Until now, the Douro Valley has not seen hordes of tourists. But it’s just about to happen I think. Cause this is one of the worlds most attractive places if you like nature, culture and good wine.
It’s the home of Portwine.
The Douro Valley is first of all the home of the Portwine. It’s also home to some other excellent wines. The redline in the Douro Valley is excellent and so is the white wine. And you have many other types of wine there.
Douro was the first wine region in the world to get a name.
The Douro Valley was also the first wine region in the world that got a name. In 1756, the prime minister Portugal, Marques de Pombal came up with the idea of giving name to specific wine regions. He could see that it would be easier to export the wine if the different regions had names. This way people knew that it was not just Portuguese wine. But also what part of Portugal it came from. This is important as wine from different regions have different characteristics.
The Douro Valley lies about 100 kilometers inland from Porto. It stretches all the way to the border of Spain. It’s surrounded by mountains and is considerably warmer than the rest of north Portugal. As it is kinda sitting in a pot, surrounded by protecting mountains.
The wine fields in the Douro Valley are on terraces. Because of that, almost all wine picking in the Douro Valley is done by hand. And by hand picking the wine, you get a better quality, as you get a lot less leaves in the buckets with grapes.
The area is really spectacular and the nature very dramatic. The many different wineries are sitting on the steep slopes, surrounded by the vineyards.
But you also have nice little towns in the valley. Pinhao for instance, with it’s pretty little train station. And you have castles and palaces too. The Mateus castle for instance.
Because the Douro region is pretty far from an international airport, the number of international visitors is not that great. Especially when you consider what an extremely attractive part of the world it is.
So get your cute little butt up to the Douro Valley before the hordes arrive. Cause they will arrive at one point. It’s simply so pretty and the wine so good that it makes the perfect place to holiday.
Good recommendation. I was there many years ago and have been meaning to go back.
Thanks for the tip. In Portugal for the next 2 months (btw, staying in Seixal, the coolest little town across the river from Lisbon – if you need a place to stay around the capital, it is infinitely cheaper (and much nicer) here), so looking for some weekend trip ideas 🙂