Portugal
Douro Valley
6 days, October 2023
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Porto to Provesende (train, walked from Pinhao to Provesende)
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Provesende to Pinhao (walked)
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Pinhao
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Pinhao to Lamego (train and cab)
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Lamego to Quinta da Pacheca (cab)
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Quinta da Pacheca to Porto (Walk to train station, train)
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Everywhere you look the views are spectacular. Vines or gardens growing on almost every square inch of the land. Charming small towns sprinkled throughout the hills and along the river side.
Day 1: Porto to Provesende
Caught the 9:20am train to Pinhao. 2.5 hour ride. Open seating. Right side had the better river views, but also warm sun streaming in from the south. Train got pretty full. We left most of our luggage in Porto at the hotel we will stay in when we return from Douro Valley so just have our back packs and traveling light.
Lunch (The Bridge) on the outskirts of town on our hike to our lodging. A bit pricey for lunch but food was very good.
Hiked the Sabrosa trail to Provesende. Steep uphill trail pretty much all the way, looking back on incredible views.
Provesende is a very small, cute town with a church and a couple of restaurants but not much more.
Arrived at our lodging - Quinta Manhas Douro . Pool was a welcomed oasis of calm overlooking vineyard covered hills. Our room was small but clean with a very comfortable bed and good size bathroom. We were able to order dinner at a set time from a set menu. Food was very good.
Day 2: Provesende to Pinhao
We walked around the town and noticed right next to our guesthouse was Quinta Do Cume. They were fully booked so we couldn’t do a tasting but they were very kind and offered us a complimentary taste of their award winning white while we enjoyed the view. Would recommend making a reservation in advance to enjoy the full experience.
The hike down to Pinhão was much easier than the hike up and only took 1 3/4 hours.
After dropping our backpacks off at our Pinhao hotel, we went in search of food and failed miserably as all kitchens were closed at 3pm, so went wine tasting instead. First at Bon Fim where you can sit on the terrace with a beautiful view overlooking the river. Had a wonderful glass of organic red for 3.5 euros. Ended up buying a bottle of it to go for 5 euros.
Then we went across the street to Carvalhas . They had a stylish tasting room and wine was okay.
On the way back to hotel at 5pm found a highly rated tapa restaurant- Cardanho Dos Presuntos. Had a charcuterie board and ham sandwich as we were starving. Very good.
Our hotel Dois Lagares House was on the outskirts of town. Room was nice with a balcony to sit on which overlooks the Douro River and the road. They have a pool that one needs to climb a rocky path to get to with a wonderful view.
Day 3: Pinhao
Hiked to Casal de Loivos in the clockwise direction. If you only have time for one hike this is the one. After a little over 2 miles straight up, hit a beautiful viewpoint.
Stopped to have a glass of wine at Quinta Do Jalloto. Sat outside and sipped our wine with an unbelievable view.
Hike down (~2 miles, 1 hour and 20 minutes) wasn’t too bad only a couple of steep sections otherwise fairly gradual along vineyards.
Headed to Quinta de la Rosa. Lunch at Tim’s Terrace. Very relaxing over looking the river. Salads were ridiculously expensive for what we got but pizza was good.
Day 4: Lamego
Took the train (30 minutes) to Regua and then a taxi (20 minutes) to our hotel - Lamego Hotel & Life. We received a very warm welcome. A complimentary glass of wine. They have a large restaurant that served an amazing breakfast buffet (best on our trip). A nice indoor / outdoor bar with well portioned tapas. A large outdoor pool, gym, and spa. We spent the balance of the day at the pool relaxing. Very good value for the money we spent.
The next day (before transferring to the Wine House) we spent the morning walking around Lamego (15-minute walk from our hotel) and checking out the Sanctuary. 600+ steps. Worth it for the beautiful view
Day 5: Quinta da Pacheca
Transferred via taxi (15 minutes) to The Wine House. We were welcomed with a glass of port (from a huge bottle) and given a complimentary small bottle of port.
More relaxing pool time followed by a complimentary wine tour and tasting offered to hotel guests at 5pm. Wines are good and tour very interesting, including the fact that all their red wine is produced by stomping in huge pools of grapes (prevents the seeds from being broken by machines, impacting the wine). Huge clouds of fruit flies. Beautiful property with vineyards right there. They have a lovely restaurant for hotel guests we chose to eat at the bar outside. Food was good - pasta and salad.
Although we enjoyed staying at this winery we didn’t think it was good value for our money. We didn’t stay in the wine barrel casitas, but they looked fun
Day 6: Train back to Porto
Enjoyed walking through the vineyard and the pool before walking to the train station (40 minute walk). Easy 2 hour train ride back to Porto
Stayed an overnight at InSitu Formosa 178. New area of Porto for us between Sao Bento and Campanha train stations. Perfect since we arrived back into Sao Bento, and were getting our Avis rental car from the Campanha station.
