Look at those cobblestones? Isn't the design amazing?

A few options from Lisbon. Train or cycle. We can chat about that. Nice scenery.

Brent,

I would love to hear more. Jacinto is now thinking of starting at Lisbon because of better tickets. But we will work our way north. Please email your phone number to: Kelly.iniguez@gmail

Talk to you soon! What time zone are you in?

Both in 2017 and this year we cycled along the south side of the Douro, so I cannot comment on the north side. There are places with traffic, yes, and particularly around Pinhao many are gawking at the beauty. Just before Pinhao you veer away from the river and you have other options to stay off of the busier roads - and hilly. After Pocinho you can ride the rail-trail (Sabor) which is AMAZING, though would be a long gentle uphill since you'd be heading east. The roads there are very quiet, too. This past spring on my Tour 23 I rode along the Douro from Spain and found very quiet roads. Again, many options for VERY quiet roads.
I would have to say again that the most beautiful route I have toured is the Douro.
As an aside, there is a great B&B along that route not far from Pinhao, though it is somewhat of a climb to get to it. In the village of Valenca do Douro there is a B&B called Casa Cimeira. Sometimes it is on the booking sites but sometimes you have to go to their website. The price is reasonable, the place is beautiful, there is a dinner option where you dine with the other guests all around one table after first meeting in their bar area. And they treat you like gold. Highly recommended. From there you can go back down to the river to continue your route, or head east from there toward Pocinho and points east.
I have kind of rambled along here but I hope I have been helpful. If you wish I could give you a number where you could call and we could chat if you prefer.

Brent,

I am researching our 2024 tour. Tentatively, we are interested in riding from Porto to Frankfurt. I was thinking to ride along the Duoro River as far as we could, then head north of Madrid, but not on the coast, towards Pamplona. I see the Grampies were discouraged from doing this by the author of a guide book, who said it wouldn't be pleasant riding, with all of the motor traffic of people exploring the wine route.

What do you think? I understand we will have climbing. We enjoy deserted roads. The kind with no center line is best. Do you have an opinion about my route idea, or options? Another thought we had was to start in Barcelona/Valencia/Madrid, and go from there to Frankfurt. But, we wanted to see more of Portugal and Spain to the north, as we've seen the south.

Thank you for any help.