Douro Valley Holidays

From Porto to the Spanish border, the Douro Valley, boasting vineyards and wineries, quintas and pousadas, provides an area of majestic scenery with steep sided valleys, tributaries aplenty and delightful ribbon lakes formed by a total of five dams; a series of locks allows the entire 200km to be navigable.

Northern Portugal’s Douro Valley is a stunningly beautiful region of terraced vineyards and olive groves with verdant vegetation cascading down the hill slopes towards the river and its numerous tributaries. Winding from northern Spain for 200km to the Atlantic Ocean at Porto, the River Douro provides a fantastic focus with its locks, dams and ribbon lakes, and enchanting historic towns. Railway journeys are spectacular and there’s great fishing and river boat trips, plus walking and hiking through the impressive terrain. Established in the 18th century when the port wine industry developed, this was the world’s first demarcated wine region and there are many famous port wine estates, quintas, located on the steeply terraced hillsides.

Twin Centres

Here at Classic, we are expert at tailormaking holidays and, although we would recommend a twin centre starting in Porto for three nights, followed by a four night stay in Amarante, Pinhao or Baiao to explore the Douro Valley, we can easily tailor your itinerary to whichever combination of locations and durations suits you best.

Discover the Douro Valley

The Alto Douro Wine region is designated a UNESCO Word Heritage Site for its outstanding beauty and the stunning landscape can be discovered by a number of differing, and sometimes delightful transport options; by hire car, giving freedom to explore at leisure, by cruise along the River Douro, or on a stunning train journey.

One of the Iberian Peninsula’s most beautiful railway journeys, Linha do Douro constitutes a 160km line which runs from Porto to Pocinho via 34 stations, 30 bridges and some 20 tunnels. For the hour long journey to Tua, which delightfully crisscrosses the river on rickety old bridges, the trip involves a change in Peso da Regua on to a smaller historic train, itself made up of specially restored carriages.

Cycling is popular and the discontinued railway line alongside the Tamega River, from the old station at Amarante to Chapa, is perfect for cyclists as it winds through pine and eucalyptus for 9km. There are three protected areas in the region including Azibo’s Lagoon, Alvao Nature Park, and the International Douro Nature Park with spectacular waterfalls, springs and rare flora. There’s a prehistoric rock art site in Coa Valley and an abundance of wine estates and cellars to visit.