✅Douro Province is one of Portugal’s most popular tourist destinations.
Its most important features is northern Portugal’s longest river, the Douro, winding its way through dramatic gorges, past mountains, sensational cliffs and steep, terraced hillside vineyards that produce the area’s famous Port wine. A host of small towns and villages, as well as medieval castles, are dotted throughout the region.
Our first stop will be Amarante, which we’ll reach through a scenic ride, hugging the ravine of the Rio Tâmega and where you can render homage to Amarante pastries and sweet delicacies – you can have the best view of this part of town and the beautiful 18th C. bridge over the Rio Tâmega.
Régua is a pretty little town situated at the point where the little rivers Corgo (right bank) and Baroso (left bank) flow into the Douro. Physically an area rich in lush vegetation and landscape, surrounded by vineyards that produce world famous port wines. All the river Douro cruises and trips stop at Regua and the barcos rabelos boats are often moored at the riverside.
There are a wide range of quintas around the town that offer wine tasting tours making the town a good stopping off point on the Port Wine Route.
Pinhao is another base in the Douro valley where port dominates its culture. There are several quintas around the town that can be explored to find a port to suit you. The town lies at the base of hillsides covered in vines and spectacularly located at the confluence of the Douro and Pinhão rivers.
Next is Vila Mateus, home to the world-famous rosé wine. Mateus is a village which owes its fame to the manor Solar de Mateus, considered to be a perfect example of Portuguese Baroque and "the most fantastic country house in Portugal", world-famous for being featured on the label of Mateus Rosé wine.ce) and the historical city favourite, tripe ‘à moda do Porto’. And you can take advantage of this stop to take a 50 minutes mini cruise on Douro river.
