Day 56: Vila Chã to Praia de Mira | 117km
27 July 2026
I left the campsite a little before 7 to beat the expected heat, which thankfully never surpassed 32 degrees despite forecasts of much higher temperatures. My breakfast was nothing to brag about, a store-bought garlic bread and two overly sweet almond croissants, sort of, but it would have to do as fuel for the next couple of hours. I would’ve loved to explore Porto further, but I passed the city first thing in the morning and was worried about getting caught in the heat if I lingered, so I continued along the coast.
After crossing a 2km boardwalk, which made my bike sound like an instrument as I rolled over all the planks, I finally made it to a bike path that I could follow for the majority of the ride. The relief of rolling over smooth pavement never gets old, but especially not after worrying that the broken planks would cause a flat tire or, worse, make me fall over the railing and into the semi-swamp below. The hours went by fairly quickly, and I kept a relentless pace. There wasn’t really a need for me to bike that fast, but I enjoyed the challenge of keeping a higher average speed today. The fact that it was flat almost all day made that a lot easier.
90km in, I arrived in São Jacinto, where I had to wait for a ferry to take me across the narrow body of water and continue along the Atlantic coast towards my final destination. My stomach was growling loudly at this point, so on the tiny ferry, I looked up a restaurant nearby and headed there immediately after crossing. For ten euros, I indulged in a large portion of rice and incredibly tender pork with a side salad, bread, olives and a large beer. I don’t usually drink that much beer, but over the past week I’ve immensely enjoyed having one with lunch or dinner. As I’m slowly approaching the end of the adventure, I guess I’m trying to see it more as a vacation, which it hasn’t felt like at all.
Despite covering a fair amount of ground today as well, my motivation continues to be low. For two days now, I’ve just been going through the motions, feeling detached and unexcited about the places I pass. It certainly has nothing to do with the landscape, which is beautiful, but more with my current mental space and perhaps where I am in the bigger picture.
I found another campsite close to the beach, which I suspect I’ll continue doing until the end. I had a tuna sandwich, a banana and an apple for dinner, after which I headed to the beach to watch the sunset and take some photos. The beaches here are vast, and it truly feels like you can sit and stare into the horizon, watching people surf or relax for hours.
As I sat on a rock formation right by the water, looking out towards the fading sun, I noticed more and more fins coming out of the water. I blinked quickly to clear my vision, but they did not deceive me. One after another, dolphins came out of the water, showing their curved backs and grey fins in the now-orange water. I’ve only seen dolphins one or two times before, so to see them like this felt like a gift.
More than anything, it felt like a reminder to continue to stop and look around me while I’m passing this long coast. For the past few days, I’ve been struggling to stay present and find much motivation in the riding, but here I was, sitting on a rock watching dolphins, completely unable to keep pedalling or think about how much further I had to go. They had, in a way, forced me to stop and pay attention. It would be such a shame to conclude this trip without having a proper look at Portugal, because the chances I’ll ever bike through this country again are extremely low.