Our last day in Porto was arguably the best (don’t miss day one and day two). Exhaustion pressed on, but so did we. We left bright and early for another tour in the Douro wine region, this time with CoolTour Oporto, and our adorable guide Jose who was incredibly knowledgeable about the area and kept us entertained all day. The morning was cooler than the previous, with a thick layer of fog settled over the mountains.
Our first stop was for coffee and pastries in the small town of Mesao Frio before continuing on to our first winery, D’Origem, a family owned farm and winery that produces great tables wines, as well as olive oil and honey.
We learned about how the family has made olive oil for over a hundred years from the third generation heir of the estate, the owner’s 15-year-old grandson.
After tasting the fabulous olive oil, wines and honey we hit the road again for Pinhao, where we boarded a boat on the Douro River to see some of the region not accessible by car.
The ride was about 50 minutes out and back, with gorgeous weather and views. This was a supplemental part of the tour, but so worth it.
After the boat tour we had a wonderful, authentic Portuguese lunch at Quinta de Santo Antonio before heading to our final winery of the trip, Quinta las Lamelas, another small family-owned winery and port producer.
The grounds were extensive, the owner’s entire family is housed on the property, along with the vines, production facility and even a family chapel. We were able to try a tawny port, pre-bottling, from a huge wooden vat.
We really enjoyed the wines at this winery, featuring an old white port, a rose port and a ruby we couldn’t leave without buying, which we’ll be sharing with my family this weekend in the Outer Banks.
CoolTour Oporto is a fantastic choice if you want to explore the Douro Valley, taste great wines and have a fun-filled day outside of Porto.
We didn’t get back from the tour until almost 8 p.m. local time, but we still hadn’t seen the ocean side of Porto. Jose was kind enough to drop us off at a recommended dinner spot, where we had another amazing, cheap dinner, before a short walk along coast.
It was hard to leave, and there was so much we wished we could have seen that we didn’t have time for, but the next morning at 3:30 a.m. we left for the airport to head back to real life. It was an unforgettable trip, and I definitely plan to return to Portugal for a longer trip one of these days.
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