[Pinhao / Regua / Porto, Portugal, May 9, 2025]

The Douro region stretches along the Douro river some 60 miles inland from Porto. For 2,000 centuries, people have been making wine here by building terraces for the vines on the hillsides. Since the 18th century, the region is the only place in the world that can legally produce port wine – the same way only the Champagne region in France can produce champagne. The production of port is still mostly done manually. Gapes are generally picked by hand and crushed the traditional way — by foot. The Douro Valley wine-making region became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 in recognition for its cultural significance in its centuries of winemaking.

The port-producing vineyards of the Douro are called quintas. Many offer tours and tastings, and some even offer rooms to stay in. The best way to experience the region is to rent a car. But since we only had one day and we all wanted to enjoy the port wine, we decided to take a day trip with a tour company. They picked us and two other groups from our respective accommodations and we were off to the valley!

We began on highway A4 and crossed the Marao mountains via the Iberian Peninsula’s longest tunnel. The 5.6-km (3.5-mile) long tunnel opened in 2016.

After a quick rest stop in Vila Real, we descended down to the riverside town of Pinhao. We got our first glimpses of the famous terraces from the van as we were making our way down to the Douro.

The boat tour lasted about 45 minutes and it was downright gorgeous. I loved seeing the terraces up close and also some olive trees. Several quintas were also visible. We got our very first serving of port on the boat.

Once we were back in Pinhao, we visited Quinta da Roeda. We learned more about port making and got a tour of the facilities. We also had a port tasting, which was great except we hadn’t eaten lunch yet, so we got a little tipsy! The tasting consisted of a white port, a reserve and a tawny. Tawny port is aged in wood barrels over a longer period of time as opposed to stainless steel for a shorter amount of time, like other kinds of port. I liked that one the best… from what I can remember.

Afterwards, we headed to our second tasting of the day near the town of Regua. We traveled along the Douro for a while. The terraces went on and on and the scenery was absolutely breath-taking!

In Regua, we marveled at all the bridges spanning the Douro. I loved the Rodovaria bridge, which reminded me of Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

As we left Regua, we kept climbing and climbing until we reached Quinta de Santa Julia. We finally had lunch here. It was already past 2 pm and we were starving!

We loved the views from up here and the port was excellent, as well.

Amazingly, after all this wine, we had energy to walk around Porto once we got back. We went in search of a good place to see the sunset. This first viewpoint, Passeio das Virtudes, seemed a bit too busy for us. It sits atop the supporting wall of the Virtudes Promenade, with Virtudes Park right below. The view was great, but there was hardly anywhere to sit.

As we continued walking, I noticed this seemingly abandoned building. There were plants growing on the roof, and it sat on a pretty sloped street. I loved the angles this created and the juxtaposition with the better-maintained buildings around it.

A turn and flight of stairs later, this view opened up. The Porto cathedral is on the left.

We kept going through. We soon found ourselves at the Vitoria Viewpoint (Miradouro da Vitoria). It was much more secluded and a random guy was playing the guitar, adding to the ambiance.

We capped off the evening with Curioso, an amazing cocktail bar. The menu is huge, so don’t be afraid to ask for help choosing! We hadn’t made dinner reservations anywhere, so we ended up just picking up some snacks from a market close to our AirBnB and having them at home. I can’t believe we had energy for all this…It’s one of the benefits of not traveling alone.