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Who is Terracotta Journeys?
Eva came to Portugal in 1993 from the San Francisco Bay Area and immediately became interested in sharing the southwestern European lifestyle - its white-washed castle towns, cafes, cuisine and beaches - with her friends and family. For many years she did so informally for foreign visitors and friends living in Portugal temporarily.
Eva exploring the Alentejo region of Portugal in 1994
After more than ten years of experience, she and her husband Pedro - a Portuguese who attended university in Connecticut, USA and who worked for many years as a tourism consultant - decided it was time to launch a distinct active travel company, and so Terracotta Journeys was born. The spirit and manner in which Eva and Pedro show their country has never changed and they still treat all of their guests travellers as visiting friends, because they know that a personal touch provides the best travel experience. Our multi-lingual guides are all locals and not flown in from abroad. It is this authenticity which makes our trips truly memorable.
Pedro in his mountain biking days
Jorge joined Terracotta Journeys as a partner to further enrich the project. He contributes many valuable years of experience as a trip leader and tour developer for cycling tours for other American cycling tour companies. He also holds a university degree in tourism and is fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian. Together the complementary members of our team work hard together to give you the most remarkable bicycling or walking trip possible.
Jorge bicycling in northern Portugal
Why choose Terracotta Journeys?
Experienced multilingual trip leaders
The fact that our trip leaders are native to the tour regions, has two great advantages for you: first it makes the trip more economical since we don't have to fly personnel and equipment long distances. Second, because our trip leaders are multilingual and local experts, equally familiar with North American culture, they enhance your experience by facilitating your interaction with the local population, whether at a cafe, rural farm or on the road biking.
Our cycling and the walking routes
You will cycle or walk only on the most beautiful and unspoiled back roads. Thanks to Jorge's extreme attention to detail, we have covered approximately 3000 miles to research each and every trip. We have researched every possible alternative and chosen the safest, and most relaxing roads, removed from traffic and hazards, with the least abrupt climb ratio possible in each region and the best pavement available.
Accommodations
We have inspected all possible hotels in each tour region and selected the best ones for you. Most of the hotels are 4 or 5 stars, comfortable historic and / or charm hotels. We want to ensure you get the rest you deserve after a day of bicycling or hiking.
Food and wine
Eva is passionate about good food and wine and knows that after a day of exercise, you will be looking forward to a delicious meal. We have taken great care in selecting the very best regional restaurants and to avoid the fancy, but not so great establishments. Our goal is not merely to replenish the calories you burned biking and walking but to introduce you to the unique local cuisines. Spain and Portugal have a huge diversity of cooking styles and wines within their many regions. Tours include most dinners with wine, and all include at least one gourmet picnic lunch, with local specialties, in a beautiful location, when lunchtime finds us far from a local café. Check each trip for details. Keep in mind that part of our mission is to convert you into lovers of Spanish and Portuguese foods and wines.
Focused & Dedicated
We are a small company and want to keep it that way, so you can always talk directly with us, the owners. Having personally developed our tours, we remain involved whether by guiding or assisting with them. Following each tour we evaluate our routes, hotels and restaurants to make sure you are getting the best possible experience. If anything seems short of perfect, we try to discover ways to improve it. You can be certain that we will do everything to ensure you return to Terracotta for future trips, as well as recommend Terracotta to your friends. Finally, geographically, our tours are focused in regions we are more knowledgeable about than larger tour companies.
Safety above all
Although we choose our routes having safety as a priority, we actively plan and rehearse for all possible incidents and accidents (we have never had a real one) and our trip leaders always know the fastest way to the local hospital or a doctor. In addition, all of our trips include standard insurance for our customers to cover treatment in case of accident or disease. We require the use of a helmet whenever on a bike. Also, we recommend the use of sunglasses and cycle gloves, in bicycle tours.
Fully certified (license # 44/2008)
Terracotta Journeys is fully certified as an active tourism company by the Portuguese Tourism Bureau and complies with all regulations for security and quality standards, insurance requirements and sustainability, according to local law to operate in Portugal and in Europe.
Bicycles
You will have full use of high-quality, reliable Trek 7.3 FX aluminium frame hybrid bikes with m. bike gears, chosen for their suitability for the roads in Spain and Portugal. You are welcome to bring your own pedals - which we will quickly install before the trip starts - or to use our standard flat pedals or pedals with toe baskets.
Your pace
Ride at your own pace without losing the way. Not only will you have a detailed map and description of the route, but also an easy to use gps device programmed with route directions. If you get tired or want to avoid riding a steeper hill, you can always hop on the support van, that constantly accompanies the bikers. For bike trips with six or more guests we always provide a guide on bike as well. And, for more extreme bikers, we (whenever possible) add an extra loop. On walking tours there is always a guide walking with the group.
Families welcomed
Your family is welcome. Bring your kids along. We have fun activities for all, such as your first family surfing lesson, or some safe river kayaking. Contact us for details.
Pedro, Eva and their kids on vacation in soutwestern France
How do we at Terracotta Journeys support the environment and local communities?
At Terracotta Journeys we are keen defenders of a long term vision of sustainability for our planet; to become a healthier and cleaner one. By offering high quality bicycle and walking trips we strive to encourage our guests and others, the use of non-polluting (and fun) forms of travel back at home. We also work with local authorities to improve tracks, information, comfort and safety for cyclists and pedestrians. 
For our tour picnics, whenever possible we include locally grown fruits, regional cheeses and other products, since they are fresher, tastier and do not require long-distance transportation. In our office we do our best to reduce our waste: we send information electronically, recycle our paper, use energy efficient lamps, save water and electricity as much as possible, keep warm via exercice, wearing extra clothes and using less heating. And we even compost our kitchen scraps. We also try to minimize the use of throw away plastics, batteries and other polluting and energy consuming materials.
By leading our tours through rural communities we hope to bring local villages both economic wealth and support. We also donate a part of our profits to important local projects such as the esteemed L.P.N. (Nature Protection League), in Iberia. Presently, we are supporting the L.P.N. project to save the Iberic Tower Falcon (falco naumanni) from extintion.
Terracotta Journeys - Officially Licensed Tour Operator (Alvará 44/2008)
