Wine Harvest in Portugal

Start your Journey with us by enjoying a private car pick up service from your home. Upon arrival at the airport, guests departing from the Toronto airport are assisted with their check-in. Meet your Journey Manager and fellow guests, and board your flight to Portugal. Our Journey Manager travels with you to take care of all the details, allowing you to embrace your Journey.

A beautiful city with an alluring mix of classic Portuguese architecture and natural beauty, explore the coast of a sunny bay where fennel (funcho) once grew in abundance. Madeira’s first city is a charming and exciting visit. On arrival in Funchal, we are met by our local guide and transferred by private coach to our hotel where we settle in and relax. This evening, join us for a casual welcome dinner.

Today we travel by coach to see breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains of Nun’s Valley by way of the Eira do Serrado viewpoint. We visit Curral das Freiras, a small village nestled among the highest mountains and sample Ginja, Portuguese liquor infused with sour cherries and chestnut cake. We continue to Pico dos Barcelos for a panoramic view over Funchal bay and the amphitheatre. Following lunch in a local restaurant we visit the traditional fishing village of Câmara de Lobos, which was also a favourite of Winston Churchill. We stop for spectacular views at Cabo Girão before returning to Funchal. This evening dinner is at our hotel.

Our day begins with a visit to the 2^nd-largest peak on the island, Pico Arieiro, before visiting Ribeiro Frio to visit the beautiful gardens and the famous trout pond. This is also the starting point for many levada walks, a series of relaxing hiking trails. We visit Santana to see the triangular houses built of stone with their thatched roofs. 

Lunch is at a very special location that celebrates the wine season. We are greeted with a welcome drink, Madeira Wine on ice and enjoy many local dishes, followed by the opportunity to crush grapes with your bare feet! We then get to have a tasting of Madeira wines. We continue to Porto da Cruz, and stroll through the village sampling the local rums. We pass through the first capital of Madeira, Machico, where navigators who discovered the island landed in 1420 on our return to Funchal. We enjoy dinner this evening at our hotel.

This morning we leave this lush island and fly to Porto. Porto is a fascinating and vibrant city that is rapidly becoming one of Western Europe’s most respected tourist destinations. Porto is a historic and varied city, from the narrow streets that make up the ancient Ribeira district through to the grand plaza of the Trindade district. The region is famed for the production of Port, which is still stored and matured in the vast cellars that stretch along the banks of the Douro River.

We board our coach and meet our local guide who takes us on an in-depth tour of the city. We travel down Avenida dos Aliados, which translates to ‘Avenue of the Allies’, to see the ornate buildings in a range of architectural styles. From neoclassical to French Beaux-arts, this avenue was built to impress! As such it is home to some of the city’s most prestigious hotels along with several banks. We stop for photos at São Bento Station known for its 20,000 tiles, painted by João Colaço, which depict scenes from the traditional life of the north. We then visit the Palace of the Stock Exchange and its famous Arab Lounge. Stroll around Ribeira, one of the most popular neighbourhoods in Porto. It is one of the most authentic and picturesque parts of the city in the heart of the old town. 

Following a traditional lunch, we visit a wine cellar in Vila Nova de Gaia and have a tour of their cellars and sample their famous Port wines. We transfer to our hotel to check and have dinner.

The Douro River and the Douro Valley are known primarily for Port, a sweet wine that has been produced here for two thousand years. The spectacular landscape is characterized by improbably steep terraces covered in vines and dotted with wine-producing farms called Quintas. Hills fall steeply to the water’s edge and the region becomes more and more sparsely populated as it travels inland from the coast. 

We travel by coach to the capital of the Douro region — Régua — and visit a local winery for a wine tasting followed by lunch. Then we cruise the Douro River in a traditional Rabelo, navigating the unique river, in the heart of the oldest demarcated wine region of the world. From Pinhão, pass under the Eiffel iron bridges to the Tua area. Along the way, see hills of terraced vineyards with no roads or traffic in sight. On return to Pinhão we take some time to admire the Train Station and its collection of azulejos tiles from 1937. The four walls of the station are decorated with 24 blue glazed mosaics made of more than 100 azulejos and depict typical scenes of the Douro Valley all related to port wine production. We return to Porto for dinner at our hotel.