When I was planning our trip to Portugal, I knew I’d want to spend a day at the vineyards in the Douro Valley drinking port wine. I just wasn’t sure how we were going to get there from the city of Porto! I stumbled across the Complete Douro Valley Wine Tour with Lunch, Wine Tastings and River Cruise by Viator and after reading a few of the reviews, it sounded perfect. A guided bus tour, two vineyard tours and tastings AND a boat ride through the Douro Valley. It sounded too good to be true! I’ve taken many bus tours in my time and I’m always a little hesitant because I tend to get carsick rather easily. I’ve survived tours on St. Lucia’s twisty mountain roads, Maui’s Road to Hana and the treacherous cliffs along the Amalfi Coast so I tried to remind myself that it couldn’t possibly be worse than those. Luckily, it wasn’t bad AT ALL and I would say it was one of my favorite all-day bus tours I’ve been on so far! We saw stunning views from the bus and it was a nice peaceful break from the hustle and bustle of Porto. While it was a tad dreary outside during our tour, it made the day feel even slower and more relaxed, which was much needed after traveling all the way from the United States to Portugal. We had a few stops along the way so there was never too long of a stretch of driving time, which makes a huge difference if you tend to get carsick. Our first stop was in the town of Amarante, a cute town with lots of historic, medieval buildings. We were given about 30 minutes to wander around and grab a pastry and coffee. We popped our heads into a lovely church and took photos along the canal. Having a few moments to sip our coffee and take in the day made a huge difference in our moods and we felt ready to head to the wineries and see the gorgeous views! It wasn’t on the agenda to stop here, so we were pleasantly surprised and also desperately needed that espresso!
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We also had the most amazing tour guide, Margarida. She was super bubbly, informative, and just plain sweet. She told us all about the Douro Valley during the bus ride and made sure we didn’t miss a thing as we passed by dozens of wineries off in the distance. We took the English tour but there are other languages like Portugese, Spanish and French if you need it! The views were stunning and I couldn’t stop dreaming about what it must be like to work on one of those gorgeous vineyards.
We visited Casa dos Barros winery first. There was a beautiful terrace with ivy-covered walls, with peacocks and cats roaming the property. We ate lunch inside a lovely dining room and enjoyed a three-course meal and lots of wine. They even asked us if we wanted refills! For the price of this Viator tour, I honestly can’t believe everything that’s included! The guide who led our tasting at the winery (a different guide than Margarida) was incredibly entertaining and hilarious, and we got to try multiple styles of port in an incredible smelling wine cellar. There was also cheese and crackers for us to munch on while the guide told us stories about the port wine. We never felt rushed or pushed along like I have on other tours. Everything about the day was slow and peaceful.
Our next stop was the boat ride! We hopped on a traditional rabelo boat for a peaceful ride on the Douro River, soaking in the views of the stunning green hillsides. You can see many of the wineries as you cruise along the river. I’m not going to lie, I got a little sleepy on the boat ride because it was so calming! I kept myself busy taking tons of photos though and I think about this boat ride all of the time because it was so serene. It was longer than I expected too which was nice because I’m typically spastically trying to capture everything as quickly as I can. I’m just always a ball of stress when I’m traveling, so it was a lovely respite from the rushing around I’m used to. That’s why I love visiting Europe though, it’s nice taking life at a slower pace!
We ended the day at Croft Port, one of the oldest port wine producers in the world. Croft was probably the most beautiful vineyard I’ve ever seen in my life. It was incredible. They led us around the property teaching us all about how they create and produce their port, and then we had a full port tasting that we could enjoy at our leisure. I still think about this vineyard all the time, because it truly was straight out of a dream. There was a gorgeous terrace covered in vines, with picturesque views of the vineyards. My husband and I were the last ones on the bus because we didn’t want to leave! We ended up buying a bottle of our favorite port wine from our tasting, and it was somehow only 10 euros! If I ever went back to Porto, I will definitely be taking a trip back to this winery. I could have easily spent an entire day there taking in the rolling hillsides and sipping the port. I’ll never forget it!
Croft Port - View from the Terrace
I posted a full video on my YouTube channel about our tour so you can decide for yourself if it’s something you’d want to go on! I’d highly recommend it though because the views were gorgeous, the port wine was delicious, and it was totally worth the price. It’s only about $110/person which is crazy to me. The vineyards we visited were absolutely stunning. I’d even take this same tour again if we went back. I loved it so much. It also helped that the weather was perfect, despite a little rain earlier in the day. I’ve heard it can get fairly hot in the summers but we were there in May, so we had a perfectly temperate day. It’s also crazy to me that on top of all of out tastings, we were given two glasses of wine each with our lunch too, which was included with the cost, along with all of the entrance fees, the boat ride, and of course, the tastings! We had also taken a 3 Hour Food and Wine Tour in Porto the day before and we loved that too! You can read more about it on my blog here. :)
It was so nice to be able to relax for the day, instead of staring at the maps on my phone trying to find a restaurant or figure out how to get back to our hotel. I’m always the trip planner when it comes to me and my husband, Chris, mostly because I’m type A and need to be in control of everything. :) Plus, I like to save money where I can, so the fact that this tour was so affordable made it even better.
If you’d like to book this same tour to the Douro Valley, you can find it here!
And if you’re on the hunt for an affordable hotel in Porto, I’d highly recommend Memoria Porto FLH Hotels. It was quiet, beautiful, close to the water, super clean, and we were even greeted with port wine upon our arrival! You can read more about my Portugal hotel recommendations on my travel blog that I run with my sister called C’est Le Brie - Cute & Affordable Hotels in Porto & Lisbon.
If you’re heading to Portugal anytime soon, you absolutely need to visit both Porto and Lisbon. And while you’re in Porto, make sure to book this Douro Valley tour. You won’t regret it. It would even be great for a larger group because it takes all of the guesswork out of traveling. I would have loved for my parents and siblings to have joined us for the tour. Maybe next time! There were people of all ages on this tour and I always love getting to know other travelers from all over the world.
Dom Luís I Bridge (1886)
Porto, Portugal
If you’d like even more details about this specific tour, you can find it on my travel blog here! And make sure to check out my Viator shop to see all of our favorite tours around the world so far! And you can watch more videos from our trip to Portugal on my YouTube channel. :)
Have a magical day!
<3 Myles Katherine
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