Alto Douro in the MGA from Vintage Tours

Two nights through the Alto Douro, self-guided, in an MGA Roadster provided by the operator.

The Douro is the oldest demarcated wine region in the world, laid out in 1756, and the terraces are held up by dry-stone schist walls that earned the valley its world heritage listing. The roads above the river are narrow, steep and relentlessly scenic.

Porto opens it, where the group assembles and the cars are handed over. The first night is at the Porto Antigo, a restored nineteenth-century manor house at the point where the Douro and the Bestanca meet and the water widens out like a lake. The driving then runs through the schist terraces and olive groves to Pinhao, which sits at the heart of the region where the port houses have their quintas, with a dinner that opens on a tasting of local olive oil and takes in port in its ruby, tawny and white styles, the last of which rarely leaves the country.

The MGA for the duration, the accommodation including the Porto Antigo and the group dinners including the Pinhao tasting are all included. The price shown is per person. Spring and autumn are the seasons, with the harvest in late September the most atmospheric time to be there and the summer heat in the valley considerable. Three days makes this the shortest trip the operator runs, and a long weekend in an MGA along the Douro is a well-judged piece of product. Two nights also means the driving stays on the best of the valley roads rather than spreading out towards the Spanish border, which the operator’s longer Douro itineraries cover instead.