We spent our first day in Porto on a walking tour. Before that, we had to fuel up! We stopped at a bakery and had some super-rich hazlenut pastries.
The central Porto train station, Sao Bento. There are murals covering the interior walls
Having lunch at Cafe Guedes, this sandwich called a Francesinha is a local Porto “delicacy.” It was not actually as heavy as it appeared, and it was delicious.
A miradouro along our walking tour, Miradouro da Vitoria
We knew we wanted to catch the sunset from Jardim do Morro, across the river in Vila Nova de Gaia. It was absolutely slammed, but still very scenic
The river is lined with port tasting rooms and restaurants on the Vila Nova de Gaia side.
Walking back to the Porto side after sunset.
We spent the next day walking around some less-touristy parts of Port after being bombarded in old town. First stop, a local bakery (Oporto Bakery) for some delicious pistachio croissants!
We had to capture the local prices. There is no telling what this Duoro River Valley wine goes for at home. Portugal’s prices were very affordable across the board.
Lisa really enjoyed this street. It was very colorful and serene… a nice contrast to the central tourist area.
Back in Old Town
We couldn’t leave Porto without touring a port facility. We ended up at Taylors, where we learned all about the history of port, and had a nice tasting at the end.
The warehouses are still used to store and age the port, shipped from the Duoro River Valley where it is grown.
We found the most amazing spot for dinner, Taberna dos Esquecidos, and went twice while in the city. Everything was delicious! Between the two nights, we had the majority of the plates on their menu.
Back at the bridge for sunset
Porto was nice, but we were extremely excited to head to the Duoro River Valley. After an early morning rental car pickup and a 2 hour drive, we finally arrived in Pinhao. This is the view from our VRBO.
We had one day in Pinhao, so we made the best of our time. Lisa booked our first tour at Quinta do Bomfim, just down the street from our VRBO.
Seeing the production basically from start to end was really unique.
We totally lucked out and were in Pinhao during harvest. We got to see it all in action.
This machine juices the grapes, simulating human feet pressing them.
Our tasting at Quinta do Bomfim. It was fun trying a vintage along with a 20 year port.
The view from the deck at Quinta do Bomfim. The building across the river would be our next tasting and tour.
Crossing the bridge for our next tour and tasting at Quinta de Carvalhas
Our visit to Quinta de Carvalhas included a private tour of the vineyards.
Our tour followed a private/gated road, and ascended through the vineyards and property. The views were outstanding along the way.
We made several stops along the way. During one stop, we got to taste grapes from a very old vine (75+ years), and compare them to a younger grapes. The difference was very noticable.
This Quinta is the only remaining estate that is still 100% Portuguese owned, and the oldest of the 5 large estates.
This is near the top (at least where our tour ended), looking towards another estate’s gates.
There are other fruits grown all over the property (even some cork trees). These were used to feed the migrant workers during harvest season. These are grapes grown to be eaten.
We ate our fill of grapes from these vines, including some that had dried out to raisins on the vine.
While we were at this spot, Lisa had questions about some of the other vegetation. We lucked out that the head gardener (La Jefe) was there doing some work. She was very excited to answer Lisa’s less-common questions.
The private road that extends throughout the vineyards and mountain. The trees to the left are orange trees.
Pinhao, from across the bridge
Our post-tour tasting. In addition to our standard tasting (which was delicious), we were given small samples of a 1978 Tawny.
Lisa planned well, and booked a charcuterie for lunch with our tasting.
Leaving Quinta das Carvalhas, heading back into town across the bridge.
Back in town, we had some time to kill. We walked around the (very) small town checking out the sites.
Pinhao is one of the “main” towns in the Duoro River Valley. We were expecting it to be slammed, and a little overrun with Porto day-trippers, but it was very calm and peaceful. Very unspoiled.
The view from our VRBO. While we did see a few tour buses roll in, it was very quiet during our time here.
Pinhao is an extremely small town. The top rated restaurant in town is a charcuterie shop. We tried the traditional Portuguese sausage.
Walking back to our VRBO after dinner. This is the main strip, at the train station. We were just about the only people out.
Back at our VRBO, just after sunset.
The valley at night. The stretched out light is an approaching train. We would 100% recommend an overnight stay here for someone visiting Porto or the Duoro River Valley.
The moon was full, giving us a good view of the town and valley at night.
