Day trip up the Douro Valley

[SCP]

I'm planning a day trip up the Douro for 6-8 people in May and looking for a little advice.
All of the group enjoy port, with varying degrees of knowledge (half have been to Porto before). I've previously been to the Douro valley and visited Quinta do Bomfim and Quinta de la Rosa on foot from Pinhao. We are happy to take a couple of taxi journeys if needed, but would probably do most on foot / train.

Quinta do Vesuvio - do they still do visits, if booked in advance? (I read a while ago that they did, not sure if this changed with the Bomfim visitor centre opening). If yes, then do they do lunch as well? As Vesuvio is my favourite house, this is somewhere I'd really like to visit.

Quinta da Roeda - has anyone been and is it good?

[SCP]

After reading through the many notes here, the latest plan is the following (unless Vesuvio does indeed take visitors):

Train Porto - Pinhao, quick lunch
Walk to Quinta da Roeda
Taxi to Quinta do Seixo
Taxi to Quinta do Tedo (tapas dinner here, or in castas e pratos in Regua)
Taxi to Regua & train back to Porto

Does this seem like a sensible day trip (getting back to Porto on the last train)?

[Alex Bridgeman]

That's not a bad plan, but you are trying to fit a lot into a small amount of time. One of the things about the Douro is that it is a wonderful place to just sit and chill and let the world go buy. With friends a couple of years ago we booked into Bomfim and included a picnic lunch on the terrace of Echo House as part of our visit. We arrived at Bomfim around 11am and left about 5pm having spent a long and very leisurely lunch watching the boats go up and down the river under a blue sky with the backdrop of the hills of Carvalhas. It was very easy way to spend a few hours - with a couple of bottles of Port bought from the Bomfim shop included in our picnic box. I've never been to Roeda, but I think it's quite a long walk from the centre of Pinhão nor whether you can do a similar picnic lunch.

Seixo is a visit that is geared very much towards the high volume coach or cruise visitor. If you've never done it, it's worth doing once but it is a "mass market" approach to a quinta visit. If you want something different, consider Carvalhas. They make some pretty good wines although their Ports are not yet in the same bracket of quality (in my opinion).

Tedo is a great choice. Small enough to give you a really personalised visit. A very easy place to spend half a day, or more, sitting on the terrace overlooking the river while drinking a bottle of wine or Port and eating a few petiscos.

There are (or at least were when I last ate in Regua) a few good places to eat in Regua. Castas e Pratos is definitely one of them.

[DRT]

Quinta do Vesuvio - do they still do visits, if booked in advance? (I read a while ago that they did, not sure if this changed with the Bomfim visitor centre opening). If yes, then do they do lunch as well? As Vesuvio is my favourite house, this is somewhere I'd really like to visit.

Unless you have a private invitation from the family I think the only way to visit Vesuvio these days is on the luxury train trip, which I believe is not inexpensive.

[M.Charlton]

When looking into visiting Q’ta do Vesuvio, I came across:

http://milesaway.pt/projects/quintas/?lang=en

Perhaps others on this forum have heard of this particular guide?

[Alex Bridgeman]

When looking into visiting Q’ta do Vesuvio, I came across:

http://milesaway.pt/projects/quintas/?lang=en

Perhaps others on this forum have heard of this particular guide?

A very interesting guide, not one I'd heard of before.

[SCP]

When looking into visiting Q’ta do Vesuvio, I came across:

http://milesaway.pt/projects/quintas/?lang=en

Perhaps others on this forum have heard of this particular guide?

A very interesting guide, not one I'd heard of before.

Hmm, I hadn’t found that either when searching for Vesuvio visits, thanks!
No prices listed on the website, so it’s probably out of budget based on the if you need to ask, you can’t afford it principle...

[SCP]

Thanks Alex and Derek, I went to Quinta de la Rosa and Bomfim last time I was in the Douro valley, so was looking for other options. I have heard of a picnic at Roeda, so might try that and would then make sure we visit Tedo. If needs be we can skip the Sandeman visit (although I haven’t been to Seixo before).

[SCP]

Hi,
do you have pictures?

We are going next weekend Happy to post some when I get back.