Douro River Cruse comments please
On a different website, people complained about the long bus rides for excursions and the lack of scenery while on the river.
, among other items.
We are considering this cruise and would appreciate anyone who has taken this trip to comment on their experience.
Thank you in advance for your comments
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Comments
This was one of our favorite river cruises with Tauck. The scenery along the river was stunning, especially because it was fall (Nov 2021) and the vineyards were ablaze in fall colors. The bus rides for the river excursions were not long at all in my opinion.
The strikingly beautiful m.s. Andorhina only sails during the day, so while on excursion the boat continues along the river to meet you. It is not a hectic cruise but, rather, a very relaxing one.
We took the westbound tour and the longest bus ride was from Porto to Lisbon, but it was broken up by stopping in Coimbra. The bus ride from Madrid to embarkation was also broken up by a stop in Salamanca. We have never been bothered by bus rides and enjoy having the opportunity to see the countryside.
I hope this was helpful. I would be happy to attempt to answer more questions should you have some.
The only long bus rides were, as the previous post said, btwn the river and Lisbon and Madrid. We went east bound. Per my docs.from the tour it was about 3 hrs Lisbon to Coimbra and 1 1\2 hrs on to Porto. The ship to Salamanca and from there to Madrid was about 3 hrs each. I can't remember if there were short bathroom breaks but Tauck often includes them.
The river scenery is primarily vineyards.until the last day or so. There aren't a lot of grand palaces and sights on the Douro compared to the Danube or other European cruises. But it was a lovely and relaxing cruise.
You can skip the long bus rides by taking the cruise that doesn't include Lisbon and Madrid but we are.glad we included them.
We enjoyed this trip immensely in 2023. The bus rides were broken up with stops along the way. I found the scenery to be extraordinary. It changed dramatically from foliage to vineyards to boulders. We've done all the rivers and hands down, the Douro is the prettiest river. Plus, the crew on the Andorhina was fabulous.
The Douro is narrow and shallow. As mentioned, river traffic is allowed only during daylight hours. Approaching the Spanish border, having boarded the Andorinha in Porto and heading east, the Douro becomes extremely narrow and, as I recall, it is like cruising through a canyon, with boulders close on each side. I found this part of the tour fascinating. Otherwise, the scenery is mostly terraced vineyards without long-distance vistas nor any elaborate fairytale-like castles. The view is "rustic". The bus rides to the daily excursions were not long, but the trip from Lisbon to Porto is lengthy with a stop in and tour of Coimbra. The bus ride from the Spanish border to Madrid, although broken up by a visit to Salamanca did not provide much in the way of scenery. Being from the midwest, I enjoy seeing cattle, orchards and farms/ranches in other countries. I liked the excursion visits to the quintas for port tastings, but my favorite excursions were the hiking and the cycling,,, both through vineyards with higher elevations than at river-level and thus offering more beautiful vistas & scenery. The Andorinha is a lovely ship. The crew included many portugese citizens who were always accommodating to talk to us and answer questions about their beautiful country. I hope to repeat this tour someday.
Patrice - I wholeheartedly agree with you about repeating the cruise. It was such a magnificent journey.
My wife and I went on this trip in June 2023. Previously we had travelled on two Christmas Market cruises and a Savor France tour down the Rhone. Of the 4 cruises, this was the least "cruisy" The Douro is not a long river and as others have mentioned the ship does not move at night - not a big deal if it moves when you're sleeping, IMO. Remembering our Rhone cruise, we would spend an hour or two cruising after dinner or during the day, multiple days. With the Douro, there really is only one day where you are "cruising". Other than brief ship repositioning trips, you're mostly at a dock. We were fortunate in that our captain took us for a ~60 minute cruise around Porto our first night on the boat. That turned out to be one of the longer cruises. That being said, we still had a wonderful time. Yes the bus trips from/to Lisbon/Madrid to the ship dock were long, but Tauck does a wonderful job of stopping along the way for sightseeing or to relieve bus fatigue. All of the excursions we had were very memorable and some extremely informative, i.e. the excursion to the ancient cave paintings. While we didn't do the bike ride, others did and raved about it, Don't miss doing the "treasure" hunt in Pinhao. So much fun! As always the food was excellent and the directors did a great job keeping things going. Just realize the actual cruising aspect of this trip is not comparable to the larger German or French cruises. And if you go, and to anyone who travels to Madrid, we can not recommend more highly taking in the dinner Flamingo show at Corral De La Moreria. This was beyond words. Two highly skilled dancers performing true Flamingo, and the food was incredible. Well worth it if you have a free night.
Yes, do the Pinhao treasure hunt!
We took the last Douro River cruise in October a couple years ago and it is one of our favorite trips. We went early and enjoyed Lisbon and a day trip to a nearby castle and the coast. The bus trip is not that long and the scenery was good. The ship was new and had the best crew of any we’ve been on, they were proud to be working on the new ship. Food was good. On the day trips we bought olive oil at the wineries and olive farms on recommendation of one of the tour directors- excellent flavorful oils and worth saving luggage space for as much as you can carry. River cruises are low key and no casinos or night life. We loved this trip and have talked of doing it again
Since the usual punsters did not comment...what is the difference between Flamenco and true Flamingo?
For an individual who has never experienced flamenco, it is an easy oversight to make. The "punsters" (whoever they are) probably have no clue anyway.
Kazootripper1 - I'm glad you enjoyed the tour and performance. Warm regards.
What's wrong with bus ride? I love them.