Dolphin Trail

Arrive in Lisbon and transfer at 5:30pm. You will be driven south approximately 100 km to the region of Grândola and your accommodations, a rural hotel in the typical “Alentajana” architecture. Enjoy the comforts of this modern and charming guest house, including having a swim in the pool before enjoying dinner and retiring for the evening.

Ride through the hills in forests of cork and pine, noticing your Lusitano horse’s wonderful character and sure-footedness. Stop for a delicious picnic lunch of grilled meats or fish, along with salad, fresh bread and local wine. This afternoon enjoy a few more canters on sandy tracks as you continue towards the horses’ stable, passing briefly through the local villages. After settling the horses for their evening, you will be driven about 30 minutes to your new accommodations, a modern, luxury hotel. Here you can also enjoy the pool and comfortable rooms before having dinner.

Today you will traverse forests of eucalyptus, enjoying their distinctive perfume and hearing the sound of the bark crunching beneath the horses’ hooves. Stop for lunch near a large reservoir and enjoy another refreshing lunch and siesta. Bring your swimming suit along if you’d like a swim in the reservoir. After mounting back up, you’ll have the opportunity for a few more fast canters on your way back to the stable. Dinner and overnight as previous.

Today is a half day of riding, and depending on the weather you will be transferred either in the morning or afternoon about 30 minutes to the north to the Sado River where you will enjoy a two hour boat trip to see the dolphins in the estuary. Dolphin sightings can not be guaranteed, but are very likely. Lunch is a picnic today, and the ride explores sandy trails through fields and forests, allowing for several long canters. You will pass the Santa Andre Lagoon, which may have flamingos and storks, and rice fields with a rich green color in late summer.
Dinner and overnight in different accommodations tonight, a larger three star hotel.

This morning you will ride from your hotel to the beach. Between June and mid-September this is an early ride to avoid the other holiday makers on the beach. It’s beautiful to watch the sun rise over the dunes before enjoying the beach riding with possibilities of canters. Your picnic lunch is served under the shade of pine trees and you can swim in the ocean afterwards. Continue your ride through the dunes in the afternoon and return home to your hotel, where you spend the night as previous after dinner in a local restaurant.

Ride today back toward Grândola with more opportunities for faster riding. Ride through pine forests where red earth paths alternate with those of sand and you may meet herds or cows or sheep tended by shepherds. Return back to your first accommodations and enjoy a refreshing swim before enjoying dinner and overnight.

The group will ride today by the Sierra of Grândola through a rolling landscape of picturesque villages. Stop for a final picnic on the trail and you and your horse can both enjoy a siesta. Your ride this afternoon will take you back to your hotel where you say goodbye to your horses. Enjoy your farewell dinner and final night in Portugal.

After breakfast, transfer back to Lisbon for your departing flights.