Top Porto Bus Tours

There are a lot of tours based out if Porto doing something similar in duoro, but i felt seeing what the other tours got in passing that this tour is the best of the batch. 1) Miguel was a fantastic guide, tons of personality, really deep knowledge to share about the places we went to and even drove by. Also knew picturesque spots and helped take photos for the group. When i saw other tours at certain points where it was common to see them (winery estates for instance, other groups coming in and going), they got a similar mode of travel (van - smaller groups) but not the same enthusiasm, witnessed them skipping a couple scenic spots that miguel got us to go to, i also had the impression over hearing other guides interact is that they were more just ferrying folks around rather than raising the experience. 2) Lunch - not all tour groups do a lunch like this one does, the spot was great, the wine was essentially bottomless and gave a good range of wines. The food was fantastic and traditional and unique (not easy to get the experience elsewhere as they use traditional cooking methods and recipes). 3) the boat, its not a big boat shared with a bunch of other people/tours with no personal touch ( which i witnessed other tours doing) - this was a proper boat tour with a seperate enthusiastic and informative guide who provided a port based cocktail for the ride. The boat captain also had good personality and the two would riff with eachother. Its a small boat that goes around the river for about an hour, with good information and engagement during the entire ride - really enjoyed it. Other notes: The estates visited are also visited by other groups, but miguel really made the difference. Wine/port offerings, If your concern is not getting enough port or wine, dont be. Through the course of this tour you will be well provided for. Its easy to get lost on the options, this is a slightly higher price point than some other tours, it had me concerned beforehand, but after the experience i am very happy with it and it was worth the additional price.

Joao, our driver, was great. He shared information and history on the trip, making the drive there go much faster. Although the trip said 6 hours, it was over 8 hours including pick up and drop off, which was not mentioned. I also was expecting it to be "wine" tour and tasting, not port wine. I had just done a port wine tasting experience the day prior. Wouldn't it be called a Douro Valley Port wine tour and tasting? Lastly, why do they have ALL the groups arrive at the same time and each group has a speaker talking to them about the port at the same time? Why wouldn't they stagger the tours by 5 or 10 minutes so that 200 people are not trying to hear their speaker over all the other ones?

Andre was our guide, his history knowledge, easy to understand English, and friendly disposition made the tour extremely enjoyable. Was a great way to start our time in Porto as Andre pointed out many points of interest that we otherwise would not have known to look for. Can't beat local knowledge and the fact that it was a private tour just for our group of four made it personal. Thanks also for your recommendation for the chicken place, we went there for lunch- delicious! Highly recommended.