Planning the Perfect Douro River Cruise

Thinking about a Douro River cruise with Viking and wondering if it’s for you? In this episode, we share our honest, on-the-ground review of Viking’s Portugal’s River of Gold itinerary, from the land stay in Lisbon to sailing through the Douro Valley and that surprise day trip into Spain.

We chat through what makes Douro ships different from other European river ships, what the onboard vibe and food are really like (including how “Portuguese” the menus are), and why this itinerary is more bus-heavy and low-key than many people expect. 

We also talk about how wine-focused it truly is, what surprised us about the scenery in November, and why we’d add extra nights in Porto next time but we’re glad we stayed extra nights beforehand in Lisbon this time.

You’ll come away knowing who this cruise is best for (and who might be happier elsewhere), what to expect with excursions, buses, ports, and ship size, and how to set realistic expectations so your Douro cruise feels magical, not mismatched. 

We also mention our Douro River Cruise article with lots of photos and our episode, “Packing Tips: Our 5 River Cruise Must-Pack Essentials,” if you’re in planning mode. We stayed at The Ivens hotel in the heart of historic Lisbon and signed up for a Sintra and Cascais day tour with The Tour Guy and a fabulous food tour with Devour pre-cruise. 

Chapters

• 0:35 Douro River Cruise Experience Overview
• 1:56 Itinerary Overview: Lisbon to Porto
• 5:09 Exploring Lisbon: Culture & Energy
• 9:12 Viking's Douro River Ship Uniqueness
• 12:20 Dining Experience: Local Flavors & Culinary Highlights
• 14:36 Cultural Experiences Onboard: Entertainment & Activities
• 16:46 Not-to-Miss Souvenir to Bring Home from Porto
• 19:52 Scenic Beauty: The Douro Valley & Surroundings
• 22:36 Day-By-Day Itinerary Overview on the Douro River
• 23:55 What to Expect Wine-Wise on a Douro River Cruise
• 26:37 Who Should Consider This Cruise? (With Bus Info)
• 31:08 Final Thoughts & a Question for Our Listeners

Transcript

Dan (00:34)

Hello and welcome to another episode of Small Ship Cruise Talk. Last week we were on a big ship, we were on Celebrity Xcel, but this week we're gonna talk about sun-drenched vineyards, terraced hillsides, riverside villages and historic towns. So something quite different than our last week's conversation.

What we're talking about is our cruise with Viking on the Douro River.

Mikkel (01:02)

I agree. It was such a different experience from being in The Retreat on Celebrity Xcel; both great, but night and day. And we are going to cover an honest on the ground review of our Viking Douro River Cruise experience. It was the Portugal's River of Gold itinerary. We're going to talk about the ship because they're a little different than river cruise ships in other places in Europe.

We're going to talk about the food you can expect, if it's Portuguese, if it's not, our schedule, some pros and cons of this itinerary that you have to be aware of before you book, including who else it's good for. Is it good for a first time cruiser, second, sixth time river cruiser? We're going to share our thoughts on that and other things that will help you set some realistic expectations so this trip is not a surprise and you are well informed when you decide whether or not to book a Douro River cruise.

Let's get into the itinerary basics, shall we?

Dan (01:59)

Yeah, absolutely. Like Mikkel said, it is the Portugal's River of Gold itinerary. There's a land portion and a river portion. It begins in Lisbon then you’re bussed to Porto for embarkation. The bus ride was pretty easy. A little bit scenic.

And then the cruise itself, like I said, leaves from Porto, cruises up the valley, pretty much as far up the Douro River as they can get as far as size restriction. And then it turns around and comes back and ends in Porto.

So the breakdown of the five day trip is usually two nights in Lisbon, pre-boarding, and then roughly a seven night cruise ending in Porto.

Mikkel (02:42)

Yes, and to add on to that, I loved that we started in Lisbon. Portugal's a small country. It's obviously west of Spain. And it definitely has its own unique identity. And starting in Lisbon, the biggest city in Portugal, really allows you to understand the culture more from a kind of a...

Dan (03:07)

It's a good starting off place. 

Mikkel (03:10)

Right, was gonna say like a zoomed out overview, you know?

Dan (03:13)

But, I felt like I really got the essence of Portugal pretty quickly, hanging out in Lisbon.

Mikkel (03:18)

Yeah, and it was fun to see the big ships go there. So Lisbon is a port for bigger cruise ships. We saw MSC there. I think we might have seen like a Royal Caribbean ship in port in Lisbon.

Dan (03:22)

Mmm. Yeah.

Mikkel (03:32)

When you're in downtown Lisbon in the famous Plaza, the square there, it is on the water and you see the big cruise ships right there. And there was something a little more magical boarding a river cruise ship in Porto, like you were saying, also being able to experience the energy of Lisbon.

Dan (03:52)

Yeah, I think it's such a great point. We were dropped in. I remember we were racing to catch a tour like right from the airport. So there's a lot of energy and, and... Oh, side note, the cobblestones in Lisbon are very slippery. We saw more than, more than three people fall just in our short two days there. So make sure you pay attention to that. And it's hilly, but

Mikkel (03:59)

Yeah, oh my gosh, yes.

Dan (04:14)

Back to our story. ⁓ We were racing to get there, so you felt the energy, you saw the traffic, you saw it was very much a working city as well as a touristy city.

Mikkel (04:24)

And from the airport, it was, I think, a 30 to 45 minute — it depends on the traffic — drive.

We had downloaded the Bolt, B-O-L-T, app, which is kind of like Uber, to use in Lisbon. It was so easy. Once you land at the airport, you just go follow the signs where the ground transportation comes.

We forfeited Viking's transportation to get from the airport to the hotel, the pre-cruise hotel, because we came in early. We wanted to spend some more time in Lisbon. And the reason we were racing was because our flight was a little delayed. So

Dan (04:57)

Yeah

Mikkel (04:58)

we had taken a risk and signed up for a tour. And we were in communication with the tour, which we'll talk about what tour that was in case you want to book it.

Let's get into the itinerary a little bit more depth.

So like you said, we were in Lisbon before. I want to mention that we stayed at The Ivens hotel. That'll be in our show description. It's in the website article that is linked in description about our Douro River itinerary. We stayed there on Marriott points. are Marriott Bonvoy loyalists. And The Ivens was not only a stunning hotel, but it was in the heart of downtown Lisbon, which the Viking hotel is not.

The Viking hotel is quite a ways outside of Lisbon and they do provide shuttles for guests to get in and out of Lisbon, but we wanted to be in the heart of downtown Lisbon for a night or two before we went to the Viking hotel. So it was steps from where we were meeting our Devour food tour guide, which is where we were going. So Devour, we talk about them a lot. They are our absolute favorite tour company for food experiences. We just went on one with them in Venice that we talked about as well and can't recommend them enough. 

So our days in Lisbon before we met up with Viking included that food tour that we did on our own and also a tour with The Tour Guy, and we went to Cascais and Sintra. Sintra is really famous for its colorful, it's like a burnt orange and mustardy yellow color castle or palace, you might say. So we did a full day tour with them. So that really allowed us to maximize our experience in Portugal pre-cruise and really, I think, gave us something that we did not get with Viking. And that's not a bad thing. It's just Viking had basically given us a reason to go to Portugal and we extended and added on to that.

Dan (06:55)

Right. I mean, overall, like we said, I like that we started in that energy atmosphere because the rest of the cruise was pretty low-key.

Mikkel (07:05)

Yeah, it was pretty low key. So then we transferred to the Corinthia Hotel, which was also great, but it's really set up for kind of like hosting conventions and big groups of people. So we were probably at capacity on the ship, which is 106 people. And we met them with this little kind of seminar that they do to welcome everybody and give you

Dan (07:15)

Yeah.

Mikkel (07:28)

a PowerPoint presentation of how things are going to work, which sounds really boring, but it was lovely. The hotel really is set up to host everybody and they give you a glass of wine or bubbly when you walk in if you want it and a snack. So that was really nice. And again, it was like 20 minutes outside of the city center. So it was fun for us to see a different part of Lisbon that we definitely wouldn't have seen otherwise. It's kind of more of like an office area, like office buildings.

Dan (07:55)

Right. Yeah. More of an industrial area, not an industrial, but an office park area.

Mikkel (08:00)

Right, the next day we did the Viking tour and it was to which is a really interesting part of Lisbon. But if I'm going to compare it to something like New York City, it would kind of be like going to Brooklyn in New York City, which is not Manhattan, the main area that people consider New York City, but Brooklyn's very much still a part of New York City. So if I was going to say like where Belém is, Belém is a historic part of Lisbon. It's just kind of like one

Dan (08:07)

Mm-hmm.

Mikkel (08:28)

ring removed from the target center of Historic Downtown Lisbon. So going to Belém was good and fun and they took us there on buses. And being on the bus kind of set us up for the future of this trip because you are on a lot of buses. So the transfer to Porto was about four hours.

Dan (08:43)

Yes.

Mikkel (08:47)

the two and a half hour mark was kind of the first stop. So biking made it really enjoyable.

Dan (08:50)

Right.

Mikkel (08:53)

We took the bus from Lisbon up to Porto with the stop in Coimbra in between that allowed us to see the historic university there. We also had a lunch that was lovely with Portuguese food and fado, their traditional music, and that was really great.

Dan (09:12)

Let's talk about what to expect with the ship. Because it's not what you would think of as typical European river ship. It's a little bit smaller. So 262 feet long with only a capacity of 106 passengers, 33 crew. So much smaller than your typical Danube river cruise-type size. So it made the made the cruise itself a little bit more intimate and the ship itself maybe you didn't quite have the places you could run and hide from everybody else as much as you could on the longer ships.

Mikkel (09:50)

I think one of the things that was so striking to me being on Viking Longships that sail the Danube in the past is that when you walked in, there wasn't that grand staircase because the ship has to be smaller. It has to be smaller to sail the Douro River. Another thing to bring up is that the ships have to sail during the day. So that makes the cruise really distinct. It has to be done during the day because of safe navigation reasons, we were told. 

Dan (09:59)

Hmm. Yeah.

Mikkel (10:17)

And just some turns and such on the Douro River that the powers that be, the government, what have you, need the ships to sail during the day. mean, it's also a waterway for other ships as well, like industrial too. Not many, not many. The roads are probably more efficient in lot of ways, some places. But just something to keep in mind, that you sail during the day, and we'll get into this a little more, but you're often not on the ship during the day.

Dan (10:44)

Right. So that's a really interesting point because we went in November, so the sun set even earlier. So our days of sailing were condensed.

Mikkel (10:55)

Exactly. So back on board, when we were on board, the ship was very Scandinavian in its design as Viking is. Of course, this was unique

We saw AmaWaterways ships over there, I believe Uniworld as well. So all the major cruise lines sail the Douro. I believe it's one of the most popular itineraries second to the Danube River and probably the Rhine. But smaller cabins because of the size. Of course, it's going to vary depending on the category that you book and the exact stateroom. But I think overall, like you were saying, you can expect all the spaces to kind of be a little bit shrunken down like the pool deck area, if there is a pool. And just the lounge areas and everything to be a little smaller.

Dan (11:43)

Yeah, but not shockingly smaller. You're not going to have clusterf- It's not New York City apartment small, but it's, you but it is slightly smaller.

Mikkel (11:49)

Good point. Good point. That is, that would be shocking.

Right, right, right, right. OK. So nice setting for kind of where we're taking you on the Douro River. And you start in Porto, which is west. So Porto is north of Lisbon. And it's kind of on the west coast. The river goes out into the ocean. And you sail east from west in Porto. And then you actually sail back. So you end in Porto as well. So you are embarking and disembarking in the same city.

When you are on board, what can you expect with the dining and the activities and the vibe?

Dan (12:27)

So typical to Viking, there's menus that are focused on local dishes. So for us, we had some Portuguese dishes, some regional specialties, there's always the anytime menus and the typical European breakfasts in the morning or else you can get an American style breakfast. And with them leaning into the regional or local dishes, you're gonna see seafood and you're gonna see some some pork loin but you'll always have the classics like Caesar salad and sirloin.

Mikkel (12:57)

I really liked that one night that they sort of was like a Portuguese evening and they did a buffet on that center island. And again, listen to our episode that we talk about buffets on small cruise ships and they are classy and civilized and great. And it allowed you to take what you wanted.

And again, intimate cruising allows you to kind of connect with people in a way you wouldn't on bigger ships. So we sat with another couple that night, got to know them a little better over Portuguese food. And again, like you were saying, you can get food that you would get in the United States if you wanted like a Caesar salad or a steak or something. But it's... Portuguese food is very agreeable.

It doesn't sway you one way or another. It's very typical of what you would eat in the United States, just a little bit of different flavors, different cuts of meat and such. So I really like the evening that not only did they serve us some Portuguese dishes, like a biryani pork, like you were saying, or a cataplana, which is a Portuguese seafood stew, but they did it in really pretty clay pots and such that were decorated and painted in a Portuguese style as well. So that was really thoughtful of them.

Dan (13:38)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. On any typical ship you have the, if you have dietary restrictions, just let them know upfront. They're more than happy to accommodate that. And just like the other ships, there's also snacks and coffee, tea that that's available. You know, cookies are my all time have with a cappuccino in the afternoon. So that's available 24 seven self-service stations, just like on your

Mikkel (14:28)

They also had some cookies that you know they would put the name of the cookie and it was like a typical Portuguese cookie so that was kind of fun as well.

Dan (14:36)

There was also entertainment and enrichment in the evenings. So it was low key, very pleasant. The lounge and the bar were very nice. Internet worked well, piano music, you know. So it was nothing out of the ordinary, they did a pretty good job of integrating local talent in the ports and that is pretty typical.

Mikkel (14:57)

Yeah, one of your favorites was the flamenco night when we were in Spain. So when you are in the easternmost point on the Douro River, you are typically, no matter the ship, no matter the itinerary, this is very typical of all Douro River itineraries, are bussed. If you want, if you sign up for this day, you can also just stay on the ship. But you were bussed into Salamanca, which is actually crossing the border into Spain. So that night on the ship, it was fantastic. They brought on a flamenco group.

Dan (15:26)

So always a crowd favorite and my personal favorite. I was really excited about spending a day in Spain also. I do love Spain. So it was a nice add-on that you got to visit another country while you're on the Douro.

Mikkel (15:39)

Yeah, and that was really appealing to us. remember when we were looking at this itinerary, we thought, "Oh my gosh, we can go into Spain? Yes!"

We got to get our Spanish ham, our jamón Iberico, your favorite, which we did. We had some free time when we were in Salamanca. You could either take the guided tour, or just take the bus into Salamanca and do your own thing. We kind of did a mix of both. And we were able to get our tapas on and our little cañas of beer on which we absolutely adore. It kind of felt like a homecoming. Every time we go to Spain we're like, "We're home!" We just feel so at home there.

Dan (16:12)

So really what we did is we took a tour and then ran to the grocery store and ran to a restaurant and just bought groceries and ate. Yes.

Mikkel (16:18)

That's exactly what we did. 

And then we also had a lovely performance with a group called the Tunas. It was an all male group. There had to be like 20 of them up there playing their instruments. And they are from Porto University. And that was kind of towards the end of the cruise. But that was a really memorable, memorable evening as well.

Dan (16:43)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mikkel (16:44)

And then also on board, they do fun activities. So something that I just adored was this person was brought on board called The Cork Lady. It was during one of the rare but treasured mornings that we did a sailing. So we were on the ship sailing and they brought this woman on board, The Cork Lady. And she shared a little presentation about the cork industry in Portugal.

So one of the things that most surprised me is that I think when people think of Porto, they think of Port wine. But really, Porto is very well known in that whole region for cork trees. And because of that, one of the souvenirs you don't want to miss bringing home and you want to budget for is quality cork products. 

So not only does she talk about the industry and how farmers can take the cork from the bark of the tree and how often they can do that because it's very methodical and scientifically based as to not hurt the trees. But she also talks about the incredible properties of cork. I had no idea that they are antibacterial, they're naturally antimicrobial, are resistant, they're great for building materials and houses because of that, like cork tiles in your home. They float. 

So she has some products for sale on board. You can use cash or credit card for that. I did pay with my credit card because I love getting those Marriott Bonvoy points on our American Express. And I have the sunglasses case that I absolutely adore from her. So that was a highlight. And then another day, there was an onboard demo to make the classic Portuguese pastry, the pasteis de nata, it's like that little tartlet with cream inside, like a custard. And that was kind of special too. So just a little insight into what you can expect.

I do want to just touch on the wine really fast. I think it was surprising to me — And tell me what you think about this — but I was expecting it to be more wine focused. And it wasn't really.

Dan (18:47)

I would agree. We went in late November, so the harvest was done, but we still visited a couple wineries, but it wasn't the amount of wine that I was expecting. I thought it would be, like you said, very wine focused, but kind of the port wine was just there and part of the conversation, but it wasn't really a highlight of the conversation.

Mikkel (19:06)

Yeah, and I don't even recall in the restaurants there being a particular focus on the local port wines or anything. I mean, of course, they include wine and beer with lunch and dinner as they do with any other river cruise with this Viking Douro River cruise. And you can sign up for this Silver Spirits package on this Viking cruise like other Viking cruises. I think it just I was expecting it to be more in my face in a good way with the different wines of the region and it wasn't that. So I would say if you are expecting that then you might want to sign up for the extra excursions that you pay for that focus more on the wineries because you're not going to get that with the included stuff that you sign up for with this cruise.

Dan (19:53)

Yeah. So let's talk about what you are gonna get. What are you gonna see?

Mikkel (19:57)

Yeah, that's a great transition into the scenery, the culture, the wine on land. So let's talk about that starting with the scenery.

Dan (20:05)

You are cruising through the Douro Valley. So you've got slopes on either side of you. There's vineyards on those slopes and plenty of greenery, plenty of beautiful twists and turns in the river. And it's really rolling hills and you get a very countryside vibe.

Mikkel (20:28)

Some of the things that I wasn't expecting was to be up so early just because sunrise is a little later during November and seeing those gorgeous sunrise colors. And you could see the sunset too, but the sunrises were particularly stunning. If you are cruising in the off season, like we did in November, you have to bring a coat. It was chilly in the morning, so chilly. So we packed our thin Patagonia coats and gloves.

And the rain wasn't really much of a problem. rained. It drizzled a little here and there, but we were prepared. I will link up the River Cruise packing list, the five things that we always pack for River Cruises. There's never been a time we don't need them. And the nice surprise during November was those fall colors. And not just the fall colors in the vineyards, the trees, but the smell of people having fireplace fires in their homes is one I'll never forget. I so associate that fireplace kind of chimney smell with the Douro River because we went in November.

Dan (21:34)

Yeah, and we visited plenty of little small towns and ports that you felt like you were kind of

cruising up to somebody's home or somebody's homestead and it felt like we were really part of their daily life but not too intrusive, weird, touristy — but it was, you know, just a nice, kind of a nice blend.

Mikkel (21:44)

Yeah. And the interesting thing about cruising in November was that some of the establishments, the restaurants, and the shops — and when I say some, I mean, these small towns barely have anything — but, if they did, they were closed in the off season. But again, the port was really a place to get on and off the ship, not a place that we were stationed for any length of time.

And very often when we got off the ship to go on an excursion, the ship moved on. So the ship sailed somewhere else and the bus ride would take us back to the ship where it had moved to.

Dan (22:31)

Yeah, the ports were not the place to hang out. There was a lot of busing away from the ports.

Mikkel (22:37)

Right. I'm going to go through the itinerary really fast, just so you have an overview of exploring Portugal and what you can expect. So after you're in Lisbon and you board the ship in Porto, when you make that stop in Coimbra, you get to Porto, you board the ship. You are going to Regua and /Pinhão. I don't speak Portuguese, so forgive the pronunciation if you are listening and you actually know how to pronounce these, but I'm going to do my best. You're going to Pochinho and Barca d'Alva. 

And then the next day, you're kind of in the same place, and you go back to Folgosa and Régua. Then you're in Régua and Villa Nova de Gaia. And then you are back in Villa Nova de Gaia, which is the riverbank that's opposite Porto. 

So it's literally the Douro River's in the middle, and one side is Porto, and the other side is Villa Nova de Gaia. And you can walk there by foot if you want. You can walk across a bridge that gets you there if you want to explore on your own.

But even going through this itinerary, I'm reminded that sometimes when we docked, we thought, "Oh, we've been here before." It just, the bus would take us to a different destination. So that was really interesting.

Dan (23:40)

Right. Right.

Plus you're going up the river and then back down the river. So you're seeing the same things and then you might... So there's some deja vu that happens.

Mikkel (23:50)

Right, exactly. There's a little bit of deja vu, exactly.

Dan (23:56)

So one thing before we move on, I want to mention is about the wine, we talked about it maybe not being in your face as much as we thought it would be, but there are opportunities to explore wineries. So I don't want to make it sound like you're not going to have any wine. Don't worry, you'll have some wine! But you just have to sign up for it. So one of the excursions we signed up for... what was the name of it? Yes.

Mikkel (24:17)

"Cistercians and Wines." It was awesome.

Dan (24:21)

Yeah, that was a very good tour and we went to the wineries. 

It was a really nice excursion and you got plenty of wine there. And then there was also another one in Porto, where you could dine in the winery right there on shore. And I can't remember the name of that one.

Mikkel (24:37)

Oh, that was when it started. So that is the dinner. And I believe there's only 12

Dan (24:43)

Right?

Mikkel (24:44)

seats at that one. So as soon as you sign up for your cruise, you're going to want to put the date in your calendar. It depends on the cruise and when they decide to release the excursions. But it's somewhere between 60 and 90 days before your cruise. It's the Port wine dinner. And we heard great things about it. But there's limited spots. Yeah, it costs

Dan (25:01)

A lot of people, yeah.

Mikkel (25:04)

I believe over 100 euros per person. But it's a multi-course dinner with wines and that is part of Vikings offerings. So if you really want more wine, you're going to want to sign up for that. And the Cistercians and Wines, like you were saying, was great. It combined a tour in the morning of the countryside. I absolutely loved it. We lucked out with great weather that day. Again, just wearing a light fall coat during November. But I remember

Mikkel (25:31)

the sun just gave us so many golden hours in sunrise and sunset during this trip and that was one of those days. We went to a bridge from the 12th century. Our guide talked about how the monks and the Moors kind of interplayed with the history of the area. And we just ended at this gorgeous winery like you were saying with this spectacular farmhouse setting and stone walls. 

And if you go on our Instagram @sometimessailing you'll see the cover for this reel is the yellow pomegranates that were there. It was just spectacular and stunning. Again, they had a fireplace, they had handmade pastries that they gave us to taste and some olive oil. That was great too. And then we also talked to some new friends on the ship that had signed up for

Mikkel (26:13)

an additional wine tasting in Porto. I think if you want to go on your own, it's probably the easiest place. It was actually on the other side of the river where the ship was docked. So they said it was five steps away. So you can kind of either sign up with the ship if you feel more comfortable doing that or find your own winery and vineyards and wine tasting rooms in Porto and go on your own. It's really easy there actually. So you have some options.

Dan (26:38)

Yeah. I know that the Douro River is really popular, but is there anybody that you think this cruise is best for?

Mikkel (26:45)

Absolutely. I don't think it's great if this is your first river cruise. So I would say it's better for somebody who has been on a different river cruise before and this is maybe your third or fourth. And the reason is because I think when people think of the magic and romanticize river cruising,

Dan (26:50)

Hmm.

Mikkel (27:06)

it's not that this itinerary isn't gorgeous and gives you great scenery, but there's a lot of bus rides.

Dan (27:13)

Yeah.

Mikkel (27:13)

Let's say, unfortunately, if you end up on the Danube River and the water levels are too high or too low to sail and you end up on a bus. We're not talking about that. We're talking about baked into this itinerary is a lot of bus rides because it's the only way to get to some of the destinations once the ship is docked. So the ship is kind of like, you know, your main artery to get up and down the river, like you're saying, east and west on that Douro River. But then the bus is kind of like if you were gonna walk from the subway station to your destination, you're on a bus and it is hours of bus rides.

If you are worried about motion sickness, you're not going to have a problem on the river. But the buses really wind up and down through that Douro River Valley, like you were saying. And I would say some of these bus rides are gorgeous and not to miss. If it's dark out, not as great because you can't see anything. But yeah, the bus rides were a concern for a lot of people. And when we heard criticism, in conversations and just chatter amongst, you know, the group. It was really about the bus rides.

Dan (28:23)

Yeah, the landscape is gorgeous, but you are going to be on a bus. And I would say too, if you're looking for big city excitement, like this is not really for you. We did Lisbon and then Porto. I thought Porto was pretty cool. And then we did Salamanca in Spain, which was fun, but still not a big city or anything like that. So if you're looking for that, this cruise is definitely a little bit more low-key.

Mikkel (28:48)

Definitely low-key, although I will say if you are looking for a little more excitement, do what we did. We stayed in Lisbon a couple of nights beforehand. And then based on your time and availability, maybe you go to Andalucía right next door in southern Spain and you go to Seville, right? So it really just depends on kind of how you want to mash things together. If you want help planning that trip, please reach out to us. We are doing travel planning. 

We have travel advisors that we recommend as well. So don't be shy about that. It's very easy to get in touch with us. And then I think if you're looking for a bigger ship in terms of pros and cons and just more amenities, you're not going to get that with Viking on the Douro River because the smaller ship.

Not only do they not have a gym on their longships, but there's even less room for that on here. So, we're just being realistic. So you know what to expect and you're not disappointed when you get to the ship.

Dan (29:47)

Yeah, yeah, definitely. You’re gonna make a couple friends because of the smaller side of the ship, like we said earlier, it's not gonna be shockingly small, but it is noticeably smaller.

Mikkel (29:56)

Yeah, I think if you are looking kind of to go a little bit deeper in Portugal, I think this is a great way to experience cities and towns that you would never go to. Of course, you would go to Porto. I think a lot of people go to Porto. I think it's second to Lisbon, if you you had to ask my opinion.

But the small cities and towns that you go to: saw a woman making this classic four corners bread in one city that was really cool. We never would have seen that. So if you're considering going to Portugal and you want to deep-dive into the culture there and something you wouldn't otherwise get, I think you should do this cruise. But again, consider everything else we said, along with it, the bus rides, the city versus the towns, the itinerary, all those things.

Dan (30:43)

Right. Other thing I think to note is Portugal is not one of the most wealthy countries in the European Union. So I'm not saying it was unsafe for anything like that, but just your expectations... it's not going to be a thriving metropolis like you would think of maybe Athens or Barcelona or something like that.

Mikkel (30:49)

Mm-hmm.

Right, yeah, I think that's a great point. But also to your point, just like Greece, actually, the dollar is strong there. Yeah, all right, I think that's great.

We should maybe deep dive in the future about our itinerary a little more. So if you are listening to this and you're thinking, "Yeah, I would like that, actually," please let us know. We always want to make episodes that you find useful and help you and help your trip planning and make your small ship cruise dreams a reality.

Dan (31:30)

Absolutely. Any closing takeaways?

Mikkel (31:34)

When I think of Porto and a Douro River cruise, I smile. I think of the fall colors. I think of that fireplace smell. Like I said before, I think of diving into the Portuguese culture and having a little side dish of some Spanish flair one night that we really enjoyed. What are your final thoughts on this?

Dan (31:58)

I’m in love with Spain. So having full make on board was definitely a highlight, but really enjoyed Porto kind of an arts artsy little city with a little bit touristy, but a little bit artsy. So I thought that was fun. And then with the smaller size of the vessel making friends on board. So I still have my pen pal Barbara and, you know, I talked to her and like just that ability to connect a little bit more. I thought that was fun and just an added bonus.

Mikkel (32:27)

I think if I could do anything again and kind of improve this trip a second time around, I would tell myself, stay in Porto a night or two at the end before flying home. Yeah.

Dan (32:36)

Yeah. Yeah, that's a that's a good call. I think there was there was more to explore there.

Mikkel (32:41)

Yeah, and I think you do get a little bit of a different experience by land. And going to a city by cruise is great, but it doesn't allow you to really stay overnight and be there when the tourists leave for the day, or you're just kind of wandering through those streets and you happen upon a bar and strike up a conversation with somebody else. And you could do that during the day, but you know, cities take on, especially European cities, take on a different personality late in the evening.

Dan (33:15)

100%. It's like a daytime version of the city, and evening and nighttime version of the city are, there's a different energy there.

Mikkel (33:22)

Yeah, well, cheers to all that. And until next week, tune in again. Every Wednesday, we release episodes. We love it if you followed and subscribed and gave us a review. Don't be shy and keep cruising.

Dan (33:37)

Keep cruising! See around the ship.