The Douro River
is the third-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. Its total length is 897 kms (557 mi). The Douro Valley is known as one of Portugal’s best areas for the production of wine and port. It is a beautiful area to explore.
The starting point to explore this iconic river is in Porto. Here you can catch a River Cruise, Train Trip, Hiking Trip, Biking Trip or plan your own road trip. What ever you decide, you won’t be disappointed with the scenery, accommodations and amazing wine. For me, my exploration was with my wife, Kathy, and four of our good friends. We did a seven day biking trip with a company called Live, Love, Ride. They are based in Portugal and organized all aspects of our trip. We biked 219kms (132 mi) in 6 days of biking. As you will see in the photos the terrain is very hilly - with stunning vistas of the vineyards and olive trees.
Our Biking trip started high up in the hills in a village called Provesende. A sleepy village with two small cafes and a quirky bar. Fortunately the village came alive with the areas Fall Wine Festival which happened to be planned for one of the nights we stayed in the village.
What a fun night it turned out to be. It started with Folklore dancers entering the square - then the party began to kick into high gear. Soon after a Drum & Dance troup took over the festival and got things really going. Click on my link for a 30 second clip below. I have never seen anything like it. I believe it has some Brazalian history to it. The crowd was really into it.
This group played for over an hour as they wound their way down the plaza. I don’t think there was anyone who couldn’t feel the rhythm of the drums. The leader was super charismatic. Really cool…..
And now for the rest of the story. I mentioned several ways to experience the Douro Valley. The views are spectacular but if you're biking it would be a serious workout. The alternative and one that was much appreciated on this trip was to rent e-bikes - which we did. Not that there was no effort involved, but you can choose how much assistance you want - fantastic. I’m an e-bike believer now !
