Portugal: Lisbon, Porto and the Douro Valley

Arrive in Lisbon

Lisbon Airport to your hotel in central Lisbon

• Welcome dinner with live fado
• Nuit : Lisbon
• Environ 30 min de route

Après-midi

Check-in is from mid-afternoon, so if you land early, leave your bags and walk down to the river at Praça do Comércio or ride a yellow tram up into the old quarters. At 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the days ahead: how they are paced, which mornings start early to beat the queues, and what the streets are like underfoot, since Lisbon's polished limestone paving, the calçada, is slippery in the wet.

Soir

Then we walk to a small restaurant in the old town for a welcome dinner with live fado, the city's own song, listed by UNESCO as intangible heritage in 2011. Plan to land by about 3 pm to reach the briefing comfortably.

Compris

• Pick-up at Lisbon Airport (LIS)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Welcome dinner with live fado

Belém at opening, Alfama downhill

Lisbon to Belém, then São Jorge Castle, Alfama and the Baixa

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Lisbon
• Environ 45 min de route

Après-midi

A warm custard tart from the Belém bakery that has made them since 1837 comes next, then a sit-down lunch. In the afternoon our vehicle drops us at the top of the hill by São Jorge Castle, so the walk through Alfama runs downhill: the castle walls first, then the stairs and lanes of the oldest quarter, the Sé cathedral and the Baixa grid rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake.

Soir

We finish at the São Pedro de Alcântara viewpoint in the late light, and the evening is yours.

Compris

• Jerónimos Monastery at opening, with the cloister and the church
• The Belém riverfront: the Monument to the Discoveries and the Belém Tower from outside
• A custard tart in Belém
• Sit-down lunch
• São Jorge Castle
• Guided walk down through Alfama to the Sé cathedral and the Baixa
• The São Pedro de Alcântara viewpoint

Sintra, Cabo da Roca and Cascais

Lisbon to Sintra, then Cabo da Roca and Cascais, and back to Lisbon along the coast

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Lisbon
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

Pena, built in the mid-19th century for King Ferdinand II on a rocky summit, is all yellow and red towers, with the Atlantic in view on a clear morning; the whole Sintra landscape has been on the UNESCO list since 1995. Next is Quinta da Regaleira, an early 20th-century estate of grottoes and tunnels whose Initiation Well spirals down about 27 metres.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal in Sintra town, with a queijada or travesseiro pastry to follow. In the afternoon we drive to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, where cliffs drop about 140 metres to the sea, then down to Cascais, the fishing town that became a royal summer resort, for a walk around the bay and free time before the coast road back to Lisbon.

Compris

• Pena Palace and its park at the first entry, with the shuttle up the hill
• Quinta da Regaleira and the Initiation Well
• Sit-down lunch in Sintra
• Cabo da Roca
• Walk and free time in Cascais

Óbidos and Nazaré on the way to Porto

Lisbon to Óbidos, then Nazaré and Porto

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Porto
• Environ 4 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is grilled fish in the lower town, then the funicular, running since 1889, climbs to Sítio and the view down the coast. From the lighthouse fort above Praia do Norte you look over the beach known for winter waves, which can be huge between October and March.

Soir

The last leg is about two and a quarter hours up the motorway to Porto, where we arrive in the early evening.

Compris

• Guided walk in Óbidos
• Ginjinha tasting in Óbidos
• Sit-down seafood lunch in Nazaré
• The Nazaré funicular to Sítio
• The lighthouse fort over Praia do Norte

Porto's old town and the port lodges

São Bento to the Ribeira, then across the Dom Luís I Bridge to Vila Nova de Gaia

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Porto

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal of northern dishes near the river. In the afternoon we walk across the upper deck of the Dom Luís I Bridge, opened in 1886, for the view straight down the Douro, and on into Vila Nova de Gaia, where port has been aged in riverside lodges for centuries. A cellar tour shows the casks and how ruby, tawny and white port differ, and a tasting follows.

Soir

The evening is free in the Ribeira or back in the centre.

Compris

• Guided walk: São Bento station, the Sé cathedral terrace and the Ribeira
• Palácio da Bolsa guided tour
• Sit-down lunch near the river
• The upper deck of the Dom Luís I Bridge
• Port lodge cellar tour and tasting in Vila Nova de Gaia

Porto at your own pace

Livraria Lello, the Clérigos Tower and the Bolhão market, then a free afternoon

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Porto

Matin

We are at Livraria Lello for its first timed entry of the morning, before the queue reaches round the corner: the bookshop, in this building since 1906, is known for its carved wood and red forked staircase, and the ticket, which we buy, counts towards a book if you choose one. Nearby, the Clérigos Tower gives one of the best views in the city to anyone who climbs its more than 200 steps, and the church below has none.

Après-midi

We end the guided morning at the Bolhão market, restored and reopened in 2022, among stalls of cheese, fish, flowers and cured ham, where you can pick your own lunch. The afternoon is free. Ride the old tram along the river to Foz do Douro, where the river meets the Atlantic, visit the Serralves museum and gardens, or sit in a café over the Ribeira.

Soir

Your guide is around to suggest restaurants for the evening and to book a table for anyone who wants company.

Compris

• Livraria Lello at the first timed entry
• The Clérigos Tower and church
• The Bolhão market with your guide

Activités en option

• The Serralves museum and gardens
• The tram along the river to Foz do Douro

Amarante and a quinta lunch in the Douro

Porto to Amarante, then Peso da Régua and Pinhão

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Douro Valley
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is at a family quinta: a walk through the vineyard and the granite treading tanks, a tasting of Douro wines and port, and a long table lunch with the estate's wine. In the harvest, from about mid-September to early October, you may see the grapes come in.

Soir

We check in to our hotel in the valley for two nights in the late afternoon, and the evening is free.

Compris

• Amarante and the São Gonçalo bridge, with coffee and a convent sweet
• The N222 river road from Peso da Régua to Pinhão
• Quinta visit with a vineyard walk, a tasting of Douro wines and port, and lunch

On the river and above it

Pinhão by boat, then the Casal de Loivos viewpoint

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Douro Valley
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

The river is calm and the light soft in the morning, so we start on the water: a boat trip of about an hour from the quay at Pinhão, along the Douro between terraced slopes and white quinta houses. Back on land, Pinhão's small railway station is decorated with tile panels of Douro landscapes and the harvest. Then our vehicle climbs the narrow road to the Casal de Loivos viewpoint, high above a long bend of the river, for the view that many photographs of the valley are taken from.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal in the valley, and the afternoon is free: swim, read, walk between the vines, or visit a second quinta for a tasting at your own cost.

Soir

In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner of Douro food and wine. In winter some boat operators sail less often, and we confirm the boat for each departure.

Compris

• Douro River boat trip from Pinhão, about 1 hour
• Pinhão railway station and its tile panels
• The Casal de Loivos viewpoint
• Sit-down lunch in the valley
• Farewell dinner

Activités en option

• A second quinta tasting in the afternoon, at your own cost

Douro Valley to Porto Airport

Pinhão to Porto Airport, or central Porto

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we leave the valley at about 9 am and drive about two hours west to Porto Airport (OPO), back along the river to Peso da Régua, then on the motorway through the Marão tunnel and down towards the coast. You reach the airport by about 11 am, in time for flights from about 2 pm. If you are staying on in Porto, we drop you in the city centre instead, about 20 minutes further, and your guide can suggest a hotel near the Ribeira for extra nights. If you want more of Portugal, Madeira is a short flight from Porto, and our eight-day Madeira walking trip starts and ends at Madeira Airport.

Soir

Your guide checks your flight details the evening before and sees the group to the terminal. Earlier flights need a separate transfer, which we can arrange at cost.

Compris

• Drop-off at Porto Airport (OPO) or in central Porto