Tour Itinerary

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/rivercruises/porto-regua-pinhao-porto-2013/itinerary.aspx


Porto

PORTO

Porto, or Oporto to give it its native Portuguese name, is one of the last undiscovered European cities… but this is rapidly changing with an influx of modern architecture and shifting cultural landscape raising its profile and attracting a new wave of tourists. As a UNESCO Heritage site, Oporto is an ancient port teeming with stories of tradition, lineage and heritage. Take its monuments built by famed architects such as Gustave Eiffel’s Ponte Dona Maria, Nicolau Nasoni’s Clerigos Tower, Rem Koolhaas’ Casa da Musica, or Siza Vieira’s Serralves Museum. If you’re a Harry Potter fan, Oporto was the muse that enticed J.K. Rowling into her internationally acclaimed series, most especially the Lello bookstore with its windy wooden staircase and sky high bookshelves. In lieu of soft lines and tiled walls, you can experience some of the most modern design in Porto, including: the Casa da Musica, La Boheme entre Amis Bar or the Vidalgo Palace Spa.


Bitetos
http://www.cruiseguide.com.au/cruise-ports/9952/bitetos-portugalhttp://www.cruiseguide.com.au/cruise-ports/9952/bitetos-Portugal

Régua
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peso_da_R%C3%A9gua_Municipality,_Portugal
& Pinhão
Great views are here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vitor107/sets/72057594053227125/


Barca d’Alva
Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo.

Salamanca & Vega de Terrón

Pinhão

Régua

“	The mark founded in the landscape, in the lives of men and the system of relationships, more than its economic importance, to the region and the country, made the Port Wine a cultural fact, a Portuguese cultural patrimony, a universal wine. It is this generous wine, with singular characteristics, old, sweet and aromatic, completed centuries of experience, of work, of knowledge and art, of solidarity and conflicts. Complimented by nature, with united exceptional conditions on the flanks of schist along the Douro valley, the wine of Porto is, like many of the great wines, a human product. Of the Dourense, clearly, but also too the businessmen of Porto, the English, the poor of the Cold Lands of Trás-os-Montes and Beira, the careers of the people of Minho and Galicia...Here, in the demarcated region of wines, that are considered the oldest in the world (1756), in the contemporary sense a denomination of origin, the history of the peoples and vineyards advance, along the centuries and roads parallel.quote text	”
—Gaspar Martins Pereira, (2000) Memória do Rio. Para uma história da navegação no Douro. Edições There are only two streets of note – the riverfront avenue with the boat quay and the long town main street which runs parallel, one block inland. On the former is the Museu do Douro, which tells the history of the river and its people, rather than just rehearsing the port wine story. For this you need the Solar do Vinho do Porto, housed in a converted warehouse on the main street. This is the Douro Wine Institute’s showcase centre, offering not just wine tastings but also thematic exhibitions and events about port wine and the Douro. A little way further down is the imposing granite Casa do Douro, the headquarters of the port wine growers’ organization – duck inside to see the enormous medieval-style stained-glass window depicting the port trade. Read more: http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/europe/portugal/porto-rio-douro/peso-da-regua/#ixzz2mGWOiu7L Afrontamento. Porto