Douro Valley

The Douro is where port comes from — a deep, terraced river valley a couple of hours inland from Porto, with vineyards stacked up schist hillsides so steep they look hand-built (they were). The estates that grow the grapes, the quintas, open their doors for tours and tastings, and the river itself carries Rabelo-boat cruises past the slopes. It’s a UNESCO landscape and one of the oldest demarcated wine regions in the world, and the appeal is simple: drink very good port and wine in the place it’s actually made, looking at the vines it came from.

The first decision is how to get there and whether to stay. You can do it as a long day trip from Porto, but the valley unwinds better over a night or two. The scenic Linha do Douro train from São Bento spends its final hour pinned to the riverbank — about £13 and worth the seat on the right — though it only reaches the riverside towns, not the hilltop estates. A car unlocks the N222, the bend-stacked road between Peso da Régua and Pinhão that the Avis index once crowned the world’s best drive, plus viewpoints like São Leonardo de Galafura. The catch is obvious: you can’t taste if you’re driving. For most first-timers the honest answer is to train in, or hire a driver or join a small-group tour, so nobody has to stay sober.

As for a base, it comes down to scenery versus convenience. Pinhão is the prettier stop — a tiny village ringed by famous port names, with several wineries walkable from its tiled station and cruise boats at the quay. Peso da Régua is the workaday hub: more frequent trains, more restaurants, an actual pharmacy. Come in May or June for warm, quiet vineyards, or mid-September into October for the harvest, when the valley hums and the estates fill up — book ahead either way, and give August inland a miss when the heat sits in the mid-30s.