Douro Valley by the hands of a portuguese

The Douro Valley is a beautiful wine region of Portugal classified as World Heritage by UNESCO in 2001. The Douro river, born in Spain, sculpts the valley from its birth in the region of Soria until its mouth in Porto. With beautiful landscapes, over 26.000 hectares of vineyards and more than 2000 years of wine production (yes, it is that old), the Douro region became one of the most visited of Portugal and the majority of the credit has to go to port wine. This brought the attention to the valley and now their dry wines are also beginning to be very famous worldwide.

Picture #1 - The view of the valley

DISCLAIMER - This little paragraph is very important to read.

Now, who am I? My name is Patrícia (@notjustatourguide on instagram), I’m a tour guide from Porto who’s currently working for a company called Portugal Excellence Tours (https://www.excellence-tours.com/pt) that provides tours across the north of Portugal. And yes, Excellence is our middle name and a very accurate one. We’re not a lot! Two vans and three tour guides, as easy as that. Our focus? Smaller tours, to run away from the massified tourism that is invading Portugal and to provide a much cosier approach to whoever chooses to see our country by our hands and with our eyes. We want people do, see and feel what it is the portuguese culture and, above all, to learn from it because, despite us being small, we’re a very old country with a lot to teach.

Picture #2 - Our roads

What will you do with us in the Douro Valley? Visit two farms (one of Port and another of Douro wine), taste the best the region has to offer to you like olive oil and wine, enjoy a very delicious lunch cooked by a local lady, see breathtaking views and enjoy a very relaxing one-hour boat ride. The best part is the replica designer handbags company of course! You’ll be guided by us during the whole day in our van, we’ll pick and drop you up in Porto and share our experience of what it is to be Portuguese with you.

Pictures #3, 4 and 5 - Photos taken during our tours.

If any of this called your attention (or even if it didn’t) send us an e-mail, send me a message, whatever makes you happy. Above all, be very welcome to Portugal. Our people, our food, our wine, our culture and our traditions are extraordinary. Take the best of them.