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Portugal's River Of Gold

The Journey Begins In Porto

By CHRIS OWEN

June 20^th, 2014

The Douro River is host to Viking River Cruises Portugal’s Rivers of Gold itinerary that sails round-trip from Porto past vineyards, olive groves and almond trees. Culturally curious travelers on the 8-day itinerary enjoy the journey in the comfort of shiny new Viking ships, custom-built to get the most out of the river. We begin with a quick look at the unique ships, inspired by the popular Viking longships that have redefined the river cruise experience.

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Loaded with all the beauty and elegance of the 443-foot long, 190-passenger longships, the hybrid Viking ships come in at 262 feet long (the maximum size allowed on the Douro) and carry just 106 passengers. Sailing a 10-day Portugal’s River Of Gold itinerary, Viking Hemming and Viking Torgil will sail from Porto, Portugal, explore Lisbon, stop at ports of call unchanged for centuries, sampling local cuisine and port wines along the way. Unique changes vs. Viking’s longships include a pool, reconfigured lounge, restaurant, Aquavit terrace, staterooms pulled from a drop dead gorgeous design palette that previous Viking passengers will feel right at home with. New to Viking? Count on one great journey, in luxurious comfort.

But ships are ships, rivers are rivers and what sets Viking apart from other river cruise lines operating in the area is not their state-of-the-art modified longships. On an included tour with Viking’s locally sourced guide, we saw enough of Porto, the embarkation port, to know this is one special travel opportunity, worthy of the savviest traveler.

Portugal’s second largest city, Porto, is a thriving economic center as well as a place of great traditional importance.

Located along the Douro river estuary in northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European centres, and registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996.

One of Portugal‘s famous exports, port wine, is named for Porto, since the metropolitan area was responsible for the production and export of the wine.

The Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto covers 17 municipalities, including the City of Porto, making up the second biggest urban area in the country.

The atmospheric, colorful, World Heritage riverfront medieval district of Porto. When asked “Which is the UNESCO World Heritage site?” Our guide made a grand sweeping motion saying “all of it.”

Shop at the retro shops downtown, many preserving wonderful Art Nouveau façades and locals who look like they have been there a long, long time. Stopping to talk to this man who appeared stone cold from a distance, he was all too eager to talk about the city he was born in and had watched grow so much in his lifetime.

A guided tour is always a great way to learn about the history and culture of your destination but there is something to be said for time to wander on our own as we did in Porto.