The Douro

The rest of the world is beginning to discover what the Portuguese have known forever: the Douro region is simply one of the most glorious spots on earth. One of the world’s oldest demarcated wine regions (since 1756), the Douro Valley showcases steep terrace vineyards carved into mountains, granite bluffs, whitewashed quintas (estates) and 18th-century wine cellars that draw in visitors from around the world. Come for the ports and wines, winding scenic roads, postcard-pretty villages and excellent regional restaurants.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout The Douro.

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Parque Arqueológico do Vale do Côa
Most visitors to Vila Nova de Foz Côa come for one reason: to see its world-famous gallery of rock art. Although the park is currently an active research zone, three sites are open to the public: Canada do Inferno, Ribeira de Piscos and Penascosa. While Penascosa has some of the most significant etchings, Canada do Inferno – which sits by the half-constructed dam – is the ideal place to understand just how close these aeons-old drawings came to disappearing.
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Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Remédios
One of the country’s most important pilgrimage sites, this twin-towered, 18th-century church has a trim blue-and-white stucco interior with a sky-blue rococo ceiling and a gilded altar. The church, however, is quite overshadowed by the zigzagging monumental stairway that leads up to it. The 600-plus steps are resplendent with azulejos (hand-painted tiles), urns, fountains and statues, adding up to one of the greatest works in Portuguese rococo style.
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Museu de Lamego
Occupying a grand 18th-century episcopal palace, the Museu de Lamego is one of Portugal’s finest regional museums. The collection features five entrancing works by renowned 16th-century Portuguese painter Vasco Fernandes (Grão Vasco), richly worked Brussels tapestries from the same period, and an extraordinarily diverse collection of heavily gilded 17th-century chapels rescued in their entirety from the long-gone Convento das Chagas.
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São Salvador do Mundo
A series of small chapels dotting the hillside, São Salvador do Mundo makes for a stunning diversion between Pinhão and Foz Côa. Follow the signs to these stone turnouts with scenic hill, vineyard and river views. Some have stone slab tables and benches that demand a picnic, surrounded by wildflowers and serenaded by birdsong. After lunch continue to the top of the road and stroll to the chapel on the pinnacle. Spectacular.
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Miradouro São Leonardo de Galafura
For jaw-dropping views of the Douro Valley, head for this magnificent viewpoint between Régua and Pinhão. The N313-2 relentlessly switchbacks its way into the hills northeast from Régua, arriving a half-hour later at the overlook (640m), where the valley's full sweep spreads out before you, the Douro snaking off into the distance between kilometres of steeply terraced vineyards.
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Capela de São Pedro de Balsemão
This mysterious little chapel was probably built by Visigoths as early as the 6th century. With Corinthian columns, round arches and intriguing symbols etched into the walls, it certainly pre-dates the introduction of even Romanesque architecture to Portugal. More ornate 14th-century additions were commissioned by the Bishop of Porto, Afonso Pires, who is buried under a slab in the floor.
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Mosteiro de São Gonçalo
Founded in 1543 by João III, the Mosteiro de São Gonçalo and Igreja de São Gonçalo weren’t completed until 1620. Above the church’s photogenic, Italian Renaissance side portal is an arcaded gallery, 30m high, with 17th-century statues of Dom João and the other kings who ruled while the monastery was under construction: Sebastião, Henrique and Felipe I.
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Mosteiro de São João de Tarouca
The stunning, massive yet skeletal remains of Portugal’s first Cistercian monastery, founded in 1124, stand eerily in the wooded Barosa valley below the Serra de Leomil, 15km southeast of Lamego. There is beauty in the decay, as a stream bisects the walls backed by a bowl of terraced hills. The monastery fell into ruin after religious orders were abolished in 1834.
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Mosteiro de Salzedas
With picturesque pink stone arches, the Cistercian Mosteiro de Salzedas is located 3km up the Barosa valley from Ucanha in Salzedas. This was one of the grandest monasteries in the land when it was built in 1168 with funds from Teresa Afonso, governess to Afonso Henriques’ children. The enormous church, which was extensively remodelled in the 18th century, is today a bit scruffy with decay, particularly its roofless cloisters next door; the faux crystal chandeliers are an odd sight, too.