Douro Wine Tour from Ribera del Duero to Porto (7 days)
Touring in slow motion along the Douro valley wineries
This unique tour encompasses the wines from both the Spanish and Portuguese sides of the River Douro / Duero, one of Europe’s longest wine rivers. Starting in Spain, in the highly iconic region of Ribera del Duero, visitors will taste some of the most impressive names. The region enjoys sharp temperature variations between day and night, which is reflected in the complexity and quality of the wines – predominately from the Tinto del Pais or Tinto Fino grape – which is the local name for Tempranillo. The Duero basin around Ribera del Duero in Old Castile is an intriguing region, a landscape of vast views with barren limestone escarpments and isolated villages that nestle under great castles. There are patches of gnarled old vines and ‘space-age’ wineries; this is one of the wine world’s hot spots.
Douro - Duero Valley Wineries
Day 1: Madrid - Segovia - Peñafiel
Madrid airport: welcome and drink
Transfer from Madrid to Segovia (1:20 h)
Segovia: lunch and short visit of the historical town centre (2 h)
Transfer to Peñafiel – Stop in Cuéllar - visit bodegas Protos
In Peñafiel, the wine museum and castle overviewing the city and the severe landscape of Castile.
Accommodation in Peñafiel
Day 2: Peñafiel – Valbuena de Duero – Rueda -Toro
Valbuena – Monastery Santa Maria de Valbuena
Tordesillas: historical town visit and drink
Rueda , lunch at a modern winery and tasting
Accommodation Hotel Spa in Toro
Day 3: Toro – Salamanca
Visit the small town of Toro
One of the oldest bullrings of Spain
Winery Visit
Salamanca old town (World heritage site) –wine and tapas tour
Accommodation in Salamanca
Day 4: Salamanca – Vila Nova de Foz Coa – Sao Joao da Pesqueira
Trip from Salamanca with stop and short visit Ciudad Rodrigo
Vila Nova de Foz Côa: tasting session Douro wine
Sao Joao da Pesqueira, Museum visit
Peso da Regua
Accommodation: Regua or Pinhao
Day 5: Regua – Porto
Museum del Duero - Peso da Régua
Boat trip from Peso da Régua to Porto
Accommodation in Porto
Day 6: Porto
Visit bodegas in Porto – Vila Nova da Gaia
Porto historical town centre
Accommodation in Porto
Day 7: Last morning in Porto and departure
Hail and departure from Porto airport
This Duero / Douro tour goes through the windswept Castilian plains and villages and the isolated but stunning manvineyard landscapes in Portugal. It is about rest, passed times and rural countryside. However, in the middle of nowhere you are accommodated in comfortable first level hotels: a former convent, a recently constructed Spa hotel, a Hacienda on the outskirts of Salamanca. Slowwines has picked out for you a selected Quinta in the Douro landscape and first class hotels in Porto. Accommodation won’t bother you, as we know it is important for a successful journey.
From 1890 € per person
Price inclusive:
- Mainland transportation to all places
- Expert English-speaking local guide
- Welcome drink with tapas
- Deluxe private bus for all transfers
- Entry fees to wineries and performance as per the itinerary
- 2 dinners as per the itinerary, all accompanied with half a bottle of selected wine
- Between 3-5 wines in each tasting session
- All the scheduled meals of a half board program
- Accommodation in shared room
- Buffet breakfast daily
- All local taxes and tips
NOT included in the price:
- Airfares (Airline tickets) to/from the pick-up or drop-off locations
- Transfers from/to the airport for travelers arriving out of schedule
- Meals, services not specified as per itinerary
- Personal expenses, such as laundry, telecommunications, mini bar
- Wellness treatment & Spa sessions
- Travel insurance
- Lodging before or after the trip
> Single room supplement: 90 €
- Transfers from/to the airport for travelers arriving outside agreed schedule
All prices advertized or quoted are expressed in euro (€) and are per person, based on shared room.
The advertized price on the webpage is only indicative. It is calculated on an average party size (4-6 pers), qualitative hotels out of peak season, and no extras.
It takes a bit of customization to include the holidays request and nature of the group before coming up with a tour proposal that meets your interests and expectations. The price quoted to you can be adjusted upwards to reflect possible increases in transportation costs (including fuel), government taxes (including VAT). On any specific tour, a constituted group of 5 travelers (or more) means a different quote per person than 2 travelers, as we've elaborated the tour package on an average group size of 4 (guided).
The information you provide us through the Get a Quote or Booking Form is important for us as it containts useful elements such as period of the year, accommodation type, group or party size, if all participants will share room or not. These points are essential to us to complete the quote in line with your budget. When we are asked to adjust itinerary or arrange tours in special periods of the year, prices can go slightly down or up, we try to moderate the price fluctuation by entering into agreements with our service providers. The accommodation availability is the main factor that can affect the advertized price of the original program.
We ask for clarity in order to streamline the communication: your group should be represented by one spokesperson. This one-to-one dialogue has many advantages over a one-to-many communication. Communication is more direct, misunderstandings are easily avoided.
Check here the easy steps of the booking process.
This wine tour goes from Ribera del Duero in Spain along the river towards Portugal. You may read about the nice micro-climate in the Douro / Duero river area, but don’t be surprised if in June or early September, you come across unusual chilly temperatures (below 15 °C or 59 °F )! Pack a warm jacket just in case and also some comfortable shoes for walking, since Porto and Salamanca have cobblestone streets as they go up and downhill, quite steeply sometimes. This footwear or even light walking boots will be useful for the days when we take you into the vineyards as well.
Spaniards eat at unusual hours for European standards. Visitors try to adjust and have lunch before 2:30 pm. However, the rather late opening hours of cellars and monuments in the afternoon mean that you may have to be patient . Portugal on the other hand, follows a much more European timetable.
Spanish is one of the most spoken languages in the world and most Spaniards are not used to speak foreign languages, except some English, while Portuguese feel more comfortable in this matter. Our experience is that you will always find someone happy to attend you in English. No reason for panicking if you can’t make yourselve understood, your guide will help you at any moment.
Wine cellars, quintas and vineyards are only accessible through small but picturesque roads and this often means more time to arrive also to enjoy the breathtaking landscape!
- Spanish and Portuguese wines produced from grapes grown along the river Douro/Duero
- Contrasted and different landscapes from Spain to Portugal
- Old vines and traditional ways of winemaking.
- Modern architecture of recently built wineries and centenarian Quintas in the Douro valley.
- Well selected first class hotels
- Historical towns and villages of Old Castile and Central Portugal, where time seems eternity
We have already planned some tours along Duero / Douro river. If these dates don't suit you, please contact us for other weeks.
The world of wine is a vast one and investing time in it, at your own pace, is a hugely rewarding journey. My interest in wine started like an affair with tiny thin bubbles, with the likes of Champagne and Cava. It meant the world to me.
And this was only the beginning of further deepening and reading on all wine related topics.
Swirling the glass ostentatiously and trying to talk in expert like jargon was not mush for me, so I've learned directly from the producers around me in the first place. I like to go off the beaten path, keeping away from the snobby style.
I've grabbed the wine culture in serenpidity, going for entertaining learning through the people behind winemaking. There a lots of accidental occurences that proved best learning experiences ever. I will push all of you for a stroll in the vineyards as the natural initiation to wines.
I like to see myself as an insider when it comes to Spain and Portugal, as I feel very close to the many wine regions, wineries and some exceptional people. I will enthusiastically lead your group on more than 15 different destinations.
Client Testimonials
7 days - Douro Wine Tour from Ribera del Duero to Porto
from €1.890 pp
Places of interest
- Historical towns of Segovia, Salamanca, Tordesillas and Porto
- The oldest bullring in Spain
- Cistercian Monastery of Santa María de Valbuena
- The Porto barrels’ journey on board of a boat