The Douro Valley is renowned for its wines and dramatic natural scenery and my wife and I had always thought about visiting it in style! Now that our children are old enough to appreciate some of lifes pleasures, we decided it was time to introduce them to good wines, good food and what we hoped would prove an excellent hotel! Indeed, our family holiday lived up to all our expectations! Being in the oldest demarcated wine region in the world, it was only natural to be driven to various traditional wine estates with extraordinary state-of-the-art equipped wine cellars, where some of the best Ports and Red Wines in the world have been stored for decades and decades. The wine tastings were pure bliss and my children loved the wine games and learned a lot from them too! Also, as we are all sporty, we decided to cycle along the river to exercise our muscles and to experience the freshness of being close to a rather imposing river and its leafy banks. We had been given a picnic basket before leaving the hotel and I still remember the silence and peacefulness of the countryside whilst we ate delicious little salmon and watercress sandwiches sipping ice-cold lemonade! As we were exhausted by that time and definitely with no wish to cycle back to the hotel, we returned by boat in time to see the sun disappearing behind increasingly dark mountains. Before heading to the Almapura restaurant for an outstandingly well cooked and presented dinner, we still had time for a relaxing and aromatic massage which restored all our strength and good spirits. This is definitely a holiday to be remembered by all of us!
Day one | Arrival and dinner at the property
Day Two | Boat Trip the entire day. Sailing boat to discover the river and
wine terraces, learn how to sail and picnic on board.
Day Three | visit to palaces and museums such as Douro Museum with the history of the regions and its characters, Palacio de Mateus (a palace from 18th century from Nicolau Nasoni, lunch at a local restaurant on top of the river named DOC, afternoon at the spa or by the pool. Try our walking trails, one of them passing by the hotel and telling the story of the vineyards.
Day four | cycling day or adventure such as rafting or kayak
Day five | departure