically prepared but were also great route companions. Mario and Edite from Marinha Grande, Portugal, where facing this challenging trekking route after have done almost every mountain trail that can be hiked in their country and a first international experience in Morocco with A2Z.

Our stats were:

And has you may see we did have some challenging days. We also be missing Marie’s cuisine at CAF hut in Contamines… and the Valdostano Coffe at Bonatti’s hut…

Soon i will post a little video but now it time to pack to Himalaya… PP

We are passing by Chamonix, the adventure sports world’s capital… Amazing weather and clear views over Mont Blanc. Shopping time (for one hour), before we get back to our trekking tour!

It´s an easy day today, mid way in our route, after a long 11 hour day, yesterday. We did it a little slower than planned, since Mário was having problems with his feet. The trail was hard going up, 1000 meters to Fenetre d’Arpette (2630 mts), followed by another 1000 meters going down. And if that wasn´t enough we still had another 600 meters climb in the afternoon ending in the historical Col de Balme Mountain Hut, built just on the border line between Switzerland and France (more than 100 years ago).

Mário (and Edite) will be leaving the TMB today to rest and recover his feet, but he will stay around and meet us on the last day. We are on our way to meet Marie, in the CAF refuge at Contamines. She cooks really well so we expect to have a nice dinner tonight. Tomorrow is another challenging day. The sun is still shining!

O tour do Monte Branco começou da melhor maneira com excelentes condições climatéricas. O primeiro dia incluiu um caminhada “de aquecimento” de duas horas até ao refúgio Bertone (sobre Courmayeur – Itália). Nada melhor para descomprimir da viagem de carro de Milão. No segundo dia, seguimos em direcção a Este ao longo do Vale Ferret até ao refúgio Bonatti (um dos mais confortáveis dos Alpes) onde chegámos após cinco horas de caminhada. O refúgio assume o nome de Walter Bonatti um dos mais importantes (e polémicos) alpinistas italianos, que participou na primeira expedição de sucesso ao K2 nos Himalayas à mais de 50 anos (saiba mais aqui). No terceiro dia seguimos em direcção à Suiça. Após 7 horas e meia chegámos a Arpette. O primeiro passe (col Ferret – 2537 metros) foi superado e como esperado sem encontrar neve.

As previsões metrológicas prevêem a continuação do bom tempo até ao final da semana, permitindo desfrutar das lindíssimas paisagens alpinas.

The Tour du Mont Blanc started on the best way with good weather conditions. The first day included a “warm-up” walk of two hours until refuge Bertone (above Courmayeur – Italy). Perfect to stretch from the car transfer from Milan. On the second day, we followed East along Val Ferret until reaching refuge Bonatti (one of the most comfortable refuges on the alps) after 5 hours walk. The refuge has the name of Walter Bonatti, one of the most important (and polemic) Italian alpinist, that participated on the first successful expedition to K2 in Himalaya more than 50 years ago (know more here). At the third day we head in direction to Switzerland. After some long 7 hours of we arrived to Arpette. The first pass (col Ferret – 2537 meters) was made and as expected with no snow.
The weather forecast seams to be good until the end of the week allowing to enjoy the wonderful alpine landscapes.

Last may, A2Z Adventures donated 160€ to CERAS (Centro de Estudos e Recuperação de Animais Selvagens de Castelo Branco). CERAS - a branch of the Portuguese NGO Quercus - takes cares of endangered birds, in the Castelo Branco area.

This amount represents 1% of the money payed by a group of 12 hikers from California that joined us for our Tejo & Historical Villages of Portugal walking tour. We would like to thank them for helping CERAS.