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Douro River Cruise Holidays
Douro River Cruises
Land of Port
The Douro river rises in the mountains of northeastern Spain and flows in a westerly direction for 580 km (360 miles). For the next 110 km (70 miles) it forms the international border and then, in its only navigable stretch, cuts across Portugal for 210 km (130 miles) to reach the Atlantic at Porto.
You can spend a week cruising the river in comfort and style, watching the spectacular scenery unfold. Deep gorges alternate with tranquil valleys and rocky hillsides laboriously sculpted into ancient terraces planted with vines. In tiny villages, women gather to wash clothes in the river. There are places where the road or railway comes close to the banks, and others so remote that not a sign of human habitation can be seen.
Here and there the boat stops to let you ashore for excursions to Romanesque churches, border fortresses, baroque mansions and other historic sites. For most of the way, you are in the officially demarcated Port wine-growing region of the Upper Douro. Visits are made to quintas, the estates where the wine is made before it's sent to Vila Nova de Gaia. Mooring at different ports of call each night, the voyage continues to Barca de Alva. Just upriver is the Spanish river station of Vega de Terron, where shore excursions set off to the historic city of Salamanca. This is as far as boats can go. Ahead is a long gorge with a succession of rapids where the river falls by 380 m (1,250 ft) in only 50 km (30 miles).
For centuries, floods used to inundate the towns and villages on its banks, but since the 1930s, a series of dams has been built to tame the Douro and provide hydro-electric power. Although there was little traffic, the planners fortunately had the foresight to provide locks so that boats could pass. It is the dimensions of these locks, quite short and narrow, as well as some low bridges, that dictate the size of the vessels that can use the river today.
Duoro River Cruises - Further Information
Connections - Elegant River Cruises
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