What cruise line is that with?
@arisamp - what kinds of things do you like? We loved the half day walking tour of Lisbon and the bus/boat tour of the Douro Valley wine region when we were in Porto. Our friends were in Porto when we were and they enjoyed visiting the port houses, but we did other things when they did this. We also took the train to Sintra for the day when we were in Lisbon and loved it.
Which duoro River trip did you take?
jym626 - I just asked H what tour we did and he said it was one through Viator. Our friends who we overlapped in Porto with a couple of the days booked it first and we were able to book the same one. I remember we had to a meeting point where the bus picked up and we took an Uber from our hotel since it was raining. It was a fun day and everything worked out well for us.
Any chance you can find a name?
I believe it was this tour which we did in October 2023.
Complete Douro Valley Wine Tour with Lunch, Wine Tastings and River Cruise
Depending on how “things go” in the next several months, we are considering this trip for next year. i am not suggesting you do the bike trip, but the boat could be interesting for you
That sounds really wonderful! And I think Emerald is connected with Scenic cruises, which is absolutely first class.
@busdriver11 - we are going with Celebrity cruises
@showmom858 - thanks. I’d like the half day walking tour of Lisbon I think. Would give us a way to get oriented and then spend the rest of the time doing what is interesting. We’ve done free walking tours in many cities and it’s a good way to get to know the place.
The bus/boat tour sounds interesting too. I know we have friends that want to go to the port houses and we also have a couple that are not interested in wine or port. Will have to see if we split up for the day…
I’ll look for a link, unless you happen to have one.
Here you go.
Thanks for posting. We like that kind of a tour. You see a few places, get a meal/lunch covered for the day.
I table this for a while and got a bit more information as well as some feedback from the other couple. I am not sure that what they want and what we want are going to mailed, but we may consider traveling at the same time and coordinating meeting up in the cities that we want to see together. Some of the hotels that have been recommended to me may be a little out of their comfort zone pricewise. I’m going to get the names and bring them back to this thread for feedback.
Book early. We missed out on a Duoro tour because we tried to book 1-2 days before. WHat a disappointment.
Boutique hotels are fun. Some e recommended the corpo santo hotel in Lisbon.
Owner gives private walking tours
And they own the nearby ice cream shoppe and give free ice cream whenever you want
Or Avenida Palace or casa Balthazar
And this in Coimbra. It was a palace in the past. https://www.quintadaslagrimas.pt/en/
And hotel Monteverdi in the druro valley- it’s a winery.
Our potential travel buddies found these:
Porto
_____A Brasileira - This 5 star hotel in Porto was recommended by a woman blogger who chose it because of it’s proximity to activities and transportation: Hotel Pestana Porto - A Brasileira | Porto | Best Price
I chose this hotel in Lisbon almost at random, because of it’s location (near the place your friend recommended), free airport shuttle and breakfast included: Alecrim ao Chiado, Lisbon (updated prices 2025)
When we were in Portugal last year I had a hard time getting a hotel reservation in Lisbon. I tried numerous hotels suggested by CC posters and places my friend who lives in Portugal recommended. It was the oddest thing as it was just one night that seemed to be booked at every hotel. I never figured out what was happening on that night. I wouldn’t recommend the place we stayed. It was Pestana CR7, which I didn’t realize at the time is a famous soccer player.
The trip started and ended in Porto? And less than an hour on the river? Was that enough?
Which Douro tour did you want to take that you missed?
The tour of the wineries and lunch was via bus. Then the boat on the river was at the end before we got on the bus and returned to Porto.