Today you’ll arrive in Lisbon and be picked up by your hosts at 5:30pm. You will travel roughly 135 kilometres south to the town of Melides, where you’ll have time to settle into your room at Hotel Vila Park, a quaint country hotel. Later, at dinner, you will be introduced to your guide and learn all about what the next week has in store for you. Make sure you get a good sleep tonight, globetrotters – tomorrow is a big day!

Today, after the first of many satisfying breakfasts that typically include freshly baked pastries, fresh fruit, still-warm bread, local honey and homemade jam, you’ll meet your Lusitano horses! Well-schooled, responsive and with a naturally proud head carriage, these powerful steeds will have you feeling like Portuguese royalty as you ride towards the sea. Between June 1st and September 15th, this ride begins at dawn to avoid the holiday crowds on the beach. It’s a beautiful ride at first light, and you’ll get to watch as the sun rises over the dunes. If everyone is comfortable and secure on their horses, you may even have the opportunity to enjoy a beach canter or gallop!

Turning away from the waves, you’ll come to a lovely picnic spot in a pine forest at the edge of the dunes. Here your horses will rest while you take a siesta or swim in the sea, and later enjoy the first of many delicious picnics of grilled meats or fish, salad, freshly baked bread and local wine. After lunch, you’ll ride through the dunes and return to Hotel Vila Park. For dinner, you’ll be escorted to a local Portuguese restaurant to enjoy fresh, seasonal cuisine.

Today you’ll leave Melides and ride in the direction of Santiago do Cacém, past the Santo André Lagoon. The largest lagoon in the Alentejo region, it boasts a diverse range of ecosystems, from marshes to sprawling reed beds to willow forests, and is home to over 240 bird species. As you ride, you may catch glimpses of flamingos, storks, red herons, reed warblers and coots, among others. You’ll then pass a long stretch of rice fields, which in late summer prior to harvest are an astonishing shade of green. Your daily picnic lunch of meats, salad, bread and wine will be served in a shady pine forest.

After lunch you’ll continue towards the riding centre where the horses will be stabled. A 30 minute transfer then brings you to your modern and comfortable hotel, Quinta de Malmedra, where you will be served dinner before resting up for the next day’s ride.

Today, after enjoying the usual delightful breakfast, you’ll continue riding south towards the small town of Cercal, with the sea always in sight. From Cercal, your Lusitano steed will bring you up a nearby mountain and through one of the last unexploited regions of Portugal, a ‘montado’. Montados are a unique type of ecosystem characterised by cork oak forests, scattered pine trees and diverse animal species – including livestock, honey bees, rare birds and, rumour has it, the Iberian bobcat.

In the afternoon you’ll arrive at your accommodation, Casas Verdemar. This is a beautifully renovated tavern with individual rooms and cottages dotted around the gardens. Take a dip in the pool if you so choose, or relax in the shade of the fruit trees and enjoy the countryside. Your meals can be enjoyed either on the veranda or in the dining room. Your hosts are antiques restoration specialist Christine Nijhoff and artist and cook Nuno Vilas Boas Lebreiro (don’t worry, you can call him Nuno!).

Today you’ll tack up early for a morning ride, exploring the fields around the farm and the trails through the mountains surrounding Cercal. More cork forests, postcard-worthy farming scenes and coastal vistas await on this leisurely ride. In the afternoon you’re invited to visit the fishing village of Vila Nova de Milfontes, which is a popular seaside resort in the summer months. You’ll be free to spend some time shopping, sightseeing or relaxing on the beach before returning to your hosts at Casas Verdemar for dinner.

Today, after breakfast, you’ll ride once more into the mountains of Cercal, exploring a new region close to Campilhas dam. This man-made lake has become a hot-spot for local wildlife and is the perfect place to cool off in the water before tucking in to lunch. The scenery today offers stunning contrasts between sloping mountains, shady valleys and beautiful freshwater ecosystems. After feeling the wind in your hair with some nice long trots and canters, you’ll make your way back to Casas Verdemar. Relax and enjoy the quiet of a typical ‘monte alentejano’ (rural Alentejan property) as the sun sinks in the sky, or treat yourself to another dip in the pool before sitting down to a satisfying Portuguese dinner.

Your last day in the saddle is here, and you’ll really get to make the most of it as you ride ever further into the mountains of Cercal. There will be plenty of opportunities to trot and canter as you enjoy your time with the Lusitano horses who have carried you on your Portuguese adventure. Along the way, you’ll visit the chapel of Nossa Senhora das Neves, which boasts a spectacular vista over the surrounding region. After another delicious lunch, you’ll ride back to Casa Verdemar, where you’ll say a fond farewell to your horses and enjoy one last Portuguese feast before retiring to bed, where you’ll no doubt dream of the past week’s pleasures.

After breakfast you will be transferred back to Lisbon Airport for onward travel. Please don’t book departing flights until after 12 midday (1pm or later is preferred).

Globetrotting is happy to provide a competitive quote on international flights, travel insurance, car hire and hotels before and after your ride.