Day 1 · Porto
Arrive in Porto
You are met at Porto airport and helped with your hire car. Spend the rest of the day exploring a city packed with history and good walking, then check in to your hotel.
8 days · 7 nights
Port cellars, a royal medieval town and two nights in the Douro vineyards.
Choose your dates when you enquire
Ask about datesA relaxed self-drive through the north. Start with two nights in Porto and its port wine cellars, move to Guimarães, the cradle of Portugal, for two more, then spend two nights in Peso da Régua among the terraced vineyards of the Douro before a last night back in Porto.
The same person from your first question to the flight home, with a wedding or vow renewal planned alongside if you like.
How the days unfold. Your advisor tailors the pace, the hotels and the extras to you.
Porto
Day 1 · Porto
You are met at Porto airport and helped with your hire car. Spend the rest of the day exploring a city packed with history and good walking, then check in to your hotel.
Day 2 · Porto
Port is still aged in the great cellars along the far bank of the Douro, and most offer guided visits and tastings. Back in the city, try a francesinha, the local sandwich of steak, ham and sausage under melted cheese and a spicy sauce.
Guimarães
Day 3 · Guimarães
Drive to Guimarães, the birthplace of Afonso Henriques, Portugal's first king. Its walled historic centre is on the World Heritage list, with the Palace of the Dukes of Braganza, the castle, the São Francisco church and the gardens of Vila Flor, and the hillfort of Citânia de Briteiros nearby.
Day 4 · Guimarães
A day for the town's food. The convents here are known for their sweets, such as tortas de Guimarães with almond and cinnamon and the egg-rich toucinho do céu, and in winter papas de sarrabulho is the hearty local stew.
Peso da Régua
Day 5 · Peso da Régua
Continue to Peso da Régua on the Douro, where barrels were once loaded onto rabelo boats for the trip downriver. This is the heart of the Douro, the oldest regulated wine region in the world, set up in 1756, with wine tours, river trips and the historic train to plan around.
Day 6 · Peso da Régua
Loop west to Castelo de Paiva, where the Douro, Paiva and Arda rivers cut through hills and valleys. See the Marmoiral de Sobrado, the pillory at Raiva, the medieval graves cut into the rock at Penedo de Vegide and the manor houses of Boavista and Fisga, then try the local Vinho Verde with dinner.
Porto
Day 7 · Porto
Leave the quiet of the valley for a last evening in Porto, with its busy streets and street musicians.
Day 8 · Porto
After a last breakfast, return the car at Porto airport for your flight home.
The hotels for each stop. Your advisor confirms them, or something just as good, for your dates.
Porto · 3 nights
Your first two nights and your last. Or similar
Guimarães · 2 nights
Or similar
Peso da Régua · 2 nights
Or similar
Tell us when you would like to travel. Your advisor confirms dates and hotels, tailors the trip to the two of you, and stays with you until you are home.
Spain
8 days · 7 nights
Costa del Sol → Seville → Lisbon → Huelva → Costa del Sol
Pick up your car on the Costa del Sol and drive by way of Ronda to two nights in Seville. Cross into Portugal through Évora for two nights in Lisbon, then return along the coast to Huelva and the Costa del Sol for your last night.
Portugal
6 days · 5 nights
Lisbon
Stay put in one Lisbon hotel for five nights. A guided morning takes in Belém and the old quarters, an afternoon goes up into the forested hills of Sintra, and the days between are left free for the riverfront, the viewpoints and an evening of fado.
Portugal
6 days · 5 nights
Madrid → Porto → Fátima → Lisbon → Madrid
A guided coach journey that leaves Madrid for two nights in Porto, with a river cruise and a port cellar tasting, then a night at Fátima after Coimbra. Two nights in Lisbon follow a day among the monasteries and fishing towns of the coast, and the drive back to Madrid stops at Roman Mérida.
A relaxed self-drive through the north. Start with two nights in Porto and its port wine cellars, move to Guimarães, the cradle of Portugal, for two more, then spend two nights in Peso da Régua among the terraced vineyards of the Douro before a last night back in Porto.
Every trip can be shaped around you before you book.
Arrive early or stay on at the end, in the same hotel or somewhere new.
Your travel expert books flights that fit the first and last day.
Choose a better room or a hotel with a view for the nights that count.
A honeymoon, an anniversary or a birthday, planned into the trip.
Other ways to see Portugal, closest in length first.
Self-drive | 8 days | Lisbon · Alter do Chão · Porto
Self-drive | 8 days | Porto · Lisbon · Faro
Small group tour | 9 days | Lisbon · Sintra · Porto | Price on enquiry.
City break | 6 days | Lisbon
