During my 4 full days in Porto, Portugal, I decided to treat myself with a trip to the Douro Valley for a full-day port wine vineyard tour to celebrate my birthday.
Some Douro Valley 9.5-10 hour vineyard tours come with lunch and an optional boat ride–you’ll find exactly what I mean by Googling “port wine tours” and clicking on popular sites like Viator, Tripadvisor, Get Your Guide, etc.
It’s not cheap. You’ll be spending around 100 Euros per person. However, if you are on a budget, there are also half-day options. You can also get your port wine fix by doing a wine cellar tour or €5 port wine tastings in Gaia, which is in the Porto district. No need to break the bank!
I am not a wine connoisseur, but I do love sipping a strong drink and enjoying the taste. I long for beautiful views and the feeling of wind in my hair as I peek down rows of vines in the mid-day sunshine that pours over European hills.
If you’re a little dreamy like me, then you might want to splurge like I did.
I booked my tour through Viator. As I was solo traveling at this point, I tried to book online for 1 person. For some reason, it was only available for 2 people. In order to bypass the system, I called Viator. A very nice representative simply found the same tour I was interested in with a new company called Porto Locals that allowed for me to join alone, and they booked me directly on the phone.
I received a message from the tour guide the day before my tour, stating that the van had issues--could come on the following day? Thank goodness, I was in Porto for another day. It seemed much more like a crazy happenstance than anything else, so I wouldn’t let this deter you from booking with Porto Locals. Communication was swift, and they were very helpful over email.
There were 8 spots available, of which 7 were taken. I met a sweet 4-person family and a couple who all hopped in the van with me. Our guide, Tiago, was a charismatic storyteller with plenty of knowledge and good humor to keep us entertained for the 1.5 hours to the valley and the 1.5 hours back…plus all the moments in between.
The views were wonderful as we drove down winding roads into the thick of wine country. Rows upon rows of vines stretched upon the entire landscape, as far as the eye could see. I couldn’t believe how vast it was, and I wondered how many people were involved in the business. (Mind you, it was my first European wine country adventure, so everything was new and surprising.)
Tiago allowed us our first tease of the incredible views by taking a pitstop on the way:
At the first winery, we got a short, but informative briefing on how the wine was made. (Apparently the wineries switch day by day, so you’ll never exactly know where you are going. I wouldn’t dwell on this. If you are new to it all, it doesn’t really matter. Go with the wind, and enjoy where you are taken!) Then, a 3-glass tasting of rosé, ruby, and tawny port.
Next stop, lunch. More wine. The wine helped oil the wheels of socialization…as it does. I got to know the families I was on the tour with even more, making some new friends. (Beauty of traveling alone!)
Boat time. It was a peaceful ride down through the hills. Nothing extraordinary, but a lovely addition to the splendid afternoon. More photo opportunities, and time to sit with the grandiose-ness of the valleys.
At the next winery, I was pleasantly surprised that not all the facts told on this second mini-tour were repeated. Some essential points on the differences between how ruby and tawny ports age, etc, were touched upon again, but it felt like a new place and new knowledge. (If it did not turn out to be this way, I would have felt a little taken advantage of as a tourist. But not the case!)
So overall, very enjoyable.
I swapped Instagram handles with my new friends and headed to find some dinner to soak up my happy tipsy head…
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