Advice on Excursion Choices for Exploring the Douro plus Lisbon and Madrid
Considering Excursion choices and appreciate hearing about anyone that can share their experiences. We will be traveling in May.
One of the options is Arouca Geopark and Bridge Hike which I am curious to know how challenging the terrain.
Another day has three choices that I welcome feedback/recommendations: Quinta de Ervamoira visit, Hiking in the upper Douro Region or Walking tour of Torre de Moncorvo.
Thanks!
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Comments
They have certainly added excursions since we took this tour!
It really depends on your interests. Walking across the suspension bridge would offer beautiful scenery, but I couldn’t handle it with my vertigo.
Our tour had several Quinta visits which we enjoyed, partly because the vineyards were ablaze with fall colors.
This was one of our favorite river cruises—rich in history, culture and cuisine. Enjoy.
We are investigating the exclusion options as well, for May eastbound. I'll be putting up some discussion posts soon.
I am like kfnknfzk in that I don't think I could handle the heights for the bridge hike.
We did this tour in October, and the entire trip was fabulous (esp Tour Director Manuel Rezende; he’s incredible).
Regarding the Arouca excursion:
•The bridge is very stable & well-engineered; fun to traverse it
•After the bridge traverse, you walk down hundreds of wooden stairsteps & walkways for a couple of miles. Anyone with mobility issues might want to rethink this excursion.
•My main problem with this excursion is the road travel & the time commitment. The van ride to Arouca was about 3 hours (our van driver got lost and almost crashed at one point; cost us 1/2 hour at least).
•The van ride from Arouca to Porto was about 2 hours; the total excursion time was about 8 hours; marginally worth it IMO.
The other 2 excursions you mentioned must be new; I don’t remember those options.