Happy Sunday, all! I hope you enjoyed my last post about our trip to Porto. (If you missed it, click here to check it out!) Of all the amazing experiences we had in Porto, my favourite was our full-day wine tour to the beautiful Douro Valley region. If you’re a regular reader, you know that there’s nothing I love more than a good winery tour – whether I’m in Ontario or anywhere else in the world! So when I learned that the Douro Valley – one of the world’s oldest wine regions – was just a 1 1/2 hour drive from Porto, I knew we had to save time for a visit.
There are several different tour companies that offer day trips from Porto to the Douro Valley, and you can browse different options on sites like Viator and Get Your Guide. The tours can all appear quite similar in terms of price and what’s offered – most run 8-10 hours, include lunch and two winery visits – but there are some key differences between them, so be sure to read the itineraries carefully. We chose this tour by EFun Tours because…
- The reviews are excellent – it’s recommended by 97% of travelers.
- The tour departs at the reasonable time of 8:30 a.m. (some other tours left at 7:30 or earlier) and the pickup point was just a 5-minute walk from our hotel.
- It includes an hour-long river cruise, which isn’t offered on every tour – and we definitely wanted to experience that!
- The review photos were absolutely gorgeous! Some tour companies pick prettier wineries than others, so I always recommend looking at real photos from other travellers before booking anything.
We arrived at the meeting point – Igreja da Lapa – at 8:20 a.m. There were a few different tour buses waiting, but not to worry – the guides all have lists of names to make sure you get on the right bus! Our group was probably around 15 people total, which was the perfect size.
As we drove out of Porto, our tour guide Rita pointed out various landmarks and gave us a history on the Douro Valley wine region. She was awesome and made the day so much fun!
The views from the bus were stunning. I was a bit worried about the weather, but it cleared up and ended up being a beautiful sunny day.
After about 1 1/2 hours of driving, we stopped at a little café in Sabrosa so everyone could grab a coffee and pastry. Note: while EFun tries their best to include this stop on their tours, it’s time-permitting and not guaranteed. So I’d recommend having breakfast before the tour, or if you’re like me and can’t eat that early in the morning, be sure to bring snacks with you. Otherwise, the first thing you consume that morning will be a glass of port wine (I mean, why not… but still… always good to have some sort of solid food!)
At 10:15, we arrived at our first winery stop: Casa dos Barros. This charming vineyard surrounds a gorgeous 18th century manor house that doubles as a boutique hotel. Would love to stay here one day!
After a brief peek inside the house, we headed down to the wine cellar for a port wine tasting. Port wine is definitely an acquired taste – it’s very sweet and deceptively strong. Personally, I love dessert wines (I grew up sneaking sips of my grandma’s Niagara ice wine) so I was a big fan!
Just after 11 a.m., we headed out to the garden for an early lunch. The patio has the prettiest view of the vineyards!
Lunch was served outdoors under a canopy and included salad, a main course, and a chocolate brownie for dessert. I chose the pork and risotto for my main; the other option was Bacalhau à Brás (a traditional Portuguese dish that’s basically like a codfish hashbrown) and they offer a vegetarian option as well.
Wine was flowing freely throughout lunch… Rita jokingly (or not!) encouraged everyone to ask for a new bottle just before leaving, so we could take the leftovers on the boat cruise.
At 12:15, we were back on the bus headed to our next stop – the pretty village of Pinhão – via National Road 222, widely considered one of the most beautiful scenic roads in Portugal, if not the world. Fair warning: this road is extremely wind-y, so keep that in mind if you suffer from motion sickness. Rita prepared everyone before we left and was super sweet; she kept telling everyone the worst was almost over! Luckily we were fine – but seriously, even more reason to pack emergency snacks to counteract all that wine.
At 12:30, we arrived in Pinhão and got ready to board the rabelo – a traditional Portuguese wooden boat – for a one-hour cruise on the Douro River. It had turned into a gorgeous sunny day, and the views from the boat were absolutely beautiful! This was definitely our favourite part of the entire experience.
Then it was back on the bus and onto our second and final winery stop of the day. By 2:15, we arrived at Solar dos Dragos, an absolutely stunning vineyard in Lamego. We sat outside on their beautiful patio and enjoyed both red and white wines (if you’re not a sweet wine fan, fear not – port is only part of what’s offered on this tour!) We snacked on cheese and bread served with delicious local olive oil and honey.
After the tasting, our tour group had the chance to wander through the vineyards and sample grapes right off the vine.
Tania showing off her party trick:
By 3:30, we were back on the bus en route to Porto, where we arrived back at the pickup spot just after 5:00. It was honestly the perfect day – we LOVED our experience with EFun Tours and are so glad we chose them for our Douro Valley adventure! The tour cost $315 CAD for the both of us – and when you consider that includes a full day of sightseeing with lunch, transportation, a boat cruise and a very generous amount of wine – I thought it was incredible value. Truly can’t recommend them enough! Click here to book the exact same tour we did.
If you have any questions about our wine tour experience, feel free to drop me a line. In my next post, I’ll be sharing all the fun things we did in Lisbon, the next stop on our honeymoon itinerary. Until then, have a wonderful week ahead!
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