Day 1 – Santo Tirso

Join your tour group at the hotel in Santo Tirso.

Day 2 – Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia

This morning, we travel to Porto for a guided tour of the city that lends its name to both the country and the wine. Although it’s Lisbon that often steals the limelight, Portugal’s second city is in no way second best. On the banks of the river Douro (gold river), Porto is a treasure of a city – historical, charismatic, and eclectic, where forget-me-not-blue tiled façades rub shoulders with colourful street art. We explore pockets of old Porto (including the cathedral) and UNESCO-listed Ribeira, the riverfront historic quarter lined with painted townhouses, jumbled cobbled alleyways, and grand neoclassical buildings. In the afternoon, when the sun is firmly over the yard arm, we cross the river to Vila Nova de Gaia, the centre of Portugal’s port industry. Tawny, ruby, vintage, white, all the ports in the country come to Gaia to mature in the riverside cellars. There are 60 wine lodges in total, with names familiar to anyone who’s ever perused the top shelf of a British pub, including Taylor’s and Graham’s. We visit a wine lodge to learn about the history, processes, and production.

Day 3 – Amarante – Lamego – Tabuaço

Travelling inland towards the heart of the Douro Region, we make some spectacular stops along the way. We’ll visit Quinta da Aveleda to see this renowned wine estate, before heading to the honey-coloured medieval town of Amarante. Built on a 4th-century BC Roman settlement on the green banks of the River Tâmega, there’s time to walk across the Ponte São Gonçal bridge, where heroic locals fought off the French in the Napoleonic wars, and shop for souvenirs, embroidery, and linens in the main street. Driving into the vine-covered hills of the Douro Alto, we stop for a guided walk of the medieval town of Lamego. Like much of Europe’s Russian Doll architecture, with churches built on temples and palaces built on forts, Lamego fell in and out of Muslim and Christian control. The effects of which we see in the Moorish castle, the Gothic cathedral, and the Renaissance villas. The jewel in the crown is the Nossa Senhora dos Rémedios, a beautiful rococo and baroque church with sweeping steps decked in azulejos (Portuguese tiles). We then continue to our hotel in Tabuaço, a village surrounded by the terraces, vines, and slopes of the Douro Valley.

Day 4 – Douro River Cruise – Pinhão

We head to Pinhão, a pretty village on the curve of the river, where there’s time to explore independently and grab some lunch before boarding our river cruise. Draped across the riverbanks like a patchwork emerald quilt, we spend a lazy afternoon sipping wine and cruising past the pine forests and wine terraces of the Douro Region, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with an excellent vintage, boasting over 2,000 years of winemaking. On our way back, we’ll make a stop at the Quinta de São Luiz for the chance to taste some of their products.

Day 5 – Régua – Pocinho – Vila Real

There are few experiences more idyllic than drinking wine in the sun-drenched vineyards of the Douro Valley. But the area has even more in its wheelhouse, including its scenic railway. Leaving the town of Régua, we trundle our way through the valley as the landscape reveals perfectly plaited vineyards dotted with cypress trees and whitewashed quintas. Disembarking in Pocinho, we travel through pretty medieval villages to Vila Real.

Day 6 – Vila Real

Today is at leisure to enjoy the hotel facilities. Or you can choose to take an optional tour to Aveiro, known as ‘the Venice of Portugal’. This charming city is next to the sea and is crossed by four canals, as well as featuring beautiful Art Nouveau-style buildings. You’ll explore the history of the palheiros – traditional houses built in this coastal region of Portugal that were designed to provide shelter for fishermen.

Day 7 – Vila Real

Today is free, or you can choose an optional excursion to Vila Real’s stunning Palacio do Mateus. A near-perfect example of baroque architecture, if the ornate balustrade and elaborate spires look familiar, it’s because you’ve been eyeing up too many bottles of rosé. The palace image features on the distinctive flask-shaped bottles of Mateus wine. You’ll continue to the Quinta da Pacheca for a guided tour and wine tasting experience.

Day 8 – Carvalhal

Say goodbye to your tour group for your onward travel.