PORTO| Capital and gateway to the north of Portugal, Porto is both the city that provided a nation with a name and a fortified wine known world-wide: Port Wine.
With its splendid geographical location on the mouth of the river Douro and an architectural heritage of exceptional quality, the historic center of Porto was declared UNESCO World Heritage in 1996. Porto is the capital of the North and the second largest city in the country; its hard-working inhabitants are noted for their commercial enterprise, always standing firm against outside impositions and foreign invaders, which explains why Porto has become known as the «unvanquished» city.
| DAY 1 - TRANSFER |
Transfer Hotel
FREE DAY |
|
|
| |
| DAY 2 - FULL DAY TOUR PORTO |
PORTO | THE HOME OF PORT WINE
Full Day Tour
Pick Up - Hotel Included: wine tasting in a old cellar / 6 Bridges River Cruise
PORTO| Capital and gateway to the north of Portugal, Porto is both the city that provided a nation with a name and a fortified wine known world-wide: Port Wine.
With its splendid geographical location on the mouth of the river Douro and an architectural heritage of exceptional quality, the historic center of Porto was declared UNESCO World Heritage in 1996. Porto is the capital of the North and the second largest city in the country; its hard-working inhabitants are noted for their commercial enterprise, always standing firm against outside impositions and foreign invaders, which explains why Porto has become known as the «unvanquished» city.
In this Porto Day tour we will visit the most important sites of this old city. Take a guided tour the Port Wine Old Cellars with a special tasting of these wines.
Admire the typical granite houses and monuments, with all the rhythms of city life, its movement and intense retailing, the main square of Av. Aliados, the highest tower in the city of Clerigos, the church of Sao Francisco all furnished with gold leaf, the world famous bookstore Livraria Lello, the Ultramodern Casa da Música building, the Atlantic fortress of Castelo do Queijo, the old Cathedral, the Palácio da Bolsa (Chamber of Commerce), Ribeira (Riverside), and make a river cruise under the city’s six bridges , from where you can enjoy an entirely different view of the city.
|
|
|
| |
| DAY 3 - FULL DAY TOUR DOURO VALLEY |
DOURO VALLEY - Full Day Tour
AMARANTE | All visitors to Amarante will most certainly be impressed by two imposing natural features: the great Serra do Marão rising above the city in a series of majestic landscapes and the River Tâmega, the longest tributary of the river Douro, whose journey begins in Galicia and which flows through the heart of Amarante, giving added colour to the picturesque houses standing on its banks. The bridge at Amarante perpetuates the memory of the local population´s heroic resistance against Napoleon's troops, who invaded Portugal in the early nineteenth century. Amarante's sweets and cakes are extremely famous and easy to find in many of the region's cake-shops and cafés. We continue our way towards the great Douro Valley passing through some small hilltop villages with granite “espigueiros” (granaries used for drying and storing corn), breathtaking landscape and then going down towards the Douro River, where the vines grow in terraces on the banks of the river, lending great beauty to the landscape, with large estates and manor houses. DOURO VALLEY | Classified a world heritage site, the man gave birth to port wine and table wines of great quality. Port wine is the oldest Ambassador of Portugal. Cultivated in terraces of the Douro, has the honor to belong to one of the oldest demarcated regions in the world, since in 1756 was created the General Company of Agriculture and Vineyards of the Alto Douro. Here was also born the Douro table wines, which in recent decades have acquired great notoriety and border projection thanks to their quality, both in the reds as the whites and rosés. Green in summer, fire color in autumn, the Vineyard has given rise to a unique landscape classified by Unesco. Visit one of the main Douro Wineries with a commented tasting of wines of excellence.
|
|
|
| |
| DAY 4 - FULL DAY TOUR BRAGA & GUIMARÃES |
Pick Up - Hotel Included : Guimarães Castle and Braga Cathedral
GUIMARÃES | A city known as the «cradle of the Portuguese nation», whose historical center is classified as World Heritage by UNESCO. Explore the historic city center, the Castle and the Ducal Palace.
BRAGA: Called "Bracara Augusta" during the Roman Empire. The Cathedral in Braga is the oldest in Portugal and was the major religious reference point throughout centuries. Thus comes the popular saying "older than the Braga Cathedral", to denote something that is extremely old. Always subject to the ecclesiastical influence that has naturally reflected on the city´s heritage, it is possible to conclude that the 16th and 18th centuries represent peaks in its history and development.
In this Tour we visit Braga, one of the oldest religious cities in the world. You can visit the three Sanctuaries that make up the famous Faith triangle: the Cathedral of Braga and the Sanctuary of Sameiro and Bom Jesus.
After a delicious lunch (included), the tour continues towards Guimarães, birthplace of Portugal, where you will have the opportunity to visit its magnificent historic center (UNESCO World Heritage).
Highlights • Braga Historic Center • Sameiro Sanctuary and Bom Jesus Sanctuary • Braga Cathedral • Guimarães Historic Center - UNESC World Heritage • Guimarães Castle.
|
|
|
| |
| DAY 5 - TRANSFER OUT |
| Transfer Out |
|
|
| |
|
