Help with Portugal Trip for a Port Lover
 

Greetings! I'm just at the very early planning stages of a surprise trip for my husband for his 40th birthday. He absolutely loves vintage port, so I thought a trip to the Douro Valley would be a treat. I have a couple of questions right off the bat:

1. How much time is required to get a sense of the area and do some port tasting? For instance, would a week be sufficient?

2. What's the best way to taste port? Are there guides who could ferry us around for a day or two, or is that not necessary?

3. How much of a problem would it be to have children at the port houses? Our kids go on wine-tasting expeditions with us here in the US, but the wineries near us usually have outdoor areas where they can relax while we taste. In a pinch, we can ditch the kids here at home, although I'd love for them to see a bit of Portugal.

4. I know absolutely nothing about Lisbon, but my brief perusing of the message boards leads me to believe that it's wonderful. Will I be sorry if I just go to the Douro Valley? If spending some time in Lisbon makes sense, how much time (with the understanding that there's NEVER enough time to see everything)?

We are a family that enjoys seeing some sights, but we mostly enjoy wandering around new places, seeing local arts and crafts, eating and drinking. We're not really "tour" people, but I'm open to anything.

Any guidance that you can provide to get me started on the right path would be most welcome!

Hi Mia, I can answer one of your questions. The Port houses do allow children. In fact when we visited Porto, they were admitted free on the tours, because they don't get the Port samples. We visited Porto for just 2 days, but wished we would have had at least another day. We took a river cruise that started with a train ride from Porto to catch the boat. If I had it to do over again, I would have driven into
the Douro valley, and stayed at a quinta for a bit instead of taking a whole day for the river cruise. I really liked Lisbon, and I would say to give it at least 2-3 days, although of course you could find plenty to fill the time if you spent more than that. I would include a day trip to Sintra, which is very simple to do from Lisbon. Check out some of the trip reports here to get some good ideas, and suggeestions. Whatever you decide have a wonderful trip! My family and I loved Portugal, and the friendly,kind people who live there. pp

Hi Mia,
I would say give yourself a good week at least to explore. Lisbon is great and you can sample some great Port wine at the Lisboa Solar up by the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara. Just take the Elavador Gloria up the hill and you'll see it. If you make it to Lisbon a nice day trip would be out to Sintra. There is a brightly colored fairy tale castle at the top of the hill your kids will enjoy exploring...take the bus up though. Its a long walk. For a great tour of lisbon, that will save your family money, I'd check out www. noambit.com . They have audio tours that you can just plug into your ipod and see the city at your own pace. Here's the link to the Lisbon tour if you want it: http://www.noambit.com/audio-tours/lisbon-audio-tour/
Hope this helps,

If you decide to stay in Porto, look into Guest House Douro. I have a reservation there for the fall, but from everything I'm reading (tripadvisor, etc), it is a real gem.

You also might consider a trip to Madeira.

DH--who is also a huge Port afficionado--and I have visited Portugal twice and have still only visited Porto and the Douro Valley. If you click on my name (then "See all your topics") you can read my trip report from 2007. In 2008 we went back with his parents and spent twice as many days in each place. I'm sure Lisbon is beautiful but for a birthday trip for a Port lover.....don't feel guilty if you focus on Porto and the Douro.
I recommend renting a car to drive up into the Douro Valley, and staying a few nights. It will give you much more flexibility to visit the various quintas. A guide is really not necessary. Your husband will probably be able to identify places he wants to visit, based on the Ports he likes, and you'll be able to find out if they are open to the public.
If you have enough time in the Douro valley, depending on how old your kids are, you might be interested in a trip to the archeological park at Vila Nova de Foz Coa. They run guided tours into a valley where some prehistoric rock carvings and paintings were discovered. The drive over from the Pinhao area is just jaw-droppingly beautiful. It's a long day trip from Pinhao, but not prohibitively so: you can break it up with lunch or a stop at a hill town.
Porto is a fascinating city with plenty of non-Port-related attractions. J.K. Rowling is said to have spent time at the Majestic Cafe (if your kids are Harry Potter fans). A sunny weekend day on the riverbank in Vila Nova da Gaia is a great people-watching opportunity.
I could go on for PARAGRAPHS about Porto. Feel free to come back and ask more specific questions once you have made some plans.

Wow - thanks to all of your for your responses! Here one more question:

What's the best time of year to visit?

My husband's birthday is in November, but I have no issue with either surprising him with the trip ahead of time or waiting until way after. I'd like to do it when we're likely to have the best weather.

Also, if any of you have favorite port-tasting spots, please do share!

Many thanks again for your help and encouragement!

"favorite port-tasting spots" - the Port Wine Institute (tinyurl.com/8dwxed ) in Lisbon, already mentioned, and Taylor's "cave" in Vila Nova de Gaia (see wilhelmswords.com/rtw2004/index.html for description).

I wouldn't advise going in November, if you can help it. The harvest and subsequent cleanup will be over, and many of the quintas may have limited visiting hours.

We went at the very end of September in 2008 and were lucky enough to catch the harvest; it's impossible to plan exactly, of course, because it depends on the growing conditions over the summer. We stayed at Quinta de la Rosa in Pinhao and some of the other guests were adventurous enough to climb in the tanks for some grape stomping! We had some intermittent rain up in the Douro Valley but perfect weather down in Porto. In 2007 we visited in late June and had generally warmer weather. We did notice a LOT more tourist activity in September, in the form of tour buses on the roads in the Douro valley, and more people in Porto. Porto (and possibly other cities in Portugal) has a Sao Joao festival on June 24, fireworks and people running around smacking each other with inflatable hammers. Some people like the excitement; I know I would be bailing Mr. DangerGirl out of jail.

In the Douro Valley: Quinta do Panascal has a good self-guided tour. You are directed through the vineyards during the tour and the view down to a tributary river is beautiful. Quinta da Pacheca (sp?) near Peso da Regua has a room of historical artifacts and a very nice facility; I believe they were also building a small hotel. Many quintas have signs along the road directing you to their tasting rooms; you can also find information online and in guidebooks. There are a couple of museums dedicated to Port and the Douro in Peso da Regua that are worth an afternoon exploring.

In Porto: if your husband already knows he likes Port, you probably don't need to visit ALL the lodges in V.N. de Gaia, just his favorite plus one or two others. Sandeman is a good basic tour, and they have a room of history and artifacts and an advertising exhibit about the development of the "brand". I also recommend Ramos Pinto, the house is beautiful and full of antiques, and as they focused on the South American market, the advertising has a different slant.

There is a tasting room run by the Port Wine Institute in the Crystal Palace Gardens. This is a beautiful setting looking over the river and they have many varieties available to sample (not for free, it is like a wine bar). This would be a nice visit for the whole family. There is also a Port wine bar called Vinologia, run by a very knowledgeable Frenchman, on the Rua do Infante Dom Henrique one block up from the Cais da Ribeira. Send your husband to Vinologia alone: it is an amazing tasting room but TEENY. Your kids will probably not want to be there and you probably won't want to watch them.

I think the Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour in Porto is a great deal. It's 10 Euros for 24 hours, and the tickets also work on the city buses so if you are down by the Ribeira you can get UP the hill to the train station pretty easily. Note that it doesn't run every 10 minutes like in some cities, more like every hour or 90 minutes depending on the route. So if you hop off, plan your time well and don't miss the next bus. We rode the routes without getting off, just listened to the commentary and then rode the city buses to places we wanted to go.

I went in Feb and it poured the whole time but that just gave the city a nice glisten. Pack accordingly and any time is a good time.