The Douro - From Porto to Pinhão

• One of the most remote and picturesque corners of Europe.
• Variety of visits including major museums, mediaeval and Baroque architecture, gardens, Paleolithic art and wine tastings at private estates.
• Journeys of immense beauty by rail and boat.
• At the river mouth, the vigorous, grandly-sited city of Porto.
• Led by Adam Hopkins, journalist and author, specialist in Spanish and Portuguese history and culture.
• One of our more leisurely tours.

INTRO

ITINERARY

DETAILS

GALLERY

PRE & POST

INTRODUCTION

Porto, wood engraving c.1870.

The upper reaches of the Douro in Portugal present a landscape of extraordinary beauty and tranquillity. The banks rise steeply into the surrounding hills which are clothed with terraced vineyards, patches of woodland, little villages and quintas. Until recently one of the remotest clefts in western Europe, the region remains remarkably unspoilt and difficult of access. It is best approached by train; a journey into mountains that begins at the mouth of the river in Porto (Oporto).

The capital of northern Portugal, Porto is synonymous with the port wine trade, which since time immemorial has been dominated by the British. Hence an architectural peculiarity of Porto: the serene Neo-Palladianism of buildings by John Carr of York and his imitators cheek-by-jowl with the highly wrought, startlingly pigmented and lavishly gilded Baroque style of churches and public buildings. Baroque was virtually introduced by another foreigner, the Tuscan painter-architect Nicolau Nasoni who had a hand in the design of many churches and houses in the city and along the Douro.

Porto is also relatively unspoilt, retaining a jumble of historic architecture on its undulating even precipitous site, but it is also a city of parks and gardens and the occasional flash of ultra-modern architecture.

This is not a tour in pursuit of masterpieces, rather an exploration of delicious scenery and ancient townscapes in a most beautiful but often overlooked corner of Europe. The port wine industry, enjoying a revival of fortunes, is a subsidiary theme of the tour, on which the pace is slower than on many.

ITINERARY

DAY 1

Porto. Fly at c. 1.00pm (TAP Portugal) from London Gatwick to Porto. Introductory talk and time for a stroll along the river front before dinner. First of three nights in Porto.

DAY 2

Porto. Porto is dense with historic architecture and falls steeply down to the River Douro. The principal monuments are set amidst the rise and fall of the upper part of the town, reached by steep alleys and steps. The cathedral is basically 13th-century with later embellishments, many by the painter-architect Nicolau Nasoni. The Clerigos Church with its wonderful Baroque tower is also by Nasoni, the church of the Misericordia has good Flemish paintings and São Francisco has an amazingly rich carved and gilded interior. Also see the magnificent decorative tiles, azulejos, in the railway station and visit the Factory House (by special arrangement), a club of British port wine traders founded in the 18th century. Overnight Porto.

DAY 3

Porto. See the façade of the Hospital de São António designed by John Carr of York (1770). The Soares dos Reis was Portugal’s first national museum and has collections of Portuguese fine and decorative arts, and the nearby Museu Romântico in the Quinta da Macieirinha has 19th-century furnishings. Álvaro Siza’s elegantly minimalist Fundação de Serralves is set in an attractive park and houses contemporary art. Cross the Douro for a tasting at a port lodge and the scene of Wellington’s impulsive and brilliant 1809 river crossing which enabled him to finish Marshal Soult’s still-warm lunch.

DAY 4

Porto, Douro Valley, Pinhão. Free morning in Porto. Early afternoon train journey up the Douro Valley which becomes increasingly rural, unspoilt and beautiful, with vineyards, patches of woodland and quintas clinging to the hills. Pinhão is a tiny town with a hotel in a former port lodge overlooking the Douro. First of four nights in Pinhão.

DAY 5

São João de Tarouca, Lamego. At the village of São João de Tarouca, there are paintings by Grão Vasco (1506–42) and Gaspar Vaz (1490–1569) in the fine church beside which are the ruins of the first Cistercian abbey in Portugal (1169). Continue to the busy little town of Lamego, replete with Baroque mansions and dominated by the pilgrimage church of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios atop a ceremonial stairway. The town museum in the former episcopal palace contains splendid tapestires and a series of panels by Grão Vasco. See also the cathedral, largely Renaissance behind a Romanesque belfry and with a Gothic west front.

DAY 6

Vale do Côa. Up the Douro is the small almond-producing town of Vila Nova Foz Côa whose church has a Manueline doorway. Close to the border with Spain the River Côa valley holds one of the greatest archaeological finds of recent years, an extensive array of outdoor Paleolithic art, the largest in Europe. There are well-preserved engravings of auroch, horse, deer and goat along a long stretch of steeply slate-banked river. Visit one of the key sites by 4WD, then continue on foot. Return to Pinhão on the train beside the Douro.

DAY 7

The Douro by train and boat. A leisurely day in the heart of the wine-making area. Travel by rail downstream to the Quinta do Vallado; visit and lunch here. Sail back to Pinhão on a private rabelo boat.

DAY 8

Vila Real. The Palácio de Mateus at Vila Real, a Nasoni design made familiar by the rosé wine label, is a fine 18th-century manor house, well furnished and with gardens including a box tree avenue. Continue to Porto airport for the flight to London Gatwick, arriving c. 9.10pm.