Senderos y Pueblos

Reseñas

the overall experience that AFTC provide is by far the best we have experienced from any biking travel company.

This new route from AFTC is exceptional! The hard work and attention to detail that they have obviously put into developing this route, resulted in a faultless, wonderful experience for us in a fascinating part of Spain…. And a little bit of Portugal thrown in as well!

The Galician Paradors route was our eleventh trip with Away From the Crowds and it was right up there as one of the best. The combination of the amazing Paradors, beautiful and tranquil routes, abundance of quality Seafood and top-quality Albariño wine made it a really memorable trip.

We booked the extra night in A Guarda. We will never forget the stunning views from the hill-top hotel that AFTC selected for this extra night.

After eleven years of booking Away from the Crowds cycle trips, we were delighted with the quality of this new route. Having been lucky to experience many bike holidays, the overall experience that AFTC provide is by far the best we have experienced from any biking travel company.

Ged & Audrey Bell, Broughty Ferry, Scotland

¡Muchas gracias, amigos! It's always such a pleasure to host you, Ged & Audrey! Your enthusiasm is contagious! We look forward to having you back for route number 12!!

Jaime and Gaynor, Aftc

Our Parador tour of Galicia with Away from the crowds was one of the best vacations of our lives!

Our Parador tour of Galicia with Away from the crowds was one of the best vacations of our lives!

Every last detail, from the Parador stays to the stops along the route for coffee, was thoughtfully and carefully planned.

They took all the guesswork out of the cycling, preparing us for busy roads, steep hills, and uneven terrain.

It is clear that they personally vetted the route they planned, and even recommended memorable stops like Adegas Fillaboa. Fillaboa was hands down our favorite!

They were also prompt to respond when we had any doubts leading up to and on our trip.

Cycling through Galicia was an unforgettable experience - without Aftc we would have never known to visit such gems as Tui, Pontevedra, Baiona, A Guarda, O Grove, and Cambados!

If anything, our complaint was that we wished we had more time getting to know each town we were spending the night! If we could go back and do it again, I think we would have spent the extra night in A Guarda.

We would highly recommend booking your next trip through them.

Thank you so much for everything!

Maria Abdo & Trey Rebman, Margarita & Miguel Abdo, Boston, MA, USA.

¡Muchas gracias, Maria! We're delighted to hear that you all enjoyed your holiday so much! You'll just have to do it again next year with some extra nights thrown in!

Gaynor, Aftc

The tour was as good as we expected from AFTC, however I sense an added sense of exhilaration this week!

...a fabulous addition to your itineraries and your administration and organisation has again been superb, and your responsiveness during the trip was really fantastic. Really thrilled with your new route, today was also fantastic. The tour was as good as we expected from AFTC, however I sense an added sense of exhilaration this week!

Gerard and Susan Daly, Dublin, Ireland.

Thank you for all your fabulous feedback! It's always a pleasure to host you all, nuestros amigos!

The ride was fantastic!

The ride was fantastic! We lucked out on the weather from cold to hot but all dry.

The Paradors were as always very nice. I have stayed in more than 30 different ones.

My bike was great. My son's bike had fewer gears and was heavier. I thought about asking for a different bike but he's a strong rider so we just made do.

Ride with GPS is the very best. I remember what it was like riding with paper maps!

I'm 78 years old and this was my 23rd ride in Spain. Not done yet!

William Day

Indiana, USA

And 13 of those you've done with Aftc! We look forward to you returning for your next adventure, Bill!

the comfort and charm of the Paradors

A very rewarding cycling trip which we enjoyed a lot for the beauty of the nature and scenery not to mention the comfort and charm of the Paradors.

Philippe and Susan Gueunet, the Netherlands

¡Muchas gracias, Philippe and Susan! It was a pleasure to host you for your first trip with us!

Gaynor, Aftc

a Great Trip and a credit to you and your team.

The bike handover and pickup was excellent - lovely family - the e-bikes were fun (we have ridden Bosch powered e-bikes before but these were our first Bafangs) - they just about drove themselves once you got going!

The route itself (the itinerary) was a real joy - well done - a great mix of Camino and pilgrims versus the coastline, sea etc.

We used the route notes - excellent backup to the GPS, and great briefing over breakfast and bedtime reading.

In summary, a Great Trip and a credit to you and your team.

Alistair, Diane and Joanna Thomson, Aukland, Australia

A pleasure to host you again on your fourth Aftc adventure!

Gaynor, Aftc

The Galician river and coastal landscape was spectacular.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Galicia cycling holiday, which we experienced back-to-back with Aftc’s walking holiday in Somiedo. The Galician river and coastal landscape was spectacular. The weather during the first week of June was hot and sunny – perhaps warmer than usual. Some days there were strong Atlantic headwinds.

The bike handover and briefing were excellent. The bikes worked well after some running repairs in the Tui bike shop at the start of the second day.

All the Paradors, each in a superb historic building, were remarkable.

The optional night at A Guarda (ferried up the mountain by Aftc taxi) was definitely worthwhile, splitting a long ride (71.6km) and allowing sufficient time the next day to really enjoy the trip along the coast to Baiona. The quirky non-Parador hilltop hotel had a fabulous setting, our room had a stunning view over the estuary, and supper and breakfast were simple but good. The descent in the morning was an adventurous swoop!

We hadn’t fully appreciated that this, unusually for Aftc, was a paper-free, digital-only route. Being among the older cohort of Aftc clients (75 and 80 years old), we are very keen on maps and all the additional contextual information that they offer. We agreed a compromise, but the last-minute arrangements didn’t quite work out.

Adam and Jane Mills, Cambridge, UK

Thanks for your feedback, Adam and Jane! We're delighted that you enjoyed our new route in gorgeous Galicia! It's tricky catering for those who prefer digital GPS navigation along with those who prefer traditional paper, like yourselves! We're ironing out the glitches with the app so that the print out option is easily available in future. Thanks!

Gaynor, Aftc

And the routes were easy to follow using the app.

Holiday was great, each day was a nice length with not too much climbing, so we had a relaxed pace.

Overall, the holiday was great and I would recommend it for anyone of reasonable fitness. It was very enjoyable - lovely scenery at an easy pace along quiet roads and tracks with a nice hotel to look forward at the end of each day's cycling. And the routes were easy to follow using the app.

Rhys & Anne Edwards, Dublin, Ireland

Muchas gracias Anne and Rhys, we're delighted you had a great holiday!

Gaynor, Aftc

There's an abundance of wildlife there. We even spotted a firecrest!

The Paradors we're absolutely incredible and exceeded our expectations. We especially loved the Parador in Tui and in Baiona. We wished we could have spent few more days in Baiona and Pontevedra.

The app worked well, but my phone shut down a couple of times due to heat.

The route was good. We followed a suggestion on the third day to follow the cycle path on the Portuguese side all the way to Caminha and to take a taxi boat back to Spain from there (it was a Sunday and we paid 7 euro per person). We loved that route.

Evening stroll along the river in Tui was magical. There's an abundance of wildlife there. We even spotted a firecrest!

Thank you for organising our lovely holidays, we really enjoyed it!

Marlena Chmielewska & Brian Connolly, Dublin, Ireland

Thank you Marlena! Yes, the new phone holders are ideal to protect your mobile from the rain but we recommend turning off the screen where possible and activating the audio signals to prevent the phone from over-heating! Thanks for choosing to travel with Aftc!

Gaynor, Aftc

The food was great in Galicia - lots of wonderful seafood - and Albariño wine!

We loved this bike route! Much of it was either on bike paths or on quiet rural roads, as well as some interesting off-road tracks. There was not much on busy roads, so it was perfect. I would very much recommend it, it was one of the best ones we’ve done so far.

The bikes were very good and suitable for the varied terrain the bikes were used on.

The route around Illa de Arousa was ideal for an easy day. We wanted a day in the middle of the tour to relax, so it was fine for a gentle cycle, stopping to swim at a couple of places!

The route notes were good and ... The navigation on the app routes worked well, we only took a few wrong turns!

The food was great in Galicia - lots of wonderful seafood - and Albariño wine!

Makes me happy just remembering these places. Thank you so much for organising a great trip!

Simon Wood & Debbie Parker, Sheffield, UK

Thanks for your positive feedback, Simon and Debbie. Yes, the food and wine on this tour are real highlights, along with the fabulous hotels!

Gaynor, Aftc

The cycling is a great way of appreciating what Galicia’s Atlantic coast has to offer

The cycling is a great way of appreciating what Galicia’s Atlantic coast has to offer, while the Paradores make sure you do so in comfort.

All Paradores were lovely, with excellent facilities, along with friendly and professional staff. Perhaps the nicest setting was Baiona, while our favourite location was Cambados (and not just because of the wine festival!).

Route notes were certainly helpful as a backup and became essential when my phone overheated!

We had a great time, and have many fond memories to look back on.

Cyril and Dierdre Kirwan, Dublin, Ireland.

¡Muchas gracias, amigos! We recommend turning off the screen on your mobile and just activating the audio on RWGPS, particularly in the more straight forward sections of the route. This helps to stop the phone from overheating. You can also request a simple silicone phone holder rather than the bag (if there's no rain forecast!). We hope to see you again for route number 5 next year!

Aftc team

Compensación de huella de CO₂