The Douro River, Portugal

For the scenery, wide rivers, deep locks and lots of wine and port… you can’t beat the Douro! Some of Europe’s rivers are so busy, visiting multiple countries and hectic city excursions, but not the Douro, the Douro is different.

The river is wide and steep sided with rambling vineyards and fruit farms on either side. The days are lazy and easy.

We sailed with AMA Waterways, round trip Porto to Porto, entirely in Portugal, for seven nights. The fellow passengers were a mix of Americans, Australians and South Americans… we were the only British – and that was quite novel! But it was very interesting to meet the other nationalities and hear their stories. Excursions in the Douro were mostly to palaces and wine tasting! Mateus Palace and gardens were quite beautiful and just like the label on the bottle!

One day we had an excursion into Spain to visit Salamanca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a ‘living museum’.

On another day we visited Lamego, an important pilgrimage site in Portugal. We climbed 700 steps to the shrine of Our Lady of Remedies.

Porto itself is another UNESCO site, and its most famous railway station is a tourist attraction in itself – thousands of blue and white tiles depict famous Portuguese historic events, a site to behold!

The river is the third longest river of the Iberian Peninsula, at one point it plunges 1,250 feet in just 30 minutes. In the gorges, the locks are spectacular engineering feats and we all enjoyed being up on deck to watch the captain steer us safety in and out of the locks… with just centimetres to spare!

Apart from the beautiful ship, the friendly passengers, excellent excursions and entertainment… I must mention the food! Hmm Hmm – delicious sums it up! Menus which delighted us and wine to complement each dish.

A holiday like this ticks all the boxes… I can guarantee it 100%... you’ll want to book another AMA cruise soon!

Meet me in the gallery!