Fantastic Tour!
We went westbound from Madrid in early October 2025. This was by far the best of our 6 Tauck tours (the Seine plus London & Paris was a close second).
A great deal of the delight we experienced on this tour was due to our tour director Manuel Rezende. He was brilliant, informative, and light-hearted. He constantly joked and teased everyone (in a very gentle way). Everyone wanted to be on Manuel’s excursions, and his incredible personality was a way for the guests to chat and make friends among themselves. His grasp of Portuguese history was incredible.
The cruise itself was magnificent, the excursions were rich experiences, and the food and wine were exceptional.
All in all, this was a Tauck tour not to be missed. This tour is an extraordinary value, PLUS Manuel Rezende is tossed in for free!
Comments
I wholeheartedly agree that the Douro cruise was fabulous and it is on my list of “must do again” tours.
We liked the Douro. The river itself is nice cuz it is not ‘industrial’. You also cruise in the daytime because the river is not navigable at night. If I were to do it again, we would probably spend a couple days in Porto.
We took this tour from Lisbon to Madrid in 2024. My only comment is that you should not do it in the summer. It was over 100 degrees in Madrid and sweat rolled down our backs. The Spring or the Fall would be a much better time.
We went in May and the weather was pleasant.
The vineyards were ablaze in fall colors when we did this tour in Oct/Nov a number of years ago.
We’re booked with 3 other couples on the trip from Madrid to Lisbon in April, 2027. Can’t wait.