We had a wonderful walking tour of Porto with Luis, a young local who clearly has a deep love for his hometown. Despite a rainy start to the morning, Luis made the most of the weather and shared the history of Porto with genuine passion and enthusiasm from beginning to end.
We started at the Universidade do Porto and made our way through some of the city's most iconic sites: the Torre dos Clérigos, the stunning Igreja do Carmo and Igreja dos Carmelitas, the Câmara Municipal, and São Bento Station, where Luis gave us a fascinating overview of the history behind the famous azulejos. The tour wrapped up at the lively Mercado do Bolhão, and as a bonus, Luis shared some excellent food recommendations to help us make the most of our time in the city.
Luis is knowledgeable, friendly, and a fantastic storyteller. Highly recommended, obrigado Luis!
Jose was a terrific and informative host. The first winery tour was wonderful and educational, and we enjoyed every wine we sampled. Lunch at Quinta dos Novais was delicious — we’d love to get our hands on a few of those recipes! The electric boat ride was a relaxing finish to the day, complete with more delicious treats. This was a well planned, beautiful scenic tour. We would highly recommend this tour.
Wonderful day exploring the Douro valley. So glad we did this!!
The wine tasting, lunch with wine pairings and river boat ride were excellent Guides were very thoughtful and gave us great information. It was a relaxing day and partly because we had small groups. Six in our party for the day. The transportation was comfortable.
Worth every penny—a must do day trip from Porto!
This is a very well run tour; excellent guides, clean & well maintained vehicles, everything is on time and well organized. We found it a bit pricier than other options but it is well worth it. I loved their electric boat for the peaceful ride on the Douro river. Lunch had a spectacular view and we enjoyed generous tastings of wine, port, food. They also accommodated some food allergies in our group very well.
Definitely would recommend this tour
I would 100% recommend this tour. Alex was our guide, and he did a wonderful job. He kept us all engaged, and kept the mood light and fun. The wineries we went to were great, and food was delicious. Our boat guides were also top notch. Great day, Thank you Alex. Keep up the good work
Our day in the Douro Valley was our favorite day while visiting Portugal! The wine and food on the tour was all incredible. Bruno was an amazing guide the service was top notch! I would highly recommend booking if visiting the Porto area.
Even the thunder and lightning could not stop us having a fabulous time on this trip
Excellent day trip out in to the Douro, it was just the two of us and one other couple during first week of November, it was pelting down with rain with thunder and lightning all throughout the drive to the Douro, but miraculously the rain stopped just at the right time so we could take the boat trip, which was lovely. Stopped at two good quintas and learned a lot about wine, food and port and the area.Good value for money, great guides, good food, good wine, good port and good company.
Excellent job from everyone at BL tours! I can’t say enough good things. Luis was a great guide through it all. The food, wine, boat ride, van ride…everything perfect! Best tour I’ve ever been on. Highly recommend this tour if you’re in Porto!
We had a great time with the Douro Valley wine tour and river cruise! Our tour guide, Rita, and all of the co-hosts along the way were very knowledgeable and engaging, keeping us talking and getting to know each other in the bus rides to and from the experience, and teaching us about how table wine and Port are made. The food we had for lunch was also very delicious, as were all the wines that we tasted. I would absolutely recommend this to friends visiting Porto!
Great way to experience the Douro valley
Great exposure to the beauty and history of the Douro. Our guide Joao was very knowledgeable about the valley and winemaking. We experienced driving through the region, an hour on the river for a different perspective, and a great tasting to learn more about port and its history. Had a fabulous meal in a beautiful setting overlooking the changing colors of the valley as if we were locals. A great time even though it was a cold rainy day.
Great tour of the Douro. Really enjoyed visiting the small producers who had their unique stories to tell. You can see how passionate they are about the land and about what they do. We were lucky to get to catch sight of some folks stomping grapes which was something I always wanted to see. Our guide- driver- host was such a warm personality that it felt like we were being shown around by a local friend. I would highly recommend the tour!
Everything and more you could ask for in an event filled trip. Comfortable and scenic drive into the Douro Valley. Rita, our host, was warm and welcoming, funny and very informative. She has a wonderful way about her ensuring we all come together and enjoy the day collectively. An impeccable driver!
First stop at Quinta do Foz with João included a tour and tasting of course including their own only olive oil. We couldn’t resist and left with both. Beautiful views and memorable stop.
Continued through the valley to meet yet another delightful human, Raphael. He offered us a river view from his electric water craft offering a quiet and picturesque perspective including a reflective conversation on the Portuguese people and the importance of caring for the environment. The looming rains held off and our memorable day continued.
Our final stop, bajancas, was a nice meet and greet and and soon to follow sit down dinner at a well appointed table to enjoy a four course dinner and wine/port pairing. Exceptionally prepared and executed, pleasantly satiated, it was time to make our way home.
Highly recommend to any lucky traveller. Will not disappoint. Do it!
Worth Every Euro, and then some!
I was looking for a special way to celebrate my partner’s 79th birthday. In our time together we’ve visited and stayed in five countries and at our age we’ve seen or done much of what touring is all about. Doing something memorable was going to be a challenge. However this tour checked off all the boxes. Time: a 9&1/2 hour dayVisited: two wineries ( out of 18,000 vintners) with tastings and amazing food.Travel: three hours by road in a luxury Mercedes SUV seeing some of the most beautiful vistas in the Douro Valley. Experience: a one hour boat ride on the Douro River in an electric powered boat with tapas and a port and tonic drink. Heaven. Guides: amazing driver and boat captain who stayed with us for the day and took care of every detail. Tour guide on the boat ride who spoke to the history and culture of what makes the Douro Valley so unique and special. Our host at the first winery who explained to complexity and challenges of growing grapes in this region and provided a wonderful four course lunch with paired wines. And finally, our knowledgeable host at our second winery who walked us through the whole process from the stomping of the grapes to how they transform wine to port. Special Treat: they very thoughtfully presented my partner Lynn with a BD cake after the lunch. Classy