Lisbon<\/b>, the capital of Portugal, is where you fly into and\u00a0begin\u00a0many Douro River cruise itineraries. It\u2019s famous for its\u00a0Tower of Bel\u00e9m<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Jeronimos Monastery<\/b>. You\u2019ll board a\u00a0scenic luxury motor coach in Lisbon and\u00a0ride\u00a0north through\u00a0the countryside of Portugal to\u00a0Porto<\/b>, the \u201cCity of Bridges.\u201d It\u2019s here you\u2019ll board your \u201cfive-star luxury floating hotel\u201d and begin your cruise\u00a0up the Douro River. You\u2019ll stop in five cities along the river including\u00a0Bitetos<\/b>,\u00a0R\u00e9gua<\/b>,\u00a0Pinh\u00e3o<\/b>,\u00a0Barca d\u2019Alva<\/b>, and\u00a0Vega de Terr\u00f3n\u00a0<\/b>in Spain. From Vega de Terron, you\u2019ll motor coach to Salamanca<\/b>\u00a0to explore this old-world Spanish city and enjoy a traditional Flamenco show. After a couple more stops in quaint, historic cities, you’ll end up back in Porto to disembark.<\/p>\n When is the best time to go?<\/b><\/p>\n The best time to cruise the Douro depends on your personal preference. The Douro River cruising season is from late March through December and it\u2019s beautiful regardless of when you choose to go. However, from March through June the almond blossoms and wild flowers are in full bloom, and the vineyards are budding. If you want to see harvest-time when the vineyards are full of workers hand-picking the delicate grapes, then plan your cruise for September.<\/p>\n What makes the Port wine so special in the region?<\/b><\/p>\n Is it any wonder that Port\u00a0<\/b><\/em>wine originated in Port<\/em>o, Port<\/em>ugal? <\/b>\u00a0Due to its sweet and stimulating flavor, Port has become a favorite after-dinner wine that has yet to be duplicated in any other part of the world. \u00a0The soil along the Douro River is like gravel, so the roots of the grape vines have to dig almost 40 feet deep, through granite-like soil, to find the mineral enriched water. The\u00a0vine\u2019s struggle to get to the water is\u00a0reflected in the intensity of the sweetness of this fortified wine. \u00a0\u00a0The Douro Valley was established as a protected region\u00a0in 1756, making it the oldest defined and protected wine region\u00a0in the world.\u00a0 The Viking Douro will be replaced in 2014 with the NEW Viking Hemming and Viking Torgil<\/p><\/div>\n VIKING RIVER CRUISES will have three ships that sail the Douro River starting 2014<\/b><\/p>\n Viking River Cruises<\/b>\u00a0recently added two new ships to meet the high demand of passengers who want to cruise the Douro. The Viking Douro<\/strong> will be joined by the NEW<\/b>\u00a0Viking Hemming<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Viking Torgil<\/b>\u00a0in 2014. These ships are designed specifically for cruising the Douro River. Luxury staterooms have a full or French balcony and the ships feature even more\u00a0optimal views of the steep terraced vineyards from\u00a0the upper deck. Since the breathtaking landscape is such an important experience on this river cruise, al fresco dining is available, and a wrap-around promenade allows you to have a continuous view while floating along the serene river as it winds through the valley.<\/p>\n You will love Viking\u2019s\u00a0\u201cPortugal\u2019s River of Gold\u201d<\/b>\u00a010-day itinerary from Lisbon<\/b> to Porto<\/b>. Before you board your ship in Porto, you\u2019ll stay two nights in Lisbon. If you\u2019re feeling adventurous, add on the\u00a0two night post-cruise,\u00a0\u201cRoad to Santiago\u201d<\/b>\u00a0package, which takes you through northern Portugal to\u00a0Santiago de Compostela, Spain<\/b>. It\u2019s an old-world city by design, but popular for its new-world style of nightlife.<\/p>\n AMAWATERWAYS offers a full itinerary from Portugal to Spain<\/b><\/p>\n On\u00a0AmaWaterways\u2019 AmaVida<\/b>\u00a0 your time on board will be as captivating as your time on shore.\u00a0The AmaVida luxury 106-passenger ship features outside balconies in most staterooms and has al fresco dining at the front of the ship.<\/p>\n The AmaWaterways\u2019\u00a0\u201cPort Wine & Flamenco\u201d<\/b>\u00a0river cruise starts in Madrid<\/b>, the capital of Spain, where you\u2019ll spend three nights. From there you\u2019ll be escorted\u00a0to Salamenca<\/b> and then on to Vega de Terr\u00f3n\u00a0<\/b> where you\u2019ll board the AmaVida for a seven-night river cruise winding down the Douro River. You\u2019ll stop in Bitetos<\/b>, Resende<\/b>, R\u00e9gua<\/b>, Lamego<\/b>, Pinh\u00e3o<\/b>, Barca d\u2019Alva<\/b> on your 13-day vacation. As you transfer from Porto<\/b> to Lisbon<\/b> for three nights, you\u2019ll also stop in Fatima<\/b>, a city made famous by the Marian apparitions in 1917.<\/p>\n AmaWaterways also offers an\u00a0\u201cEnticing Douro\u201d <\/b>itinerary that starts with a three-night stay in Lisbon<\/b>. You\u2019ll transfer to Porto where your ship awaits to take you on a seven-night river cruise that goes through the Douro River Valley to Vega de Terr\u00f3n<\/b> with a land excursion to Salamanca<\/b>, Spain. Then you return to\u00a0the ship and cruise back through the Douro River Valley to Porto.<\/p>\n UNIWORLD RIVER CRUISES now offers a Douro River cruise<\/strong><\/p>\n If a boutique luxury floating hotel experience sounds interesting, then take\u00a0Uniworld\u2019s Queen Isabel<\/b>\u00a0116-passenger ship on their \u201cPortugal, Spain & the Douro River Valley\u201d<\/b>\u00a0river cruise.<\/p>\n Even though it has wi-fi\u2026put it away\u2026and\u00a0 spend your time on the sun deck and enjoy a glass of port and\u00a0the unspoiled landscape of the oldest distinguished wine region in the world.<\/p>\n Want more information?<\/strong><\/p>\n If you have any questions about taking a river cruise, please check us out at www.CruiseExperts.com or give us a call. All of our Experts are accredited by the\u00a0Cruise Line International Association and would love to help you find a river cruise that is just right for you. With so many options when it comes to river cruising, using an experienced River Cruise Expert<\/strong> will save you time and money. Contact us anytime by calling\u00a01-888-804-CRUIse (2784) or\u00a0visiting our website,\u00a0www.CruiseExperts.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s time to head to Portugal! Finally, the well-preserved historical Douro River Valley region is now easily accessible by taking a river cruise vacation. The Douro River flows through a valley with steep granite embankments and hills covered in waving rows of grape vines. It\u2019s still a challenge to get there by road, but now … Take a Douro River Cruise to Experience the Best of Portugal’s “River of Gold”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":43717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,31,40,29,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations","category-european","category-european-river-cruises","category-river-cruises","category-themed-cruises"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"istock](\"http:\/\/www.cruiseexperts.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/viking-lisbon-palacesquare1.jpg\")
<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/picture><\/a><\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n<\/picture><\/a> <\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n