Douro Valley

Today we had booked a small tour down to the Douro Valley wine region. Our guide was Diogo, a lovely young man, who made the day very enjoyable for us all. There were eight of us in total, a couple from NYC, three women from Canada who had left their families at home with husbands in charge, and a lovely women from Miami. The van was full, and Ian and I got to ride up front on the way to the valley, which was great for the views and chatting to Diogo, but a bit crowded for our legs. We had a beautiful day, and the temperature in the Douro Valley is usually a couple of degrees warmer because they are protected from the Atlantic Ocean winds by the mountains.

Once we arrived in the small town of Pinháo, after a quick coffee and toilet stop, we went down to the river to hop on a boat for a one hour cruise along the Douro River, past many of the wine estates. The cruise was lovely, and we even got to go up to the bridge to see things from the captain’s perspective.

The area is so picturesque, and so there were obviously many photo opportunities.Read more