When I wrote this one down, I imagined myself floating down the Douro River on a fancy schmancy river boat for 7 days of good food and lots of wine. Slight hiccup - the bank balance said no. Plan B, a day trip to the Douro Valley, short river cruise included.
And so it was on a recent visit to Porto that I booked a day trip to the Douro Valley for the much more realistic price of £70. Sunny day dawned as I boarded the bus and stopped myself from grabbing the mic and strapping into the jump seat. Not working today Jules, sit back and relax. Pesky passengers (never), not your problem.
Off we went - no safety speech, but a very personable guide - Paulo and our driver Julio. 1st stop, toilets. Of course, one of those ubiquitous rest stops with (mostly) clean toilets and overpriced coffee. Over some mountains, through a 5.7km tunnel (the longest in the Iberian Peninsula and there we were, surrounded by lush green valleys, terraces and vineyards. Gorgeous. Spectacular. All the words. The oldest wine DOC area in the world - 1756 and a UNESCO site.
Our first stop the town of Pinhao. We visited Quinta do Roeda home to the Crofts winery (1558). Words can't do justice to the views. A place where grapes live better lives than most humans. These grapes are pampered, massaged by sunshine, fanned by river breezes, and perched on steep terraces. As for the Douro River? She’s the glamorous diva of the valley, shimmering dramatically and insisting that every photo be taken from her good side - and they are all her good side.
Meanwhile, the winemakers stroll around like wizards who’ve mastered the ancient art of turning grape juice into “I suddenly love everyone at this table.” Port wine especially feels like it was invented by someone who thought, “What if wine… but more.”
After a stroll around wowing around every corner and learning a little along the way, it was time for the tasting. Very generous, a little rushed but good fun. By then I'd met up with a lovely dad and daughter and another young girl, from the US (Mark, Katy and Maria).
Time to board our boat for a one hour cruise along the Douro. We glided along with a bit of harmless flirting and several glasses of wine. Again the scenery was spectacular and one day I will do a longer cruise. All to soon, we were back on board the bus to our next destination - Quinta da Mattos. Here we had a delicious lunch of carrot soup, salad, pork and risotto and a brownie. And of course wine. After that our funny guide gave us a quick tour and plied us with more port tastings.
Final stop was the pretty town of Amarante. This time, just a walk and a coffee. No more wine required. The drive back to Porto was spent chatting and laughing - that's what wine will do. All up, a fabulous day tour and I will definitely return.
In short: the Douro is where grapes become legends, humans go to become pleasantly tipsy, and everyone goes home with 200 photos of hills and valleys that all look identical but swear each one is “totally different.” At least that's what they looked like when I was taking them. Obrigada Living Tours 10/10.
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