Five views of the Douro

1 - São Leonardo da Galafura

Near Régua, "next to" the village of Poiares, stands the viewpoint of São Leonardo da Galafura. In this landscape that the writer Miguel Torga defined as a geological poem, one can appreciate the Douro Valley and the Serra do Marão at a glance. There is a small chapel and a nice picnic area on site.

2 - Quinta do Noval

In its privileged location and in the colorful geometry of its vineyards, this property continues to be the showcase of the Douro, the most famous of the estates in the region. The place where, in the opinion of the American magazine "Wine Spectator", one of the 12 best wines of the 20th century (the "vintage" Noval Nacional of 1931) was produced. Located on the left bank of the Pinhão River, the farm stands on schist-walled terraces, divided by stretches of stairs listed in the same white as the houses and the sloping road that runs through the property.

3 - Blond Couple

A balcony, with another perspective, over Pinhão and the open and curved valley of the Douro. Next to the village cemetery, one of the most beautiful landscapes of the Douro Wine Region opens, with the imposing Quinta das Carvalhas in front, that of Roêda below, that of Foz on the right side and the river in the background describing an "s" next to Pinhão.

4 - São Salvador do Mundo

Sacred and mythical place located a few kilometers from São João da Pesqueira, São Salvador do Mundo is a destination for pilgrimage and pilgrimage, especially for women. Girls who want to marry a man in a good way, tradition says, have to tie knots to the broom that they find on the side of the path that leads to the chapel. From there, you can see half Douro. At the bottom of the abyss, contorted by rocky escarpments, the river flows, now softened by the Valeira Dam and freed from the famous pipe that, until the end of the 18th century, constituted an insurmountable obstacle to navigation. The place was so dangerous that the sailors, arrived there, ordered the soul of the creator, amid supplications to S. Salvador. Of the shipwrecked Valeira, the baron of Forrester was the most famous.

5 - Quinta do Vale Meão

It was, for decades, the birthplace of the mythical Barca Velha wine. Now it gives name and grapes to another red table wine: Quinta do Vale Meão 1999. Set in a gentle slope on the right bank of the Douro, next to Pocinho, where the UNESCO classified area ends in the north, the estate boasts in its vastness and greatness the brand of the founder, D. Antónia Ferreira. In nine years, the businesswoman undid Monte Meão to plant around 900 thousand vines. There were as many as 800 people working in the construction of houses and in the installation of the vineyard. D. Antónia died in the year that the farm was inaugurated, in 1896. Vale Meão is, therefore, the culmination of a life without parallel in the region. There is the essence of the Douro: the beauty, the dream, the legend and the creative genius.

Source Website www.visitportugal.com