Driving in the Douro Valley

Highway is straightforward
One between pinhao and regular is mountain road, beautiful but nothing extra ordinarily challenging.

Local driving to visit viewpoints can have some tight bends

Train ride is nicer as it goes along the river but it limits flexibility about activities in DV

It's a beautiful drive loaded with wineries. A real treat in our view.

We just drove from Porto to the Douro Valley (DV), spending two nights to see the spectacular scenery and tour wineries. We picked up the car at the Campanha Rail Station at about 9am and it was fairly easy to drive from there. We stopped at the Casa de Mateus (Vila Real) for an 11am tour of the house and gardens on the way to break up the trip. We then stopped for lunch at Quinta do Portal (about 20 mins from Vila Real) and it was one of the best meals, with the most beautiful settings, of our entire Portugal trip. You will want to choose your lodging in the DV carefully. We opted for Hotel Rural Quinta do Pego and while the hotel is nice, their driveway is a nail-biter. We wouldn't have wanted to do it in the dark, which meant eating dinner there both nights, which was good, but not great, and not a good value. Our favorite winery visit was Quinta do Crasto, where we had an amazing tour and lunch. The road to get there is twisty, but there was relatively little traffic and the views and winery were well worth the drive. Our least favorite was Quinta de la Rosa. Enjoy your visit!

For those of you who rented cars from Faro to the Duoro Valley, do you remember the cost?

Thanks!
Gina

From Faro? That's a heck of a drive.

As long as you stay on the main hwy the driving in the Douro isn't bad. But getting off that can be very exciting.