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.

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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. Honestly, for the price of this Viator tour, I honestly can’t believe everything that’s included! The guide who led our tasting was incredibly entertaining and hilarious, and we got to try multiple styles of port in a lovely smelling wine cellar. There was also cheese and crackers for us to munch on while the guide told us stories about the port wine.

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 lovely. I’m usually 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. 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.

Croft Port - Terrace

Tour through the Vineyards

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 $100/person which is crazy to me. We had an incredible tour guide, Margarida, and 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. We were even 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 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 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 M emoria 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 - 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.

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

Kodak Gold 200 has been growing on me. I used to prefer more cool-toned film, but lately I’ve been craving warmth, sunshine and summertime. I always make sure to take Kodak Gold 200 with me now on any beach/island vacation. It just has that magical sunshine glow that makes everything look like golden hour. It’s also super duper affordable! Lately, it’s actually one of the cheapest films you can buy! It’s kind of amazing because I find it to be super sharp and reliable too. Any time that a friend or family member asks me what film stock I recommend, I always include Kodak Gold in my list. It’s a great film for beginners too because it’s surprisingly forgiving and automatically creates that warm Hollywood vibe to give photos a cinematic feel.

I wanted to share a few samples photos so you can get an idea of what to expect with this film. For these photos, I used a LomoApparat 35 mm film camera and I find it to be the perfect combination. The LomoApparat is a ridiculously fun camera by Lomography that has tons of filters and options for making your photos creative and unique. It’s not the sharpest camera in the land though, so combining it with a faster film like Kodak Gold 200 gives your photos a bit more clarity. I have a YouTube video about the LomoApparat here! Also, keep in mind that your film lab can have a huge impact on how your final results turn out. Oftentimes, you can work with your lab to make sure you get scans that you love. You can tell them whether you want more warmth or less warmth. How you want the blues to look. Whether you want the shadows lifted. I scan all of my own film with an Epson V750 so I have a lot of control over my images. I typically try to do a pretty straight scan first though, and then I’ll adjust color tones in post-processing. I find that this gives me the most control. Plus, I know I’ve saved thousands of dollars in the long run by scanning my own film. I just ask my lab to “process only” and they mail me the negatives. I cut them and scan them myself, then store them away in film storage binders labeled by year. I definitely have a system down at this point and it gives my OCD brain so much satisfaction.

Luckily, because it’s so affordable, it’s not a huge risk to just try it out! You can pick up Kodak Gold in 35 mm or 120 formats. You can also check out my blog posts about my Top 5 Favorite 35 mm Color Films or 5 Unique Films to Try to Make Your Photos More Interesting if you’re looking for other fun film options to try out. :) Or you can stop by my Amazon storefront for more camera/film recommendations. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Feel free to leave any questions/comments below!

<3 Myles Katherine