Douro River Cruise

River cruise with wine tasting and sightseeing

We fly to Portugal via Amsterdam to join our friends Pete and Yvonne in Porto for a cruise to Salamanca in Spain, hopefully with good weather, taking in the sights with good food and wine and generally catching up.

Update

The boat, Emerald Radiance, was superb along with the crew and the food. The weather was kind to us, only raining on the day we disembarked. The scenery on the trip is amazing but there isn’t a great deal to do on the tours but each of them did something different. I guess that the highlights of the trip were visiting Salamanca and relaxing watching the scenery go by. It was lovely catching up with our friends and it seemed to pass very quickly.

Day 1 – Porto

Welcome to Porto, today we join our boat, Emerald Radiance. We’ve been on several Emerald Star Ship boats so it will be interesting to see how this one compares. This evening we’ll join our fellow guests for dinner on board and as it’s free seating we get to mix.

Day 2 – Porto – Pinhão

Today we relax on board and enjoy a full day of sailing through the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Douro Valley. This fascinating area is celebrated because it builds on two millennia of wine producing history, where viticulture has shaped the surrounding landscape and small, sleepy villages are peppered with dozens of sun-drenched vineyards. Once we arrived in Pinhao we had a quick walk around the town, which was holding a fiesta with marching bands, fun fair and a steam train. Tonight, it’s the official welcome dinner and cocktail reception so on with the finery but there is the small matter of the Euros final so they’ve kindly moved the meal forward.

Day 3 – Pinhão – Vega de Terrón

After the disappointment of the Euros, today we start with a visit to the beautiful Quinta do Tedo vineyard in the heart of Portugal’s Douro Valley, nestled on the confluence of the Douro and Tedo rivers. This 18th-century estate is environmentally sound, creating organic produce by using traditional viticulture methods.
This afternoon, we enjoy sailing to Vega de Terrón, relaxing on the Sun Deck and then in the evening we’ve been invited to join the captain for dinner.

Day 4 – Vega de Terrón – Salamanca

Founded in Roman times, the ancient city of Salamanca and its UNESCO World Heritage-listed Old Quarter have an illustrious past, having been held by the Carthaginians, Romans, and Moors. We travel to the beautiful ‘Golden City’ for a walking tour, which includes exploring the postcard-worthy galleries and arcades that adorn Plaza Mayor. We also get to see Casa de las Conchas, a building that has been lovingly decorated with more than 300 shells, and Salamanca’s university, one of the oldest universities in Europe that dates back to 1218.

Day 5 – Pocinho – Régua

This morning, we arrive in Pocinho where we are due to visit the Côa Valley Museum which is all to do with ancient etchings that have been found in the area.
Unfortunately due to late night shenanigans at the open air disco on the top deck last night we have decided to give it a miss and chill out.
Later, after a BBQ lunch on the top deck, we have a Port wine cocktail lesson on board as we sail towards Régua.

This evening, we have dinner in the wine cellars at a Quinta surrounded by millions of pounds of wine in barrels that are 30,000 litres and is one of the highlights of the trip.

Day 6 – Régua

On today’s excursion, we visit the marvellous Baroque village of Lamego, stopping to see the picturesque Shrine of Our Lady of Remedies, a structure that stands gracefully over the town. We then enjoyed an invigorating walk down the 686 steps from the Sanctuary to the main square passing a local market on the way.

Day 7 – Porto

Located at the mouth of the Douro River, Porto is a fascinating and eclectic mix of modern and ancient architecture. Famous for its export of Port wines, it’s easy to imagine how British merchant ships would have once clustered together in the medieval harbour, waiting to take their produce across the water.
The tour of the coastal city sees the fortified structures of Castelo da Foz and Castelo do Queijo, a building whose pentagonal façades overlook the ocean. There is also a memorial to some of the famous drivers who raced here

The old town

After this we head off to the old part of the town, the station is pretty special and of course there’s the Harry Potter book shop if you want to queue for an hour. A leisurely stroll back to the boat down the Flower Road worked up a thirst so a pit stop was necessary for our final lunch on board.

Porto from the river

A short cruise along the Douro to see Porto from the water with a little spot of bridge spotting, one of which was designed by same guy as Eiffel Tower.