Porto, Douro and Las Beiras

Fourteen nights, self-guided, from Porto to Aveiro, taking in the well-known delights of the Douro Valley before moving south to the lesser-known region of Las Beiras. Caminos arranges the hotels and an economy hire car, and describes the Beiras as enchanting and away from the crowds.

Caminos introduces Porto as romantic and old-world, and the Douro as the world’s oldest denominated wine area with a famously vertiginous landscape. The second half of the trip is quieter, with fortress towns dotted among the vineyards of the high Planalto, Portugal’s highest mountain range in the Serra da Estrela, a fado show and the historic university of Coimbra. Aveiro on the Atlantic coast finishes the route.

Two nights in Porto begin the trip, followed by three in the Douro Valley, including a boat trip and Lamego’s baroque stairway. Two nights on the Planalto cover Trancoso, Almeida and Castelo Rodrigo, the Palaeolithic rock art of the Coa Valley and the option of a day across the border in Ciudad Rodrigo and Salamanca. Two nights in the Serra da Estrela include Manteigas, the Burel wool factory and the Torre peak. Coimbra takes three nights, with its university views and Roman ruins at Conimbriga, and the last two nights are in Aveiro, with Moliceiro boat rides, Costa Nova and the Vista Alegre porcelain factory.

The price covers hotels on a bed and breakfast basis for two sharing a double room, an economy four-door hire car for those flying, a regional guide book and a personal travel app with restaurant suggestions and weather forecasts, and instructions for finding every hotel. Flights, one-way and cross-border car hire charges, extras such as a second driver, garage parking and local tourist taxes are not included. Caminos quotes about £1,750 per person as an indicative mid-season figure for 14 nights, and adapts the route, hotels and airports to each traveller.