Tour description
Portugal City & Country Luxury Tour
DAY 1 LISBON
Your Portugal city & country luxury tour begins when our chauffeur collects you from Lisbon airport. Your unique accommodation was once a 19th-century palace and is set amidst a sub-tropical garden, nestled on a hill that overlooks the Tagus River. The Count of Valencas transformed this building into a palace during the 1890s, with the help of the best artists from the period. The tower was built and the green at the back of the palace transformed into a magnificent garden. In 1988 the palace was turned into a 5* luxury hotel with the renovation maintaining the original design. It is an example of 19th century Portuguese interior design and contains beautiful stained glass windows, classic furniture and fine Portuguese porcelain Vista Alegre. If San Francisco had a sister, it would be Lisbon. Both cities have twin bridges and famously foggy weather. Both have trolleys rattling up and down their steep hills. And both have survived horrific earthquakes. In 1755, an estimated 9.0 earthquake leveled two-thirds of Lisbon. Within a month, a new city was designed, and downtown Lisbon was rebuilt on a progressive grid plan, with broad boulevards and square squares.
Today, Lisbon is a charming mix of old and new; with cobbled lanes, Art Nouveau cafes and modern museums. Even today, Lisbon still feels like Europe’s gateway to the world. This afternoon you may like to relax and lounge around the outdoor pool, make use of the hotel spa facilities, revitalize in the sauna with its aromatic oils and natural essences or take a relaxing massage. Your hotel is a fabulous place to dine this evening, offering modern Portuguese cuisine. If you would like to head out on the town, consult your Portugal city & country luxury tour Personal Travel Journal for our many restaurant recommendations in Lisbon.
Tour in a nutshell: Chauffeured transfer from Lisbon airport/port. Overnight in 5* luxury hotel in Lisbon.
DAY 2 LISBON
Your Officially Licensed Portugal city & country luxury tour guide will be waiting at your hotel, to take you on a private gourmet and historical tour of Lisbon. Your private visit will start with the Moorish St George’s Castle, from where you will be able to take in the impressive views over the sea. Leading down from the castle to the river, you will traverse the Alfama, the old sailors’ quarter. Its tangled street plan is one of the few parts of Lisbon to survive the big quake, making the Alfama a cobbled playground of Old World color. Urban-jungle roads are squeezed into a maze of confusing alleys, designed to frustrate invaders trying to get up to the castle. What was defensive then is atmospheric now. Gnarled houses snuggle together in their romantic shabbiness; the air drips with laundry and the smell of clams and raw fish. Onward now to the Baixa and Chiado districts where there are many well-known cafes to enjoy a coffee stop and a typical Portuguese cake. You will be visiting a specialized gourmet delicatessen stocked with authentic local delights such as the typical Bacalhau (dried, salted cod), exclusive wines, traditional sweets, chorizo sausages and much more. Your Lisbon tour guide will provide you with many personalized suggestions for the rest of your day, but you will surely appreciate a relax at your Lisbon hotel first.
This evening you are set for a fabulous Fado experience, the plaintive national music of Portugal. You will dine at an authentic, elegant Portuguese Fado restaurant in the picturesque Bairro Alto. Founded in 193, this institution in Lisbon has entertained prime ministers and presidents. The show is composed of Fado Sessions until 2am so you can stay as long as you wish, although most of our guests leave around 11pm.
Tour in a nutshell: Private guided gourmet and historic tour of Lisbon. Gourmet delicatessen lunch with wine. Fado evening. Overnight Lisbon.
DAY 3 SINTRA & CASCAIS
Today your Portugal city & country luxury tour has you following the beautiful Portuguese coastline to Sintra and Cascais. Sintra is a gorgeous little mountain city, verdant and graceful with stunning palaces and gardens, including the one and only Palacio da Pena. This extraordinary fairytale-like palace was built in the 1840’s for Queen Maria II by her husband, emulating the castles of Ludwig from Bavaria. You will meet your guide at the palace and visit this unique, historical site; its gardens (from where it is best to observe the architecture of the Palace) are lush and romantic. Afterwards, explore the windy, mountainous city streets of Sintra, taking in its incredible Old World architecture, the breathtaking Moorish Castle and lastly the Monastery dos Capuchos.
Following your morning in Sintra, you will continue your journey to Cascais; an old Portuguese fishing-town, now considered a high-end district. Here we have arranged a delicious, elegant and typical Portuguese lunch with wine. After lunch, why not stretch your legs by strolling the cobblestone sidewalks of this quaint place, admiring the traditional tile-work on the buildings and maybe peeking into some designer boutiques. We suggest a visit to the Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães, a pretty little museum, which is housed in a historic villa with gardens, featuring an array of tapestries, paintings, furniture and art. As always, we have many fantastic suggestions for you to experience the best of Portuguese food and wine for dinner in your Portugal city & country luxury tour Personal Travel Journal.
Tour in a nutshell: Private guided visit to Palacio da Pena in Sintra. Visit to Cascais, including a seafood lunch with wine. Overnight Lisbon.
DAY 4 LISBON
The beautiful city of Lisbon is yours to discover at your leisure today – your Portugal city & country luxury tour Personal Travel Journal holds a fount of suggestions! Alternatively you may like to head out of the city and optionally, we can arrange for our private chauffeur to take you to Azeitao, south of Lisbon for a Portuguese wine tour. Your day will commence with a tour of a famous wine estate, owned by a major art lover who is one of the wealthiest men in Portugal. You will tour the estate with its 16th century renaissance gardens and incredible vineyards and visit the largest collection of antique Portuguese tilework in their Azulejo room. Next, you will visit the Japanese garden and finally, the wine cellars where you will finalize your tour with a tasting of their best wines. You will now pause for a delicious country fare lunch with typical Portuguese local wines served at a local hostelry, an ideal opportunity to taste the local sweet speciality, Tortas de Azeitão.
Later today you will visit a winery Museum House and cellars, where they have been making wines for nearly 200 years. They are the oldest producer of Setubal Muscatel in Portugal. You will have a guided tour of the Museum and the three ancient cellars where wines are aged, followed by a wine tasting, including their Moscatel. After such a busy day you will no doubt wish to relax and perhaps have a light dinner at your hotel, but we also have many suggestions for great restaurants in the area.
Tour in a nutshell: Free day in Lisbon OR optional day trip to Azeitao. Overnight Lisbon.
DAY 5 OBIDOS & COIMBRA
Our chauffeur will whisk you away to the beautiful Douro Valley wine region today, but en route you will be stopping to visit Obidos and Coimbra. Obidos is one of the hidden gems of the Portuguese countryside. This completely walled city presents itself with pride; white-washed houses left by the Moorish occupation snake in a maze of narrow cobbled streets on the way up to Obidos castle. In Obidos it will be hard to choose between exploring the charming ceramic shops or enjoying the pleasures of the famous local cherry liqueur known as Ginjinha. Next is Coimbra, one of Portugal’s oldest cities and home to one of the world’s first universities. Take time out to see Se Velha Cathedral, dating from the 12th century. In Coimbra we have arranged for you a delicious lunch of Portuguese cuisine to be accompanied, of course, with fabulous Portuguese wine.
Onward now to Pinhao, in the heart of the Douro Valley, considered one the most spectacular wine regions of the world; with its lushly terraced vineyards meeting the meandering river below. Your abode for the next three nights is a charming 5-star property dating back to the 18th century when it was a Port winery, overlooking the Douro River. The quaint town of Pinhao is spectacularly located at the confluence of the Douro and Pinhao rivers; and is the epicenter of the Port wine-making area. This late afternoon you may like to relax in the library bar which is the perfect setting to enjoy a Port wine tasting, or take a stroll along the riverbank. You may wish to eat at your hotel tonight, but there are also good quality local restaurants suggested in your Portugal city & country luxury tour Personal Travel Journal.
Tour in a nutshell: Chauffeured tours to Obidos and Coimbra. Regional lunch with wine. Overnight in a 5* riverside hotel in the Douro Valley.
DAY 6 DOURO VALLEY
Get ready to experience the love of nature as you drive out for a day into the picturesque Douro Valley wine region. First off you will be making a wonderful visit to a very special and world famous winery. Sitting in a privileged location in the Douro demarcated region, this Quinta is famous for its sophisticated wines as well as for the dramatic views. This single vineyard property dates as far back as the early seventeenth century, long before the Douro became the world’s first demarcated wine region in 1756. You will have a full private visit of the winery, including the vineyards (with mind blowing views of the River Douro) and cellars, followed by a tasting of their incredible wines and ports. Then enjoy a romantic winery lunch, perfectly accompanied by their top wines from the aperitif through to dessert.
After lunch your Portugal city & country luxury tour will take you to another great Quinta, where you will enjoy a private visit to an exceptional winery. This family run winery has a small production (for Douro standards), but offers great wines and even better views. A relatively young winery, with its first harvest taking place in 2007, the estate now occupies 30 hectares of land, 14 of which are vineyards. Both sophisticated techniques and traditional methods are used, and despite the small number of years that the Quinta has been active; this young estate has now established itself as a quality winemaker! Red, white and rose wines are produced with love and precision, where after a complete private tour, you will enjoy a Douro Valley wine tasting.
Tour in a nutshell: Taxi transfers. Private guided visits to two prestigious wineries with tastings of their finest wines and lunch at one. Overnight Douro Valley.
DAY 7 DOURO VALLEY
Today your Portugal city & country luxury tour has you visiting a prestigious Douro Valley winery, situated close to your hotel, just a 15 minute walk along the river. A guided tour of the winery and cellars will enlighten you as to how this winery does things differently. Most port houses make their port in the Douro, but store and bottle it in Vila Nova da Gaia, in Porto. Here, everything is done on site. With 55 hectares of land planted to vines, they produce approximately 85,000 litres of Port and 200,000 litres of wine every year. All the ports are foot trodden and some of their reserve table wines also undergo a cold maceration in the lagares before being transferred to stainless steel fermentation tanks. Your visit here will conclude with a tasting of 3 of their DOC wines and 3 Ports. After your winery tour you will be served lunch, an authentic 3 course meal, accompanied with wines/ports and served on the terrace overlooking the river.
After lunch you will return to Pinhao, where you are booked on an afternoon small group Rabelo boat cruise along the Douro River. On your 2 hour cruise up the river you will see the beauty of the area with the many wineries running down the hillsides and be able to imagine how, traditionally, Port wine was carried down the river from Douro to the lodges in Porto. If you prefer, we can arrange a privately skippered cruise. For dinner, why not treat yourself to a luxury meal on the terrace of the incredible Rui Paula DOC restaurant? It overlooks the vineyard-covered mountains for an evening to remember.
Tour in a nutshell: Guided winery tour with wine tasting followed by a delicious lunch with wines. Rabelo boat cruise on the Douro River. Overnight Douro Valley.
DAY 8 GUIMARAES
Your journey today is towards Porto, where on the way you will make a stop to visit Guimaraes, an historical town called the birthplace of Portugal, as Afonso Henriques (the first king of Portugal) was born here in 1110. Guimaraes has beautifully preserved its illustrious past through architecture; note graceful iron verandas, granite balconies and arches, time-smoothed pavement slabs, majestic towers and cloisters. Its medieval center is a labyrinth of lanes and picturesque plazas framed by 14th-century buildings. Guimaraes’ glory was officially recognised in 2001, when Unesco declared it a World Heritage Site. You may like to ride the cable car up Penha Mountain, a sanctuary of wildlife, with spectacular views of the region, before enjoying a delicious lunch of typical northern Portuguese food.
Then on to Porto, built along the hillsides overlooking the mouth of the Douro river, an outstanding urban landscape with a 2,000-year old history. It has been continuously inhabited since at least the 4th century, when the Romans referred to it as Portus Calle. Your Porto lodging is an elegant 5* wine hotel and spa, in Vila Nova de Gaia; in the middle of the famous Port Wine Lodge district. Port houses have aged their wines in Vila Nova de Gaia for over three centuries and today over fifty wine companies are based here. Relax this afternoon and enjoy the view across the River Douro to the historic centre of Porto from your balcony. You may like to use the hotel luxury spa facilities with its large indoor pool and hot tub or sit around the outdoor pool offering panoramic views of Porto. You can have dinner at your hotel tonight, or try one of the many restaurant suggestions found in your Portugal city & country luxury tour Personal Travel Journal.
Tour in a nutshell: Chauffeured transfer to Porto. Visit to Guimaraes and a typical local lunch with wines. Overnight in a 5* wine hotel and spa in Porto.
DAY 9 PORTO
This morning you are booked for a guided tour of a fantastic Port Wine Lodge, which is one of the oldest, established over three centuries ago in 1692. For many, it is the archetypal Port house and its wines the quintessential Ports. It is dedicated entirely to the production of Port wine and in particular to its finest styles. The history of the firm is in many ways the history of the Port trade itself. Since its foundation the company has remained independent. Now well into its fourth century, it has thrived and prospered, establishing itself as one of the world’s most respected historic wine houses. You will enjoy a private guided tour of the Wine Lodge concluded with a delightful tasting of some of their best ports.
The rest of your day is free to discover more of Porto. Head into the old town and wander through the mazes and alleys of the city, taking in its bohemian spirit. Major cultural highlights include Bolhao Market, Clerigos Church, and the 14th century Church Sao Francisco, well worth seeing for its incredibly ornate Baroque decorations. Should you have an interest in books, Lello Bookstore in Porto is well worth a visit. It has an elaborately decorated interior of neo-gothic design and was recently rated as one of top three most beautiful book-stores in the world! Rumor has it that this bookstore provided the inspiration for the character of Harry Potter! Should you wish, we will be delighted to arrange our excellent local officially licensed Porto guide to take you for a private tour of the city, so that you do not miss any monuments or information. For dinner this evening, as always we have many restaurant suggestions in your Portugal city & country luxury tour Personal Travel Journal.
Tour in a nutshell: Port wine lodge visit and tastings. Overnight Porto.
DAY 10 DEPARTURE
This is the last day of your Portugal City & Country Luxury Tour. After checking out of your hotel, our chauffeur will be waiting to take you to Porto airport for your onward journey.
We do hope you will join us for this enticing and mouth-watering food, wine & culture tour of Portugal! It will be a truly memorable vacation!
Tour in a nutshell: Chauffeured transfer to Porto airport.
Tour quotation
Portugal City & Country Luxury Tour Quote Request
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Tour in a Nutshell
Cosmopolitan City Life: Discover the colours of Lisbon & Porto
Country tranquility: Douro Valley, Sintra, Cascais, Coimbra & Obidos
Portuguese culture, exceptional wine tastings & regional food
Chauffeured transportation & guided gourmet city tours
10 days/9 nights, luxury 5* hand selected hotels
