Douro Exclusive personal tours

[Bob F.]

Up front i want to say i never met these people until the day of the tour.The owners of the guest house house i was staying at in Porto had recommended this company when i inquired about a river cruise to the Douro.A young couple who have put all their eggs into the basket to start this company,Ana and Marco Pinto the owners and guides were absolutely wonderful and very knowledgeable.Picked up on agreed time(9:15)in a new Mercedes SUV with 2 couples,one couple from NYC and the other from Spain.Greeted with a small canvas bag containing 2 bottles of H2O and small package of cookies.On or way to the Douro Ana gave us their background and why they decided to start the business.They are both from the Douro area.As we entered the Douro Ana gave us a very informative lecture on the geography,weather,principle grape varieties ,geology and the history of the wine trade and the local people.We arrived at Quinta do Panascal(Fonseca) for a port tasting with local cheese,vineyard tour and a small planting of each variety of grapes planted next to each other for comparison.Leaving here we did a 1hr boat cruise on a traditional style Rabelo, followed by a 3 course lunch at the famous DOC Restaurante.Very good meal with each course accompanied by a local wine and port with dessert.We next drove up into the hills to visit a small village to observe the local people as this was not a tourist area.Back to Porto at about 7PM then a gift of home made fruit candies as a parting gift.All inclusive 180euros.A fantastic day out.I promised them i would put the word out because i felt they really delivered the goods and they are working hard to have a successful business.www.douroexclusive.com.

[Miguel Simoes]

Thanks for sharing!