We had to meet for our tour today at the ungodly hour of 7:40 AM. We were not amused … but then we discovered the reason for the early departure. The city of Porto has banned all tour buses from the historic center of Porto after 8:00 AM, so the buses need to get out of town before then. We still didn’t like the early departure, but at least now we understand why.

The bus ride to the Douro valley was almost two hours, but along the way we were treated to stunning views of the … terrifying narrow roads. (Spoiler alert – our driver was fabulous, and we all arrived home safe and sound.) The Douro valley is sheltered from the cooling Atlantic winds, so it has its own micro climate that can get extremely hot in the summer … as suggested by this sign.

The grapes have been harvested and the leaves are dying. One thing we learned today is that red grape leaves turn red, and white grape leaves turn yellow, so when you look at the terraces you can quickly spot the type of grape.

The boat ride was almost an hour long and we were treated to stunning views of the terraced vineyards. In this next picture you can see steps between the levels of terracing. The steps are just stones sticking out of the terrace wall. I’m not brave, or foolish, enough to try that.

Sometimes you see sections where there the terraces are decaying. I’m not sure why they have been abandoned, but you often see olive trees growing in these sections.

We discovered that the olive trees have two functions. The obvious one is for olive oil, but they are also planted along the edge of most vineyards because they have extensive and deep root systems, so they stabilize the terraces and stop erosion. Here is a picture of the olives, nearly ready for harvest.

The terraces are built from the shale that is everywhere here. Shale looks strong, but it isn’t, which is the reason for the olive trees to stop erosion. But the shale is also great for vines, because it absorbs water during the winter wet season and then stores enough for the vines to use all season. There isn’t a need for irrigation in the Douro valley because of this. Here is a closeup of a terrace wall.

Here is another view of the terraced hills. Note the olive trees near the bottom, but also the lonely clump of trees on the top of the hill.

I managed to catch this picture of an old house on the side of the hill, in the middle of the vineyards. It appears to be in in good repair and is still being used.

After the river cruise we visited a local winery to learn a bit more about wine making.

And just to prove we were there…

The grapes have already been harvested, but the here and there you see a cluster that was missed, making an interesting picture.

And after the educational portion of the tour, we needed some practical experience. It was after noon … barely … so it was okay to drink.

Wine tasing is a great conversation starter, and just like on our Port tour, we started learning about the other guests. One couple is from Italy, and we were getting ideas for things to see next fall. We also talked about how much we enjoyed our Port tasting, and before the end of the day another couple had booked that tour for tomorrow. Lots of fun.

After the winery tour we headed to lunch, at a lovely restaurant, on the top of a hill of course. This was the view from our table.

Here is another stunning view of the valley.

When we were driving to the valley we saw many small fires that were generating a lot of smoke. We guessed they were burning the material pruned from the vines, though we weren’t sure. But we think it added to the smoky haze you can see here.

At the lookout point the crocuses were in bloom. Turns out some crocuses bloom in the fall.

On our way back to Porto we stopped in the historic center of Amarante.

Jan captured this view of a bole on a tree in town.

In the past we’ve not been that interested in a river cruise on the Douro, but after our tour, and our time in Porto, we are seriously considering it.