Secrets of the Douro - Sailing down the Douro with Emerald Waterways

On landing in Porto, we were met by the very courteous and prompt Raphael. There is no getting lost as every flight is met and fellow cruise passengers are transferred together to the ship. Suitcases are taken care of and you do not see them again till allowed in your room at 3pm. In the meantime, we had lunch onboard, wondered around the beautiful city of Porto and had a glass (or maybe) two of very delicious local wine on board the ship.

Day one is very relaxing as they allow you to get used to cruise pace before a welcome dinner and an evening sunset cruise. Watching the sun go down over Porto from a deck chair on the top deck was awesome and dare I say that word again – relaxing!

On day two we set sail early to Pinhao passing through the first two of many locks on the Douro. The locks are engineering marvels and actually quite fascinating. The bigger ones take roughly half an hour to pass through and we watched as the water rose to allow us to navigate them. The narrow locks are the reason the Douro boats are a specific size and width, sometimes we passed so close we could touch the walls of the dam. In the evening we were invited to a gala dinner and really the only formal-ish night of the cruise. The meal was delicious and pretty much summed up the standard of the food, really good quality, great choice and plentiful.

We stayed overnight in Pinhao which gave us opportunity to explore this little town the next day. I decided to take part in an organized walking tour to the Roeda wine estate. This was a great and informative trip in which I learnt a lot about Portuguese vines and visited the Croft winery. Drinking port at 10:30 am was a first but, if needs must!

The ship sailed soon after lunch and made its way to Vega de Terron in Spain. If you tire of sitting on the beautiful deck and passing the stunning scenery of the Douro (and more locks) the ship puts on workshops and demonstrations for guests to partake in. These vary from workshops on how to make cork goods to cocktail making classes, so something for everyone!

On day four we took part in the only Spanish excursion on the trip – a trip to the gorgeous city of Salamanca, a place I’ve always wanted to visit. This tour had the only long transfer of the trip (two hours each way) but the air-conditioned, comfortable buses made it feel a lot closer. We were given a guided tour for around an hour and a half and then had some free time to explore the beautiful walled city. Salamanca is a very charming place with a huge student population and a fondness for frogs in skulls, something I really couldn’t work out! We ended the excursion by having a private music rendition by the local 'Tuna' - a group of student musicians from Salamanca dressed in old fashioned attire with magnificent voices.

The next day took us back into Portuguese waters and we were offered several tours out of Regua. In the morning, we were able to either kayak the Sabor river or take a trip to the Coa valley (where cave men drawings were found dating back thousands of years). A highlight of the day was a trip to a local wine estate for a sumptuous dinner accompanied by some of the nicest wine I’ve tasted. As you can see, wine features regularly in this trip!

The second to last day was jam packed as almost a farewell to this fabulous route. We were taken to the Mateus Palace for a tour (and you guessed it, more port tasting) before having a delicious barbeque lunch and ending the day with a farewell gala dinner.

The last day was spent in Porto – there are options for a guided walk around the city or free time to enjoy Porto on your own as we did.

You will not regret a river cruise, especially on the Douro valley. We took home full bellies, a thirst for port and lots of memories from this beautiful location.