Food Tours · Tour

Santa Marta de Penaguião and the Régua Footbridge, by Coach

Ten and a half hours in the Douro for fifty-five euros, which is the lowest price on any full day here, and the trade-off is honest: this is a coach tour rather than a minivan, and the group is larger. What you get for it is the same valley. You leave from Lapa church, five minutes' walk from Faria Guimarães on the yellow line, with the exact time confirmed the evening before by email, text or WhatsApp. At Peso da Régua the group crosses the pedestrian bridge beside the railway crossing, which is a stop almost no other operator makes and gives you the river and both banks from the middle of the water. Régua has been the trading town of the Douro since the region was demarcated in 1756, and it still looks like a working port rather than a scenic one. The two winery visits are at Santa Marta de Penaguião and Peso da Régua, each with a port tasting, and lunch is served at the table between them rather than as a buffet. Then an hour on the river, sitting still and looking at terraces that were cut into schist by hand. Wi-Fi on board. Lunch is included except on the half-day afternoon option. Water is sold rather than given. Guided in Portuguese, English or French, sometimes more than one on the same departure. Up to fifteen per booking. Vegetarian lunch on request. The legal drinking age applied is sixteen, and everyone can join regardless. Children under six are not accepted, and under eights need a car seat declared in advance. Wineries can be substituted for similar ones at short notice.