We booked this trip to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, and we had the best day touring the Douro Valley with André. Our first stop was a beautiful vineyard where we were treated to delicious wines, two varieties of olive oil, tapenades, and a delicious "challenge" to guess what some mystery jam was made from. We had a great time chatting with the owner and learning about his processes and meeting Ozzy the Dog. Then we went for lunch which was a tasty selection of salad, meat, fish, bread, dessert, and wine. After lunch, we walked a short distance to our boat tour which was relaxing with amazing views. Then onto our 2nd vineyard high up on a hillside where we met the owners, toured, learned more about the wine-making process, and heard their incredible story. We learned a little bit about the regulations that govern port and wine-making in Portugal which is far more complicated than I imagined, but most importantly we enjoyed more delicious wine and met great people.

Tiago was a wonderful guide-- really personable and easy to chat with-- one of the best guides we've had in our years of traveling around the world! He gave us a very in-depth explanation of the sites around the Douro Valley, the port wine-making process, and his own experience growing up in the Douro Valley as a child. It was wonderful to learn so much from someone who has deep family roots in the Valley. My husband, our 17-year old daughter, and I shared a van with another family of 5. Everyone got along well, especially because Tiago kept a nice conversational pace and included everyone in the conversation--our daughter enjoyed the tour as much as we did. Tiago listened to things we were interested in and offered suggestions of other things to see around Porto to enhance our stay. He kept a nice pace for the day and we never felt rushed.

Enjoyable day! Our guide & driver was excellent. Going to a small, family run winery then to a larger one was a nice contrast. Our lunch was delicious and included local wine. Afterwards we enjoyed a cruise on the Douro River. Being with a small group was excellent and I would highly recommend .