6 Best Douro River Cruises and Boat Tours in Porto

The Douro River is probably one of Porto's biggest attractions. In addition to walking along its banks or enjoying a glass of wine on a terrace with views, you can take a cruise that passes by the city's main points of interest.

On this 50 minutes cruise, you will sail along the Douro River, passing under the six bridges that connect Porto with the city of Gaia. Each bridge has something that makes it unique, which, combined with the spectacular views from the cruise, makes this experience a fantasy for your camera.

The cruise through the six bridges of Porto is a beautiful way to discover the city from a different perspective, and you can do it in the morning or in the afternoon. If you're interested in taking spectacular photos in the best possible light, I recommend booking the cruise in the morning. But at sunset you'll undoubtedly have the most beautiful views and it will be a truly magical experience.

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Enjoy a comfortable way to discover Porto by combining a tourist train ride, a cruise on the Douro River, and wine tasting at a traditional winery. This ideal plan for those with limited time lasts approximately 2 hours and includes an audio guide in several languages, panoramic views of the city's most emblematic sights, and a tasting of fortified wines.

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Train and cruise

About the wine tasting in a traditional winery

At the end of the train and boat tour, you can enjoy a wine tasting in a typical northern Portuguese winery. You will taste two varieties of the famous fortified wines of Porto, whose main characteristic is the addition of brandy during fermentation. This method produces intense, sweet wines that are renowned throughout Europe. The visit will allow you not only to taste them, but also to understand the production process and the region's wine-making history.

Enjoy the splendid flavor of Port wine

As you can see, you can also take a cruise around the city of Porto and combine it with a tourist bus tour and wine tasting. To book this option, you will need to choose the day and time that suits you best for this activity and you will receive the confirmation details in your email.

Cruise and bus tour of Porto

Although Porto can be explored on foot, the possibility of doing so comfortably on board a boat or bus is not to be overlooked (especially if you want to avoid crowds or high temperatures). This option combines a two-day ticket for the Porto tourist bus with free stops with a river cruise and wine tasting at Quinta da Boeira.

The bus ticket is valid for two days and is a hop-on hop-off ticket, which means that for two days you can get on the bus as many times as you like, getting on and off at the stops of your choice.

Sightseeing bus routes

When you set out on the tourist bus tour, you will see that there are two routes available. One is the Historic Porto route, which takes you through the city center, and the other is the Porto Castles route. Both tours last two hours (although if you decide to get off at any of the stops, you can extend your visit for as long as you like). Buses run every 30 minutes, giving you plenty of flexibility if you want to get off for a walk and catch the next one.

The stops on the Porto Historic route are:

The stops on the Porto Castles route are:

Another option for sailing along the Douro is to take a panoramic tour of the area known as the Rivera del Duero, an excellent example of the quieter, more traditional side of Portugal. As part of this excursion to the Rivera del Duero, you will also enjoy a local lunch and wine tasting. All this in a small group to make the experience more intimate and ideal for escaping the hustle and bustle of the city.

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About lunch

For lunch, you can choose from typical Portuguese dishes such as roast chicken, spicy rice, or fish stew. The full experience lasts 10 hours, is available in German, English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, and costs $132

If you are interested in experiencing a cruise during your trip, you don't necessarily have to do so in the city of Porto. With this excursion to Aveiro, you will have access to a different kind of boat trip while visiting the town of Aveiro, near Porto. This is a cruise on a moliceiro, a traditional Portuguese boat similar to a gondola.

This excursion lasts approximately 9 hours and costs $126 When you book your place online, you can choose between the morning or afternoon schedule. A guide will pick you up at your hotel in Porto in a comfortable vehicle and accompany you throughout the tour of Aveiro, a town known as the Venice of Portugal.

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• The historic center of Aveiro: your guide will explain the history of this city and show you where you can try its star traditional pastry, Ovos Moles.
• The Aveiro estuary: you will take a moliceiro boat trip while your guide helps you understand the buildings you see along the way.
• Costa Nova beach: where you can admire the landscape and the traditional fishermen's huts, now converted into tourist residences.

This cruise from Porto to Pinhão is more like the experience you would have aboard a yacht visiting different secluded beaches. The difference is that you don't need to embark for a week; one day is enough. This cruise takes you through the most important landscapes of the Douro River and includes breakfast and lunch.

A guide will pick you up at your hotel in Porto and take you to the place where you will embark for Pinhão, one of the most picturesque and charming villages on the banks of the Douro River.

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If you have never booked a cruise before, you are probably wondering what you need to consider when choosing one option over another. In addition to the price (which nowadays is not a deciding factor in enjoying this experience), I recommend that you also check the type of boat you will be traveling on. If you are looking for a more intimate experience, you will probably prefer a moliceiro cruise to a day cruise to Pinhão, which will be on a larger boat.

The route is also an important point to consider. If you have already explored Porto on foot or on a tourist bus and are now looking to explore the Douro River, consider an excursion to the surrounding area that departs from the city, giving you the opportunity to discover other places in Portugal.

The guide is also an important factor to consider. Many cruises include audio commentary instead of an expert guide, but this will not be of the same quality as the information and recommendations that a local guide can provide.

It's also important to take the weather into account when choosing the date of your cruise. Many boats are equipped so that, in case of rain, passengers can continue to enjoy the experience, but it won't be the same as if the day is cloudy, for example. Choose an excursion with the option of canceling 24 hours in advance to avoid any setbacks.

Finally, a word of advice: don't get obsessed with taking photos and enjoy the tour; you'll have plenty of time to explore the places you pass by during your visit. These types of boat trips are designed to give you a general overview of the area (whether it's the city of Porto or the surrounding area) and allow you to enjoy the experience without rushing or stress.

If you have already explored the city of Porto and its surroundings on a cruise, why not do it on foot? If you have booked your boat trip as part of an excursion, you will already have discovered that guided walking tours have a lot to offer travelers interested in the history and culture of a city.

In this article, 10 Best Tours and Day Trips in Porto I explain the different options available for hiring the services of a guide who will show you the city from a local and expert point of view. You can also accompany this type of tour with experiences such as a gastronomic tasting or a wine tasting.

I highly recommend that you take a look at this type of tour; in my opinion, they are the best way to put any city into context and get closer to it as a traveler rather than a tourist.