Douro Valley Premium Tour from Porto with lunch, wine tasting & river cruise

This was one of the best guided tours I’ve ever been on. Luis was terrific. He pick my group up at the hotel and took care of us all day. From the two wineries to lunch at a wonderful restaurant to the river cruise, Luis made everything perfect. If you want to know anything about Port or Olive Oil production in Portugal, this is the tour you want. Worth every dime.

Ok, so you're considering a Douro Valley tour...I'm here to tell you TAKE THIS ONE!! There are many Douro Valley tours available and I was scrolling through trying to decide if it's a worthwhile adventure for me (mostly because I really don't drink wine anymore). I chose this one, Meridian4People, mostly because a solo traveler could buy a ticket (most of them required 2 or more to buy tickets). So between that fact and the existing reviews I booked it and I'm SO glad I did! I was on the last leg of a trip to Spain & Portugal, traveling solo and this was the highlight of my entire 3 1/2 week trip. Here's my take on the tour: I got picked up by Joao (John) at my hotel first and jumped in the front seat. Yay for not getting holed up next to strangers in the back! Except we actually had three in the back seat, three in the middle seat and three of us up front so I was on the hump in the middle (manual transmission) the whole way. I felt like we were in the Scooby Doo van (Zoiks!), haha. First, let me say that John is an awesome guide! He is a great driver and genuinely cares about everyone on the tour in addition to sharing great history and insight. I noticed him gently listening to others' conversation (not in a creepy way) because it seemed he was interested in those from other cultures. We were lucky to have a great group of people in our van of nine. A younger gay male couple (and one of the aforementioned couple's parents), a young Millennial couple from Denmark (I think), a Chinese grad student living in England, and me (single gal, 51, from the US). We did a coffee break in a quaint looking village which was picturesque but nothing compared to what we'd soon start to experience. The Sanderling Port winery was wonderful and the views were stellar - I indulged in the 40-year vintage Port which is definitely worth a splurge. The boat tour was magic for me, mostly because the skies were just so awe inspiring that day...I was kind of freaking out about it ('cause I freak out about those things) and the weather was just perfect, too. I had my Bose earbuds cranking and curated my own river cruise experience, which was about an hour. Back in the van and venturing further into the valley we arrived at Pinhao for a legit Portuguese family-style lunch. I'm not a meat on the bone kind of girl, so it wouldn't be my typical lunch but it's always special to go to a small, authentic restaurant and see the pride that they take in serving guests. After lunch, we went to D'Origem Winery, which I loved! Their red wine apparently won a Gold medal in June 2022 (but it was my least favorite of the three we got to try). Their white and especially their Rose were fantastic! Pro tip: Get the 2-bottle wine package to stash in your luggage...It's SO worth it. The views at D'Origem were also amazing and it's the kind of place you don't want to leave. Both Sanderling and D'Origem had 'presentations' that were interesting and engaging (not cheesy)...Wonderful staff at both. The tour overall was about 9 hours and I'd gladly do it again. In fact, I probably will when I come back to Porto this fall! Thanks to Joao for being fun to be smooshed next to all day on the drive. I can't recommend this tour enough....It's good for the soul.

Carla was a great guide and the tour was amazing. However a major issue for me was that I chose an english speaking tour and they grouped me with Spanish and French speakers- and so our guide had to speak 3 languages every time. Since I was the only person who chose the english tour, I feel like more information were passed on to the bigger groups sharing the same language so I did feel like i wasn’t able to maximize the learnings from the tour. Given this, what I learned from the tour was very limited especially since the guide had to do translations all the time. Under this circumstance i didn’t feel like the tour was value for money. Note that this could be an isolated experience. Another issue I had was that I chose hotel pickup not knowing that the pickup point was just 3 minutes away from my hotel, as it was published on the listing that the meeting point would initially be 30 mins away. Thus i could’ve saved some money if the tour company posted the correct pick up point to begin with. Tour was generally enjoyable, beautiful views, food was good. Did however expect a more in depth tasting experience.

The views and our tour guide was a plus 10. The wineries were well presented, the vehicle was comfortable and once again our tour guide was excellent

The tour was well worth the money. Our Guide was helpful and knowledgable. Lunch was great and all wines tasted for the day were of great quality.

The beautiful landscape of the valley was fantastic, and the energy of our guide, Luis, was amazing! What he could tell about the valley, and the country was fantastic to hear about. I can only reconnend a trip with Luis behind the wheel!

We enjoyed it all, particularly the views over the valley. Breathtaking. Our driver, Carlos, was terrific. We did the 8 person private tour.

I enjoyed the whole trip from start to finish, and it was a very long day. Luiz was a good driver and guide, and very nice company. The wine tasting was excellent. The lunch was unexpectedly very good, with huge amounts of food and wine. The cruise on the river wasn’t that great on a very crowded boat. The port tasting at Sandemans was a very nice way to end.

This is one of the most beautiful regions I ‘ve ever seen. Unbelievable views, nice tastings. Our guide Joao couldn’t do this better.

This a great tour! Our guide, Nuno, was genuinely concerned with making sure we were happy and well fed. He took back roads so we really got to see a lot of amazing scenery. The facilities for the tastings were first class. The lunch was very traditional and felt like someone’s grandmother was in the kitchen. And dishes just kept coming. The only negative was that the van had seen better days. A fun, full day. Great value for money.