Where to go when - Summer
21/05/2020 · By Sukie Chapman
Plan your summer getaway with Great Rail Journeys. Explore picturesque destinations and create unforgettable memories with like-minded travellers.
Read moreSave £500 on Upper Deck cabin upgrades on River Cruise 2025 holidays, when you book by 16th December 2024. Call only offer quoting code CABIN.
2025 Tour code: DOR25
About the tour
Travel to sensational Lisbon and explore Sintra's palaces on a Portuguese voyage of discovery, before embarking on a fantastic 7-night cruise along the golden Douro. Drifting through golden valleys alongside enchanting towns and past regal wine estates, our cruise reveals the timeless beauty of this serene river, stopping at wonderful ports along the way.
After exploring Lisbon's colourful streets, we set sail from Porto tracing the Douro's meandering path through picturesque landscapes. Explore magnificent palaces in Sintra, discover Baroque architecture in Lamego, and indulge in wine tastings at local Quintas. Then, visit the golden city of Salamanca and the medieval town of Guimarães before we bid farewell to the Douro Valley. Join us on this captivating cruise through culture, history, and breathtaking scenery.
Unforgettable Experiences
What’s included
Itinerary
We meet our Tour Manager at the airport today. From here, we board our flight to Lisbon where we head to our hotel by coach. On arrival, we're greeted with a welcome drink and for dinner this evening, we head to our hotel's excellent restaurant for our first meal of the holiday. We spend the next three nights in the capital of Portugal - a delightful stop before our cruise with its colourful houses which contrast the deep blue sea and white beaches.
Additional information
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Reviews
4.4 / 5 · 33 reviews
MW Salisbury
Submitted 14/Oct
A holiday of Two Halves. I rated Lisbon only satisfactory. Lisbon is a pleasant but not outstanding tourist venue. Unfortunately our stay in Lisbon was chopped and changed too much. Currently, the Douro River cruises are relatively undeveloped and have minimal commercial river traffic compared to other major European rivers so it has sophistacted and more casual ambiance. The crew provided excellent service and the delicious food was well above. standard. Our GRJ Douro guide went out of his way to ensure that everyone enjoyed our river-cruise as well as giving us some fascinating and subtle insights into Portuguese customs and heritage from his longstanding career working there in various roles.
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David Scott
Submitted 13/Oct
We’ve already played a review with you.
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customer
Submitted 10/Oct
Excellent tour. Would prefer a flexible buffet lunch and inclusive gratuities for staff
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Isobel
Submitted 9/Oct
It was a very action packed holiday with lots of lovely places to see and great guides. The staff and tour managers were excellent and the rest of the passengers were good company. the food was yummy too. A little more preparation for the trip to Sintra would have made as big improvement to the day there. And a better layout in the restaurant would have made this rating a 5.
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Ian Thoms
Submitted 8/Oct
LISBON : Porto Bay Marques was a very nice hotel situated in a great location for exploring the city. They had excellent staff and were very accommodating. We managed to take in a broad overview of the city; the vintage tram trip was wonderful (a definite highlight) and the visit to Belem was also stunning and memorable. Sintra was very interesting and the port warehouse/production godown was excellent [as was the port]. TRAIN TRIP - The journey from Lisbon to Porto on the 'high speed' train was uneventful and not too exciting, as the scenery was fairly bland. CRUISE - The Amalia Rodrigues is a very modern cruise ship with a highly friendly and helpful staff and crew ensuring that all on-board activities are well organised. The food and events on board were of a high standard. Our particular accommodation Cabin 301 - one of the two top suites) was excellent. We met a lot of friendly fellow cruisers. The cruise itinerary was slow to start and initially disappointing as we did not sail until the second day on board. Also, initially the weather was unkind ; the last 4 days were greatly improved with lots of sunshine. Once the rhythm picked up on the tours and cruising upriver. the itinerary became busy with the varied interesting tours. Generally the entertainment was excellent, offering a good flavour of Portuguese culture. ALL In ALL - an excellent trip!
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Arnold
Submitted 8/Oct
Extremely enjoyable.
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River Cruise Holidays 2025