Wandergliding: The Douro Valley

November 10^th-11^th, 2025

After checking out Cockburn’s big wine cellar in Porto, it was time to head inland to see where the grapes were grown and then processed into port and wine. It was about a two-hour drive from Porto and although it rained on and off at first, we were greeted with decent weather in the mid to late afternoon.

One of a few good views on the road to the valley.

This looked like a good spot to stop for lunch...

...with some baguette sandwiches we made in Octi.

Our first views of the Douro Valley.

What a beautiful area.

Couldn't resist doing a "Titanic".

A small cruise ship plying the waters.

Octi by some strangely lovely abandoned buildings near the river.

Although the Douro Valley is mainly known for its port wine, it produces just as much table wine. In Portuguese, “quinta” means winery and Naomi had made reservations for us to stay at the Quinta do Vallado. It was a lovely place, set on a terraced hill lined with vineyards, just outside of a town called Peso da Régua.

At our check-in...yup, we're at a winery.

Now waiting for our tour in the lounge of one of the other buildings.

I'm sure that this deck is packed for breakfasts and dinners in the summer.

Our fancy schmancy room at the winery.

The view from our room.

Looking back towards our building. The next day we went to the spa for an hour in the early evening (part of our hotel package) where we were in a steam room, a sauna and then jumped in the pool before back to the hot tub...this pool was shockingly cold!

Naomi in her happy place.

It is a lovely spot.

The following day Naomi went on a wine tasting tour at the winery while I stayed back at the room and did some work (trying to catch up on my blogging of course). I’m not a big wine drinker so I opted out.

A very nice blogging station, although the window could have been lower to see the views better.

Meanwhile, Naomi went on a winery tour.

Which even included VR googles to check out the whole process from the picking grapes to the production of the wine.

That's a lot of port and wine being made.

And now for her taste testing.

In the afternoon, we hopped into Octi and drove about half an hour upriver to a smaller town called Pinhão. From there we were hopping on a tourist boat for a one-hour jaunt up and back down the river to check out the scenery and see some of the wineries that line the shores. The only other vacationers on the boat were a couple from Boston with their 3-year-old girl and the grandparents from Philadelphia. It was a nice float on the river, but you can’t get too far going just 30 minutes upstream and then back again.

Driving by the big bridge near our winery.