On Monday, we awakened to pouring rain as we grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to the train station for our 2 1/2 hour train ride up the Douro Valley. The Douro Valley is one of the world’s oldest and noted wine regions. It is a UNESCO world heritage natural beauty site since 2001 and is famous for cultivating more than 250 grape varietals. We were part of a group of 10 foreigners/tourists that were eagerly awaiting to participate in a leisurely, and scenic 5/6 hour riverboat cruise experience back down this scenic river. The Douro Valley is home to the famous Port wine. We were surprised to learn that the Douro River is 557 miles long and runs through both Spain and Portugal.
These river cruises are very popular as there are numerous day & overnight cruise boats on the river. It seems to us that Portugal’s Douro River cruises tend to be off the beaten “river cruising” track in comparison to the popular Rhine, Danube and Rhone. Obviously, this is a slower time of year as our boat, with a capacity of 216, had only 15 tourists aboard. While many cruise travelers have yet to stumble across the Douro River, we have been told that U.K. operators have been plying the river for years. (It was the Brits who started the port wine industry 300 years ago with their Portuguese allies.)
The scenic hills are filled with steps for growing these famous port grapes. Some vineyards go all of the way down to the bank of the river. In addition to the farmhouses, wineries and small towns, there were various small hotels and condominiums.
Other than the gorgeous scenery (even in the pouring rain), the most exciting adventure for us was going through two locks, the largest of which lowers the boat over 115 feet. It may be the 2nd deepest lock in Europe. Below that dam the river was slower flowing than above it – primarily because the river was much wider.
It was a long boat ride and we arrived back to Porto around 5:30 p.m. When the announcer is acknowledging the architect of a concrete highway bridge or pointing out the water treatment plant, you know that you have probably seen the best already!
