Portugal
The Douro, Porto to Salamanca
8 days
The Douro has carried terraced vines since 1756, when it became the first demarcated wine region in the world. The terraces are human work, wall by wall, on slopes of forty degrees. You travel it by road, by train and by boat, and all three are worth it.
Day by day
Day 01 · Porto
Arrival and an afternoon in the Ribeira. Dinner looking back at the river from the far bank.
Day 02 · Porto
The Lello bookshop, São Bento and the church of São Francisco. In the afternoon, two port lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia, where all of it ages.
Day 03 · Amarante / Régua
Inland. Into the demarcated region and the first quinta, with a tasting and lunch among the vines.
Day 04 · Pinhão
A stretch by train along the river bank, right at the water’s edge and one of the finest rail journeys in Europe. The tiled station at Pinhão.
Day 05 · Douro Valley
A day of quintas: one large, one family-run where the grapes are still trodden by foot in a lagar. A short trip on a rabelo boat in the afternoon.
Day 06 · Foz Côa
The Côa valley holds open-air Palaeolithic engravings twenty-five thousand years old, found because a dam was about to be built on top of them. Visited by 4×4 with a guide.
Day 07 · Salamanca
Across the border at Barca de Alva. The afternoon in the Plaza Mayor and the old cathedral.
Day 08 · Salamanca
The university, the Casa de las Conchas, and the journey home, or a connection from Madrid.
Usually includes
- Private transfers and the train section along the valley
- Tastings and meals at selected quintas, some of them not open to the public
- Accommodation in quintas and wine hotels in the valley itself
- Breakfasts and the meals at the estates
- The guided 4×4 visit to the Côa archaeological park
- A travel document with every detail and a direct phone number
This trip, your way
Length
8 days
Route
Porto · Peso da Régua · Pinhão · Douro Valley · Foz Côa · Salamanca
Format
Private and tailor-made, on your dates
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