Cruise Description

7 Night Cruise sailing from Barca De Alva to Oporto aboard Andorinha. Hotel stays pre-cruise in Madrid and post-cruise in Lisbon.

Centuries of wine-growing history and timeless Port traditions along an enchanting “river of gold”… white-painted quinta estates lined with terraced vineyards… art and architecture royally inspired and the joys of tapas in Madrid… Lisbon’s treasures from the Age of Discovery and beyond…

Cruise through the heart of one of the world’s oldest and most beautiful wine regions on a 12-day journey between Lisbon and Madrid, featuring a 7-night cruise aboard Tauck’s new riverboat ms Andorinha, custom designed for exploring Portugal’s “golden” Douro River. Visit quintas for wine tastings, hike through vineyards and villages, and discover the UNESCO World Heritage city of Porto, where the Douro kisses the Atlantic and timeless Port traditions steal your heart. Spend two nights each in Madrid, Spain’s bigger-than-life capital, with its bar culture and bevy of baroque and belle époque architecture – and Lisbon, gate to the “New World,” enticing with palaces aplenty and azulejos chronicling life from Moorish times to present day..

Highlights of this cruise:

Oporto
Oporto (Porto) is a city in northern Portugal and is the second largest city in Portugal. One of the most beautiful towns on the Iberian peninsula, Oporto is enchantingly situated on the great gorge of the Douro River in northern Portugal. It is famous for its world-renowned wine "Port," made in the upper Douro valley by a process practiced nowhere else in the world.

Porto’s historical centre was awarded World Heritage status by UNESCO in 1996. The city is extremely hilly, with many buildings built into a cliff face that overlooks the river. Stairs cut into the stone run up and down the cliff face and offer a laborious but rewarding walking tour. Across the river from Porto proper, in the suburb of Gaia, are located the warehouses of notable companies dealing with Port Wine, such as Cálem, Fonseca, Sandemans, Kopke, and others.

Regua
Regua commonly known as Régua, is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The municipality is composed of 12 parishes, and is located in the district of Vila Real. Backed by the Serra do Marão mountains and overlooking the wide valley of the River Douro, Regua is a peaceful town and wine growing region.

Régua is the official centre of the Port wine growing region. From here, barrels of wine were traditionally transported to Vila Nova de Gaia in the past using wooden sailing ships called rabelos. Today, the journey is made by road using specially-adapted tankers.

Barca D'Alva
Barca d'Alva is a nice village on the Douro river. Here you will find olive and almond groves.