We had decided to take the train out of Porto. It seemed a very busy area around Porto to cycle through, and not very inspiring. We were interested in the Duoro River valley, and the train doesn’t get close to the river for about 1 hour upstream.
We choose to take the train part way to Pinhau getting off in Regua, then cycle the rest of the way. There is only one road so we were a bit worried about traffic, but it was only 20 km and we felt it wouldn’t be that bad.
It was a fairly easy bike ride to the train station in Porto. We got on the train at the start of the line and there was lots of room for our bicycles. Little did we know it was “Labour Day” holiday and the train was going to be absolutely packed. People packed close together standing in the aisles!
Along the way, there was a hydro electric dam. It turns out there are 5 dams on the Duoro River, all with locks to allow the large (and small) Tourist cruising boats through. As we rode up to the dam, we could see a boat approaching the locks and hung out while it transited. It’s a crazy tight fit! It really looks like the boat won’t fit, but it does with about 1 foot on either side of the boat to the lock walls!
The cycling was very enjoyable and we were surrounded by the famous terraces of the Duoro Valley, home of Port Wine.
It was quite warm, and sampling port in the middle of the day was quite “heavy”, so we started with a Porto Tonico. A white port with tonic water 🙂
We fought our way through the traffic and crowds in Pinhao to the hostel and were welcomed by the owners Pedro & Sarah.
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