Portugal Wine & Food Tour

This trip is the ideal vacation for food and wine lovers! We explore some of Portugal’s top wine regions while savoring every morsel of their delicious cuisine.

From the sun-kissed plains of the Alentejo wine region to the terraced hillsides of the Douro to beautiful historic city centers, what’s not to love about Portugal? We meander through one of Europe’s oldest nations, exploring and learning about many of its Denominação de Origem Controlada (or DOCs), either by visiting these incredible wine regions in person, or through educational tasting sessions led by our experienced Lisbon-based wine guide, Francisco.

This comprehensive Portugal vacation will have you visiting remarkable wineries (and port wine lodges), gathering ingredients in the market for our private cooking class focused on traditional Portuguese cuisine, delighting in wine-paired meals and hillside picnics, relaxing on a rabelo boat ride down the Douro River, exploring several historic cities and towns, and basking in luxurious hotels each night. Join us for an immersion in a rich wine, culinary, and historical experience in Portugal!

Fun reads for this tour:

• Portugal Travel Tips: Know Before You Go
• 5 Myths About Wine Tours And Why They Are Wrong
• First Time Abroad? Here’s What To Do

“Pretty much perfection- and completely as advertised. It was easy and stress-free. Well organized.”

Portugal Wine & Food Tour Details

• • • Private Tour Only: Choose Your Own Dates
    • Trip Price Per Person: $4,500
    • Single Supplement: $900
    • Flight from Porto to Lisbon (estimated to be $300) is additional. We will purchase this for you and include this cost on your invoice.
    • Minimum: 6 people
    • Guide: Francisco Franco Afonso
    • Meals: All meals except one dinner
    • General Tour FAQs

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Private Tour Bookings

• • • Private Tours are available to book with your own group on any date you choose, given guide and lodging availability
    • Customizations to the itinerary possible with additional per person fees
    • Please note –  Our pricing is based on double occupancy lodging. If upon finalizing your private trip, your group has a solo traveler in a room without a roommate, the single supplement becomes mandatory. This amount will differ depending on the itinerary. Please contact our tour operations team for more details.

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DAY 1: Vinho Verde DOC + Dao DOC + Intro to Portugal’s Other Wine Regions

We meet you in the early afternoon at the Porto airport and whisk you away for your first tasting at Quinta da Aveleda in the southernmost tip of the Vinho Verde DOC, Portugal’s largest wine region, in the cool verdant and rainy northwestern portion of the country. Avelada is one of the largest producers of Portugal’s signature Vinho Verde, a light, bubbly, and crisp white wine. The name Vinho Verde translates as “young wine,” being released three to six months after the grapes are harvested and usually consumed shortly thereafter. We continue on our way to beautiful city of Pinhão where we’ll check into our hotel for the next two nights.

The Vintage House Hotel sits directly on a lovely bend on the Douro River and is encircled by terraced hillsides that produce some of the world’s best port.  Your Portuguese wine guide Francisco will formally introduce you to the wine regions of Portugal this afternoon, including a tasting of wines from the Dao DOC in northern Portugal.  Afterwards, we’ll enjoy dinner at our hotel’s wonderful restaurant.

DAY 2: Pinhão + Douro DOC + Bairrada DOC

This morning we suggest you stay in bed a little longer than usual and recover from your long flight across the pond.  Enjoy breakfast in the hotel at your leisure and explore your surroundings.  We will depart the hotel a bit before noon for a tasting and vineyard picnic with wine at Quinta Seixo just across the river. As you might guess, the views will be tremendous!

We will return to the hotel’s dock in time for a two-hour afternoon boat cruise up the Douro River on a Rabelo boat. The Rabelo is the traditional boat of the Douro Valley and looks like a cross between a Viking boat and a gondola from Venice. They were used to transport cargo, such as port wine barrels, down the Douro river from the valley to the Atlantic Ocean.  The section of the Douro north from Pinhão toward Pocinho offers stunning views of the steeply terraced hillside vineyards.

Prior to tonight’s signature wine-paired dinner at Chef Rui Paula’s legendary DOC Restaurant in nearby Folgosa, Francisco will lead an educational tasting of the wines of the Bairrada region.

DAY 3: City of Porto + Port Lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia

After breakfast, Francisco will lead you in an educational tasting of Port wines – tawny, ruby, white, rose – in preparation for this afternoon’s visit to the port lodges. We’ll then check out of the hotel and depart for the fabulous city of Porto.

Porto prides itself on the beautiful Ribeira district, a row of colorful buildings staring at their reflections in the river below. There are five bridges connecting Porto to the city across the river, Vila Nova de Gaia, and at night the Ribeira district is filled with glittering lights illuminating the river, bridges, and buildings of both cities. The narrow, cobbled streets of Ribeira are dotted with small bars and eateries serving classic Portuguese fare like grilled sardines and octopus.

We’ll enjoy lunch at the restaurant of what is perhaps the most famous of Portugal’s port wine lodges, Graham’s, followed by visits and tastings of two additional port wine lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia.

We’ll check into our classic hotel along the river promenade and enjoy a lovely walk to a casual yet delicious dinner.

DAY 4: Traditional Portuguese Food + Flight South

After breakfast, we will check out of our hotel and wander the food market to explore the local flavors and pick out the ingredients for our private cooking class.  We’ll don our aprons and learn to make an egg dish with a traditional Portuguese sausage called alheira, Bacalhau à Lagareiro (cod prepared the local way) and the most delicious pastries you’ve (probably) ever had: Pasteis de Nata! The famous Portuguese egg-custard tarts are a sweet circle of chewy goodness and were first made by Catholic monks. They have influenced pastries all over the world, including the egg tarts found in Hong Kong and mainland China. And just to make things a bit more fun, we might drink a little wine while we cook!

This afternoon, we take an hour-long flight south to the capital city of Lisbon. From there, we have a private transfer to the town of Evora, a UNESCO World Heritage city.  Evora is one of Portugal’s most charming and most beautifully preserved medieval towns, complete with 14th-century walls around its center, and narrow, winding cobblestone streets.  This small city has the second largest number of national monuments of Portugal, second only to Lisbon, and sits upon a hill above the fertile Alentejo plain.

We’ll check into our hotel for the next three nights and walk to dinner at a nearby charming local restaurant.

DAY 5: Alentejo DOC + Lagos DOC + Portimão DOC

This morning we have built in a bit of free time to allow you to explore the incredible streets of Evora or perhaps relax by enjoying a service at our hotel’s spa. We’ll reconvene for another fun educational tasting led by your guide, Francisco – this time covering the wines of Lagos & Portimao.

After, we’ll depart for the renowned Herdade do Esporao for a fantastic “Five Moments” paired wine lunch, which will last the better part of the afternoon at their beautiful estate surrounded by vineyards.

Since the lunch is quite substantial, it’s possible you may be satisfied enough that you won’t want a large dinner.  For this reason, we’ve left the evening open for you to enjoy in Evora as you wish.

DAY 6: Evora + Monsaraz + Fortified Wines of Portugal

This morning you can opt for a historical walk of Evora with a visit to the Chapel of Bones, led by your guide, or to have a more leisurely morning on your own.

By mid-morning, we’ll depart for the ancient town of Monsaraz (considered by some to be Portugal’s most picturesque village), which sits high on a hilltop and is the tallest point for miles around. Surrounded by thick castle walls, it overlooks the giant Alqueva reservoir — the largest manmade lake in Europe — and one can see Spain on the other side of the water.

Dona Isabel, the proprietor at Sabores de Monsaraz, prepares a fantastic family-style feast for us at her tiny restaurant overlooking Alqueva Reservoir.  With its dark, medieval interior and Isabel urging you to have more of each dish, it is a bit like having a meal at your grandma’s house, who cooks for you with all your favorite aunties helping in the kitchen!  Pork cheeks slowly cooked in red wine, baked cod with egg, potatoes with fresh cilantro, goat cheese over watercress, bread, olives, rice with raisins and nuts and a variety of desserts. Delicioso!

We’ll head back to our hotel and enjoy our last educational tasting from Francisco, this one comparing Moscatel and Madeira, a couple of Portugal’s famed fortified wines. After, we’ll walk to dinner at a wonderful, tiny farm-to-table restaurant that features unbelievable food and wine — and a gregarious host, Jorge!

DAY 7: Setúbal DOC + Lisbon

After breakfast, we’ll check out of our hotel and depart for the tiny wine town of Azeitao in the Setúbal region south of Lisbon.  We’ll have lunch at By The Wine Azeitão, the flagship restaurant of the oldest quinto in Portugal: José Maria da Fonseca.

Afterwards we’ll continue on our way to Lisbon, where we’ll bid everyone farewell.

“Francisco was a font of knowledge and enthusiasm and I can’t imagine visiting Portugal without seeing it through his lens of local history, culture, and experience.”

Nights 1 & 2 >  Vintage House Hotel / Pinhão > The Vintage House is a luxury property in the center of town on the Douro River with fantastic views of the terraced vineyards.

Night 3 > Hotel Pestana Vintage Porto Hotel & World Heritage Site / Porto > This is the quintessential lodging in Porto in the heart of the Ribeira district and on the river, with views of the port lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia across the Douro.

Nights 4 – 6 > Hotel Mar d’Ar Aqueduto / Evora > The Mar d’Ar is another luxury hotel (complete with a spa) and is located just outside the 14th century medieval walls of the old town next to the 16th century aqueduct.