Find and Book Wineries to Visit in Porto & Douro

Porto is quite an accessible city with regular flights from all over Europe, including low-cost carriers and a major infrastructural hub of north Portugal, which is why it can be easily reached by a variety of means of transport.
Foreign visitors might find it handy to get to Porto by plane. If you plan to visit by air wineries in Porto and Douro the closest airport is Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (IATA: OPO) is located 13 km to the north of Porto, in the Maia district. It's the second largest airport in Portugal by traffic.

If you want to visit wineries in Porto and Douro by car, better choose Porto as your home base, except if you decide to book accommodation in a wine estate!
Porto is literally surrounded by motorways, the city has excellent road connections with the entire Continental Portugal, A1 highway links Porto to Lisbon, A4 provides the connection to Trás-os-Montes whereas A3 reaches all the way to Minho. Either by bus or by car (private vehicle or rented car), Porto and Douro valley can be reached from virtually all corners of the country.
Driving is by very far the best option to visit wineries in Porto and Douro, but it is not recommended for the faint-hearted. The roads are very narrow and curvy, and most of them don’t have lateral protections so you get the impression that the slightest mistake will throw you off the cliff in the direction of the Douro river. However, the views are simply stunning, and having a car gives you plenty of flexibility to explore the less crowded vineyards, the unknown viewpoints over the Douro river, and other hidden treasures of the region.

If you want to visit wineries in Porto and Douro by train, better choose Porto as your home base, except if you decide to book accommodation in a wine estate! In north Portugal, Porto is the most important railway hub of CP (Comboios de Portugal, www.cp.pt), the Portuguese railway company that offers a vast rail network.
You can use two main train stations:

• Estação de Sao Bento (Sao Bento Train Station) is located in central Porto, in Praca Almeida Garrett, being the terminal of regional trains which travel between Porto and sundry north destinations (such as Braga, Viana do Castelo and Duoro), and;


• Estação de Campanha (Campanha Train Station) is the terminal of trains leaving for and arriving from the south (Lisbon included).

The regional train is the most popular option among backpackers, students, and other budgets like travelers. In fact, getting from Porto to the Douro by train is by far the cheapest option. Trains depart from the Porto Campanha Station with stops in Peso da Régua and Pocinho, the end of the train line. Travel time is an 1h 45min offering splendid views of the Douro Valley and River from your train carriage that you won’t see by car or bus.

There's no bad time to visit wineries in Porto & Douro as there is always something on offer that should suit your interests. Celebrations and seasons are accompanied by log fires and sunny dispositions. And there is always the pleasure of discovering an amazing wine, especially to sit back and relax with a stunning Port.
If you like to enjoy the sun and even get a little tan on the beaches, ride a bicycle downtown, travel on foot, and discover the trails, from April to September the weather and temperatures are very good for this kind of activity.

In one of the wildest, most mountainous, and rugged wine regions of Portugal, wineries in Porto & Douro defied gravity on the steep slopes along the banks of the Douro River and its tributaries and planted the vines in poor, schistose soils.
Carrying centuries of tradition, wineries in Porto & Douro are small family enterprises producing wines with personality, character, and excellent taste. In their vineyards you will find vines that are over 100 years old, producing a low amount of high-quality grapes.

Some of the grape varieties that wineries in Porto & Douro use for the production of Port Wine are:

• Touriga Nacional,
• Touriga Franca,
• Tinta Barroca,
• Aragonez (locals call it Tinta Roriz), and,
• Tinto Cão.

Some words to remember before you visit wineries in Porto & Douro:

English	Portuguese
Wine	Vinho
Winery	Adega
Wine tasting	Vinho
Wine route	Rota do vinho
Cheers!	Saude!

The facilities you encounter in Porto & Douro wineries are wine tasting halls and outdoor spaces which captivate you, cellars, production line view, and amenities for physically challenged persons. Due to the high sense of family traditions, the majority of the wineries offer areas where the younger members of a family can amuse themselves. Also, the personnel of the wineries shows great love and affection to companion animals. The significant detail is, due to the relevant remote position that most of the wineries in Porto & Douro are, they operate as an alternative tourism farm, meaning the existence of a hotel and a restaurant in their estates offering great hospitality and the chance to taste local cuisine!