I cruised the Douro River in Portugal, these are my top tips

A cruise through the Douro region reveals local wines and charming towns you’ve never heard of.

Legend has it that shiny pebbles rolling on the riverbed, dragged along by the current, resembled pieces of gold. Hence the locals called the river Rio Douro – river of gold in Portuguese. While our 10-day Viking itinerary, which begins in Lisbon and ends in Porto, is called Portugal’s River of Gold, and the water certainly gleams like liquid bullion, it’s more like 50 shades of green.

The Douro region is characterised by terraces of lush vines, leading like dainty steps down to the glossy river, punctuated by the occasional whitewashed farmhouse with red-tiled roof. It’s remarkable seeing the region from the water, making for a unique vantage point and a nod to Portugal’s storied shipping history as the first global maritime superpower.

Rising in Spain, and winding 200km (of its nearly 900km) past the Douro’s centuries-old vineyards until it reaches the Atlantic in Porto, the once fast-flowing river has been tempered by dams and Europe’s deepest lock, the Carrapatelo at 35m, making it ideal for cruising.

This itinerary ventures off the tourist track so is ideal for those who want to avoid the crowds. The Douro was historically used to ferry the region’s famed port wine in flat-bottomed wooden rabelo boats to Porto, but was otherwise not a commercial route so no bustling cities developed. Instead the towns and villages we visit are relatively sleepy and offer a broader insight into Portugal’s history.

Vineyard terraces along the Douro River.

The ship

The Viking Helgrim is a sleek, purpose-built longship of four levels. It features Viking’s signature Scandinavian design, and has 53 outside staterooms for 106 guests. There are no casinos or children under 18 on any of the cruise line’s ships, and wi-fi is included. The enrichment programs are a highlight. Each day guest lectures traverse art, architecture, music, politics and natural attractions, or local artisans give craft or cooking demonstrations. Musicians perform each evening, and there’s a small library on board, curated by Heywood Hill, an independent London bookseller.

Tip: Head to the bar for the evening performances. Our on-board musician, Maria, a beautiful and haunting singer who competed in The Voice Portugal, taught me to appreciate fado. This traditional melancholy style of music explains the Portuguese way of life. “Fado is interpreted differently by every generation, but it’s always about emotion,” she says.

The Observation Lounge area on Viking Helgrim.

The room

There are four different types of room. The most spacious are the 11 veranda suites, with a separate lounge, veranda, bedroom and walk-in robe with ample storage, decked out Scandi-style with pale wood and layers of texture. The highlight is sitting in bed with the floor-to-ceiling sliding windows open, enjoying the breeze as we ripple along the river. The 24 veranda staterooms don’t have lounges. There are two French Balcony staterooms, and 16 standard staterooms on the lower level. Laundry services are complimentary in a veranda stateroom, your clothes washed and returned in a tissue paper-lined leather box.

There’s one main restaurant, and a lounge-bar upstairs, with an outdoor seating area at the bow (beware when entering a lock – we got soaked). The sun deck on the top level has a shaded seating area, pool, and putting green.

Tip: It’s worth splurging on a room with a veranda. The fresh air and views allow you to fully appreciate the region’s beauty.

Coimbra is the home of Portugal’s oldest university.

The excursions 

Viking prides itself on being a cruise line for the “thinking traveller”. The daily shore excursions use local guides who offer insights into everything from the economy and politics to cultural traditions and history. These are included in the fare, and highly recommended. You can also pay extra and dig deep into a niche topic – perhaps visiting a tile museum or particular vineyard.

En route from Lisbon to Porto to board the ship, we detour to Coimbra, Portugal’s oldest university town and the birthplace of six kings. The university is home to Portugal’s oldest library, the opulent Biblioteca Joanina. Built between 1717 and 1728, it houses around 60,000 volumes stacked on elaborately carved shelves.

From the port of Régua, we tour the elegant Mateus Palace (its image adorns the Mateus rosé label, though there’s no connection). The trip even takes in Spain for a day, crossing the border past groves of oranges and olives to Salamanca, the country’s oldest college town with its enormous Gothic-style New Cathedral and buzzy laneways where patrons enjoy jugs of Sangria and platters of jamón.

Ceramic shops in the charming town of Lamego are a highlight, and well worth a visit after walking in the footsteps of pilgrims to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remedies – a hilltop chapel reached via 686 steps up a grand staircase.

Tip: In the Douro region, the excursions require bus trips through mountainous terrain. On other river routes, such as Provence, you can disembark at your leisure and explore a town by foot. Luckily the coaches are comfortable, with large seats and water provided.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remedies in Lamego.

The regional food

It’s a tough gig but someone’s got to do the tastings. While the Douro is famed for its port, it’s fascinatingly diverse. We visit Favaios, which has a museum dedicated to wine and bread. Famed for its “four corner” bread (aka necktie, dog bone, butt cheeks and game controller bread), this tiny town has seven bakeries, five on one cobblestone street, and we head to the tiny bakery of Dona Rosalia. At 73 years old, she has been baking bread in a wood-fired oven every day for 50 years with only four ingredients: yeast, flour, water and salt. We perch in her laneway devouring chunks of fresh bread slathered with butter, watching her work in flour-covered shoes.

Nearby is the Adega Cooperativa de Favaios, a prestigious winery collective in the heart of the Unesco-listed Alto Douro region that’s famous for its moscatel. We also try a white port Spritz – white port mixed with tonic and ice, a slice of citrus and sprig of mint or thyme – which shapes up as the tipple of our trip.

Tip: The Graham’s Port dinner at its lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia, over the river from Porto’s old town, is an optional extra. At $427 it isn’t cheap, but you tour the cellars of one of Portugal’s most prestigious producers, and have a port tasting (which includes a 40-year-old tawny that tastes like Christmas) and an elegant dégustation of traditional dishes such as pork croquettes, grilled salted cod, and a rich, slow-cooked oxtail stew.

The Adega Cooperativa de Favaios is famous for its moscatel.

The highlight

Our final excursion was a surprise favourite (though it cost extra). After a scenic 20-minute drive from Porto, we reached Conservas Pinhais, one of Portugal’s oldest fish canneries and home to the Pinhais and Nuri brands. The museum tour, in the original offices of the factory founded in 1920 by fishermen brothers, was an engaging way to learn about the history of sardining. Workers complete every step by hand, including the wrapping of each can (they average 25,000 cans a day). The fish are also washed by hand in marble basins more than 100 years old. The tour ends with a delicious tasting of sardines and bread with green wine before we depart via the shop laden with cans of sardines, mackerel, pâté, and even sardine caviar – packaged occasionally after a rare catch with sardine eggs.

Tip: While the Nuri brand is famed for its sardines simply in olive oil, its spicy variety, with cloves, bay leaf, chilli, black pepper and lightly pickled cucumber, is well worth trying. The recipe for the tomato version is a closely guarded secret. “Only two people in the company know how to make it,” our guide tells us.

Cruising the Douro River in Portugal.

The on-board dining

The excellent restaurant on Viking Helgrim offers buffet breakfast and à la carte dinner. Pastries are cooked daily, while regional produce, such as tomatoes, cheese, sardines and octopus, is picked up at ports along the way. Chef Cesar Mata says the most popular dish is chicken Chateaubriand, which he usually saves for the final night.

“I love octopus, but guests don’t order it much,” he says, citing frogs’ legs and snails among the more “risky” dishes. “Guests don’t love sardines on toast either, but I think it’s important to offer the local dishes.” Mata hosts a Portuguese buffet on each cruise, with tables laden with sweet and savoury favourites, including the salted cod he used to cook for the Portuguese soccer team when he was its chef. “They miss my cooking because they lost,” he quips before sharing that the players love suckling pig but aren’t allowed it due to their strict diets. “Ronaldo never ate sweets. No wonder he looks like this,” he says, gesturing to imitate the star’s six-pack abs.

Tip: With meals included in your fare, along with wine and beer at lunch and dinner, it’s unlikely you’ll be rivalling Ronaldo’s six-pack. However, if you want to enjoy unlimited alcoholic drinks, upgrade to the Silver Spirits package, which is good value at $29 per day. Unlike many cruise lines, Viking also allows BYO wine on board – handy if you’ve stocked up along the Douro.

The writer was a guest of Viking. Portugal’s River of Gold cruise sails between April and November 2025, starting at $9895 per person. 

Originally published as I cruised the Douro River in Portugal, these are my top tips