Tour Highlights
Day 1: Arrival in Porto – Welcome & Port Wine Tasting
Day 2: Porto – Market Visit, Cooking Class & Wine Tastings
Day 3: Day Trip to the Douro Valley – Quinta Visit & Scenic Return via Peso da Régua
Day 4: Transfer to Évora – Cork Country & UNESCO Heritage Walk
Day 5: Day Trip to Estremoz & Elvas – Alentejo Wines & Fortress Town
Day 6: Transfer to Lisbon via the Setúbal Peninsula – Sweet Wines & Seafood
Day 7: Lisbon – Time Out Market, Cooking Class & Fado Dinner
Day 8: Day Trip to Sintra & Colares – Palaces, Coastal Wines & Scenic Drive
Day 9: Lisbon – Hidden Neighborhoods & Rare Wine Tasting
Day 10: Lisbon – Morning Viewpoints, Coffee & Departure
Day 1: Arrival in Porto – Welcome to Portugal’s Northern Capital
Destination: Porto
Overnight: Porto (3 nights)
Welcome Orientation Walk
Upon your arrival in Porto, your private driver-guide will greet you at the airport with a warm welcome and transfer you to your elegant boutique hotel. After check-in, enjoy a gentle orientation walk through the Ribeira district. As you explore its charming lanes, your guide will begin sharing stories of Porto’s evolution from a Roman outpost to a thriving trade city, connecting the places you see to Portugal’s rich history.
Private Port Wine Tasting at a Historic Lodge
In the afternoon, your guide escorts you across the Douro River to Vila Nova de Gaia for a private tasting at one of the city’s storied port wine lodges. As you descend into cellars lined with aging barrels, you’ll hear about the families who shaped the port trade and the significance of British-Portuguese wine alliances. Your tasting will include white, ruby, and rare aged tawny ports while your guide shares fascinating insights into local customs around pairing and storage.
Day 2: Flavors of Porto – Markets, Codfish & Cellars
Destination: Porto
Private Market Visit & Cooking Class
Today, your guide leads you to Mercado do Bolhão, where you’ll meet local vendors and sample cheese, olives, and local pastries. Your guide helps translate and connect you with stallholders, sharing insights into the market’s evolution and its place in Porto’s daily life. With fresh ingredients in hand, you’ll join a chef for a private cooking class to prepare cod-based dishes—your guide enriching the experience with cultural context and regional wine suggestions as you cook and dine together.
Wine City Tour
In the afternoon, embark on a wine-themed city tour tailored by your guide. Visit small wine bars and taste boutique wines from the north while your guide explains Portugal’s complex appellation system and tells you about winemakers to watch. As you pass landmarks like São Bento Station and Clérigos Tower, your guide intertwines Porto’s architectural and religious history with the shifting tastes of its wine-drinking elite.
Port & Chocolate Pairing
To end the day, your guide can arrange a special tasting that pairs fine port with bean-to-bar chocolates from local artisans. It’s a relaxed and refined ending to a delicious day.
Day 3: Douro Valley – A Day Among the Terraced Vines
Destination: Douro Valley (day trip)
Scenic Drive to the Douro
On your 3rd day, you’ll begin with one of Portugal’s most breathtaking scenic drives through the Douro Valley. As you wind through the hills, your guide will tell you about Douro’s transformation from wild terrain into the world’s oldest demarcated wine region. Along the way, stop for photos at São Leonardo de Galafura, where the guide brings the landscape alive with excerpts from local poet Miguel Torga and anecdotes about historic wine transport downriver.
Private Quinta Visit with Wine-Paired Lunch
Visit a scenic quinta where your guide introduces you to the family winemakers. Stroll the steep vineyards as they explain how to identify field blend plots and centuries-old vines. Enjoy a multi-course lunch as you learn about vintage variation, pairing principles, and how these wines reflect the rugged landscape they come from.
Return via Peso da Régua
On your way back to Porto, stop in the riverside town of Peso da Régua—the Douro Valley’s traditional wine capital. With your guide, stroll along the waterfront where barrels of port wine once began their journey downstream to Porto. Pop into a cozy local wine bar that specializes in small-batch producers, many of whom are young winemakers bringing new life to forgotten vineyards. Your guide will share the inspiring stories behind these labels—passionate families reviving old vines, experimenting with natural methods, and putting lesser-known Douro wines on the map.
Day 4: Into Alentejo – Évora & Cork Country
Destination: Évora
Overnight: Évora (2 nights)
Scenic Transfer with Cork Estate Visit
Travel south into Alentejo and visit a working cork estate, where your guide explains how cork has shaped the local economy and environment. Walk among ancient cork oaks, observe harvesting, and learn how cork supports wine, fashion, and even aerospace industries.
Évora Walking Tour
In Évora, embark on a walking tour that explores Roman ruins, Gothic churches, and hidden alleys while learning about Portugal’s imperial era, religious shifts, and philosophical roots, particularly at the eerie Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones). Your guide also introduces local artisans and shares tips on handmade ceramics and regional sweets.
Day 5: Alentejo Wine Country – Elvas & Estremoz
Destination: Eastern Alentejo (day trip)
Boutique Winery Visit in Estremoz
Start the day heading east to explore the rolling wine country between Estremoz and Elvas. Your first stop is a boutique winery nestled among olive groves and sun-drenched vineyards. A walk through the vines leads to a relaxed tasting of beautiful red and whites made from native Alentejo grapes. You’ll sample several vintages—some aged in amphora clay pots—and learn how the dry heat and schist soils shape each bottle.
Hilltop Lunch at a Historic Pousada
Lunch is served high on a hill in a beautifully restored pousada, once a royal palace. The views stretch across the plains, and the meal is as regal as the setting. Expect Alentejo classics, such as pork cheeks braised in red wine, garlic-scented migas, and egg-rich desserts. Each course is paired with bold local wines that bring out the best in every bite.
Afternoon Stroll in the Fortress Town of Elvas
In the afternoon, stroll the cobbled streets of Elvas, a fortress town near the Spanish border. Its star-shaped walls and aqueduct are among the best preserved in Europe. Wander through quiet alleyways and take in the unique blend of military history and everyday life that still pulses through this UNESCO-listed gem.
Day 6: Évora to Lisbon via Setúbal – Salt, Sea & Sweet Wines
Destination: Lisbon
Overnight: Lisbon (4 nights)
Tasting at a Setúbal Peninsula Winery
Today’s journey takes you west toward the coast, with a delicious detour through the Setúbal Peninsula. Stop at a small winery that produces one of Portugal’s hidden treasures: Moscatel de Setúbal. The grapes grow close to the ocean, giving the wines a fresh, salty edge. Taste a range of whites and fortified Muscatels, and learn how these golden-hued wines are aged and blended to perfection.
Fresh Seafood Lunch in Setúbal
Just down the road, Setúbal’s harbor buzzes with life. Settle in at a waterfront restaurant for lunch—the kind of place where grilled sardines come straight from the boat, and everything smells like lemon, garlic, and sea air. Try the choco frito (fried cuttlefish), a local specialty that pairs beautifully with a cold glass of white.
Arrival in Lisbon & Alfama Walk at Sunset
Arrive in Lisbon in the late afternoon and take some time to settle into your new surroundings. Later, enjoy a gentle walk through Alfama’s narrow alleys and tiled façades. As the sun sets over the Tagus River, stop at a scenic lookout with a glass of ginjinha in hand and watch the city light up for the evening.
Day 7: Flavors of Lisbon – Markets, Tastings & Fado
Destination: Lisbon
Gourmet Exploration at Time Out Market
Begin the day at the Time Out Market, a bustling gourmet food hall packed with the best bites Lisbon has to offer. Sample everything from aged sheep cheese and buttery custard tarts to modern twists on seafood rice and pork sandwiches. You’ll be able to taste your way through an entire country under one roof!
Private Cooking Class with Wine Pairings
Next, head into the kitchen for a private cooking class with a local chef. Together, you’ll prepare a traditional three-course meal, such as cataplana seafood stew or duck rice, learning valuable tips and techniques that you’ll take home with you. The lunch you create together is paired with wines from lesser-known Portuguese regions, showing just how diverse the country’s offerings really are.
Dinner & Live Fado in Alfama
In the evening, experience the haunting beauty of Fado in one of Lisbon’s oldest neighborhoods. Over dinner in a cozy restaurant, listen to soulful ballads sung with raw emotion. It’s the perfect soundtrack to dishes like slow-cooked octopus or caldo verde soup, made all the more memorable by the candlelight and closeness of the space.
Day 8: Sintra & Colares – Palaces, Pines & Coastal Wines
Destination: Sintra & Colares (day trip)
Pena Palace & Gardens in Sintra
Leave Lisbon on an exciting day trip to fairytale landscapes as you head to Sintra. Visit Pena Palace, the crown jewel of Sintra, with its whimsical architecture, sweeping views, and romantic gardens.
Wine Tasting in Colares
After exploring the palace and its surrounding park, your guide will take you to the tiny wine region of Colares, nestled between pine forests and the Atlantic Ocean. Here, vines are grown directly in the sand—a rare and ancient technique that protects them from disease. You’ll visit a family-run winery and taste their salty, earthy reds made from the nearly extinct Ramisco grape, as well as fresh, mineral whites that pair beautifully with seafood.
Scenic Drive Along the Atlantic Coast
Before returning to Lisbon, take the scenic route along the coast. Pause at Cabo da Roca—the westernmost point of mainland Europe—where the wind whips off the cliffs, and the views stretch forever. Continue through the seaside town of Cascais, known for its grand villas and relaxed charm, then return to the city as the sun dips behind the hills.
Day 9: Hidden Lisbon & Rare Wines
Destination: Lisbon
Morning Stroll Through Mouraria
Start the morning with a guided walking tour of Mouraria, one of Lisbon’s most culturally diverse neighborhoods. This is the birthplace of Fado and home to a melting pot of flavors and stories. Along the way, stop for traditional pastries, sample sheep’s milk cheese, or sip a quick shot of ginjinha from a neighborhood hole-in-the-wall.
Private Tasting of Portugal’s Lesser-Known Wines
Later in the afternoon, visit an intimate wine bar for a private tasting of some of Portugal’s most intriguing bottles. You’ll try limited-production reds and whites from regions like Dão, Bairrada, and the Azores—places that rarely appear on export lists but offer some of the most exciting wines in the country. It’s a relaxed, unhurried session where you can ask questions, take notes, and even pick out a few bottles to ship home.
Sunset Farewell Dinner Overlooking Lisbon
Round out your final evening with a sunset dinner on a rooftop terrace, watching the city glow as twilight settles in. With panoramic views over Lisbon’s red rooftops and the Tagus River, enjoy a beautifully curated tasting menu that brings together everything you’ve loved about Portugal: bold flavors, seasonal ingredients, and great conversation over wine.
Day 10: One Last Taste of Lisbon
Destination: Lisbon
Morning Coffee & Pastries in the Bairro Alto
Savor your final morning in Lisbon with one last stroll through the historic heart of the city. Stop at a beloved local café for a pastel de nata still warm from the oven, alongside a perfectly poured espresso. Then, wander to a nearby viewpoint, such as the Miradouro da Senhora do Monte or Santa Luzia, for a peaceful goodbye to the tiled rooftops and blue horizon.
Final Local Shopping Stop (Optional)
If time allows, stop by a nearby crafts shop or gourmet grocer to pick up a few last-minute treasures—artisanal olive oil, sea salt, or handmade cork goods make beautiful souvenirs.
Private Departure Transfer to Lisbon Airport
When it’s time to head to the airport, your driver will get you there comfortably and on time. You’ll leave Portugal with a heart full of memories, a camera full of beauty, and the taste of great wine still lingering on your lips.
