I am planning a trip to Spain/Portugal in early August. The last leg of our trip will take us leaving Lisbon by car. We will have 3 nights to explore the Duoro Valley. We love seeing the small towns and visiting the local wineries. I need help deciding where to stay in the Duoro Valley (both location and hotel/Pousada). We would prefer not to spend more than $200 - 225 USD per night. We would love a place with higher elevation views overlooking the valley. With that said we want to be close to a small town where we could go for dinner and walk around before retiring for the night. Our fondest memories were driving around Tuscany and seeing all of the hillside medieval towns and then heading home for a nice glass of wine on our balcony.
I also welcome suggestions on wineries to visit and river boat tours.
Help with Itinerary and Places to Stay in Duoro Valley
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I love the Douro Valley. I've made several short trips there, and two of them are described here: http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/our-3-day-trip-to-the-douro.cfm
I'll add two little points -- I think Casa de Canilhas fits your wish list perfectly. It has a stunning view over the river, and all rooms have a littl patio or balcony perfect for sipping wine and soaking the view in. The little town of Mesao Frio is about a 15-20 minute walk away, a quick short drive and it has one good restaurant and a couple of cafes. The pousada is also a short walk away and it is very beautiful, more expensive, with views that are inferior to Casa Canilhas. The owners of the Casa de Canilhas give lots of good recommendations on day trips, places to eat, etc.
The other point is that I highly recommend the train trip, but from Pinhao to the end of the line at Pocinho. Many people get on either in Porto or Regua and then get off at Pinhao. But east of Pinhao is where the spectacular scenery starts. It's really something. We just went out and back, about a 45 minutes ride, followed by a 1/2 hour stop in Pocinho (bought some home made olive oil, and maybe some honey, but I don't remember), then back on the train to Pinhao. We ate in a great restaurant in Regua recommended to us by the owners of Casa de Canilhas.
Check out Quinta do Passadouro in Pinhão. It's a 'working' quinta where wine, port wine and olive oil is produced. They serve dinner on demand.
http://www.quinta-do-passadouro.com/QdP-uk/index.htm
I haven't slept at the Quinta do Passadouro, but I have visited the vineyard. This was several years ago, and there was a recently emigrated young Dutch couple with kid(s)who were in charge of getting the rural tourism up and running. It is a lovely place (apparently one of the few that still do some serious feet-crushing of grapes), and I would certainly consider staying there if I had a lot of time for the Douro Valley, but its interior location and distance from the Douro River translates into no river view.
lreynold1, the young Dutch couple is still there!