Valley of Gold

We found the evening meals sitting with other guests at the same large table at Casa de Casal de Loivos and Casa de Vilarinho de sao Romao an unexpected pleasure.  Lots of comparing of experiences (including music) and travel tips with like minded people coming from a variety of countries and travelling with different tour operators.  We were able to recommend Inntravel to several Americans travelling with other companies. We loved our stay at Quinta de la Rosa where we had an ideal room for us (Casa do Barco) tucked away nearest the river and furthest from the restaurant. The food was great and the evening meals provided for the set menu were excellent, much better than we might have expected for the "cheaper" option and including more wine and port than we really wanted. The walking was good and varied with an enjoyable mix of terrain and outlook and we found very few instances where the walk notes were less than completely clear.  The sections we enjoyed least were on roads, partly because of the need to be vigilant for passing traffic and partly because of the hard unvarying surface of the tarmac when there was no verge to walk on.  We can see why the sections of road are necessary when there is no clear alternative.

Loved Porto - busy and lots to do.  Good restaurant ideas in the paperwork.

Great hotels and everyone so friendly and helpful.

Having packed lunches provided was brilliant and everyone was very accommodating in catering for John's dietary requriements.

And amazing scenery and walking with only one day of rain.  The walks were pretty tough in places (lots of steep hills) but still very enjoyable. We loved it.

The holiday exceeded our expectations and is highly recommended. The scenery and walking were very beautiful and we loved being surrounded by the harvest. There was quite a lot of variation in the length of the walks and the two longer ones are quite up and down, but this suited us fine. 

All the hotels were great but the final one in Chancelerois was expectional, stay an extra night if you can. As usual Inntravel were excellent in customer service and helped us with some changes to the itinerary at the last minute due to sickness.

The hotels were just right and each different and unique in their own ways.  Loved the outdoor swimming pools.

Lovely walks - especially the circular walk at Chancelleiros which follows the River Duoro most closely. The traditional accommodation throughout complemented the walk beautifully and the warmth of the welcome, food and service at each one was fabulous and made for a relaxing and memorable experience. We added a couple of extra days at Chancelleiros which enabled us to do the excellent circular walk, Duoro boat trip and wine tour and tasting which really added character to the whole holiday. We would recommend!

The highlights were walking in the Gerês National park, weather was great and the area was very interesting. We enjoyed the walk and food and locals were very friendly and welcoming.  Walking in the Douro Valley was a real contrast to the Geres National park, enjoyed the gentle walking amongst the vines and views across the river Dour. We particularly enjoyed Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros which was very welcoming, homely where we enjoyed the food and sampling the local wines and ports

We thoroughly enjoyed our walk. the accomodation and meals provided were of a very high standard. 
The route we followed through the beautiful Douro Valley was the highlight however. 

Once again a great trip with Inntravel. All the walks are simple and straight forward with good notes. A first for us was using the GPS guidance on a Garmin watch which also worked perfectly. In line with many of the comments of others we would definitely recommend an additional night in Porto and at the final hotel. In Porto we arrived on the weekend of the summer solstice and the Festival of St John, which we only knew about a few weeks before when the trip notes arrived. A magnificent fun, good humoured spectacle, but one to avoid if you don’t like crowds and take exception to being repeatedly hit on the head with a plastic hammer! Do take the detour to the wine & bread museum, very cheap entry and you get to taste the wine with magnificent views from the balcony. All the food was excellent particularly at Baraõ Forrester, where we chose to eat in the hotel, the veal was melt in the mouth. The temperatures for us were in the low to mid twenties which was acceptable, when we left they started to climb which would make some of the ascents tough, do carry plenty of water.

The highlight has to be the last wonderful hotel. The walk arriving there and the final walk were absolutely brilliant. We enjoyed all the walks. The hotels were excellent quality with large rooms, and above all quiet at night. The scenery was gorgeous, especially the flowers at this time of year. This was a special holiday, highly recommended.

This was our third holiday with Inntravel and the high standard was maintained. It was far from cheap, but it was worth the expense, because every aspect of it was so good. The accomodation was excellent , full of character (apart from the LBV which is modern) and well-run. Every place we stayed in offered new delights, with charming staff, delicious food, and fantastic walks. We were particularly lucky that, after a long wet winter, the wild flowers were at their peak in early June and added greatly to our enjoyment of the fantasctic scenery. We would not particularly recommend the boat trip up the Douro. It didn't add anything to our trip and was, in fact, a bit dull... just a way of using up time one afternoon. 

The whole holiday was an excellent combination of picturesque but challenging walks in varied scenery. We stayed in some excellent hotels, which were welcome havens after a long hike - with particularly good meals in the evening.

The train journey from Porto to Pinhao was amazing and a great start to the holiday. Worth spending a few extra days in Porto and taking the tram (or cycling) to the beach in Foz do Douro.

Highlights:

Armando, Bernardo and the whole experience of Casa de Vilarinho - especially the freshly prepared food there. 

The wildflowers lining the paths everywhere. 

Exploring Lisbon - we loved the castle and the ruined convent and the Lisbon story museum 

and Arnold loved Bifanos although the queue at the second best shop for them was very long 

Beautiful scenery, not too challenging walking (heat was only issue), lovely accommodation with attentive service. Meals at Quinta do Portal and Casa de Visconde were wonderful. In Porto, Graham's wine lodge visit was well worth doing: I thought I didn't like port before, but now discovered that I do (the expensive aged tawny port at least). Train ride to Pinhao was fabulous: scenery and value for money. We were expecting Pinhao to be nicer as a town, with shops, cafes etc and options to buy gifts, but it held no appeal other than as a place to arrive at and get train or boats from. It is very busy with tourists arriving for the day to take boat trips. Unfortunately your recommended place to eat was too busy. We had the worst and overpriced food from the holiday at a place on the quay. The Magnifico Douro boat trip - we took 2-hour option - was overpriced: beautiful scenery but the self-serve audio guide was poor in content (nothing about flora and fauna, history of the area and industry) and worked intermittently. The young lads who were crew did not engage with passengers, chatting at the back all the time. Suggestion: other guests in Chancelleiros visited the Quinta de Infantado (that you pass on the optional walk), and said it was very good. Basic, rustic, small producer but they sampled 6-7 wines and the owner even drove them back up the hill to the hotel.

This was our first self-guided walking tour and our first Inntravel holiday. We also booked late and added a couple of extras into our trip. The trip did not disappoint in anyway, from start to finish and the accommodation location and type booked was BEYOND our expectations.  We will definitely be booking another Inntravel walking holiday for 2025 and have also recommended to a number of other family and friends. The walks (Douro Valley) were pretty testing on a couple of days - steep, long - and in very hot weather, but we were happy to be challenged and when we arrived at the excellent accommodations, it was all worthwhile!  Good to be tested a little.

HIGHLIGHTS & TIPS: Duoro Valley beauty and in May the presence of many wild-flowers and butterflies. Stop in every cafe you can for great welcomes and well priced drink and food.

All of the lodgings were great, with very friendly and helpful staff. It was especially enjoyable getting to dine each night with a wide mix of travelers from other countries!

Good to combine a couple of days in Porto with the walking holiday. Worth visiting the stock exchange building in Porto for a guided tour. The hotel Infante de Sagres was an excellent base. Easy walking along the tracks- did not have to keep watching where we put our feet. As a veggie I always had a good option to eat.

We found the Portuguese people so friendly & the Douro landscapes were beautiful and unique. The train journey to Pinhao was a delight & the food at Quinta de la Rosa was exceptional!

Ask Bernardo at Casa de Vilarinho de São Ramão about wine tasting in Fermentões with Antonio and Christina. We would highly recommend this; it was amazing!

We were fortunate to make the walk in mid-April when, after a prolonged wet spell, the sun and heat brought forth a stunning array of wildflowers and blossom. At times it felt as if we were walking though a garden rather than the sometimes stoney countryside. Birdsong -- especially many cuckoos -- and clouds of butterflies completed the picture. The walk was very manageable, although some of the climbing in the heat felt a bit challenging. That was soon forgotten as we looked out over wonderful vistas of mountains, forests and vineyards. At the end of each day's walk there was the comfort of excellent places to stay, rest and eat and drink top quality local food and wine.

Our tip would be to take things slowly -- it isn't a race -- and to savour the sights, smells and sounds of this part of the world. I took time on each walk to sketch and paint, and my brother found plenty of things to photograph in detail.

This was a brilliant walking tour - our second with Inntravel. The flowers and birdsong (especially nightingales and cuckoos) were spectacular. We were fortunate to have wall to wall sunshine after rainy days before we arrived. Hotels were good - Casal de Loivos and Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros were outstanding and we would have gladly stayed longer at Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros. Adding an extra night at the end in Porto gave us the opportunity to explore more of Porto and the tour around Graham's was excellent. We ate in the evening at Casario which was very near the hotel and very good - but you need to book well ahead!

The Train ride to Pinhao along the Douro was spectacular.

Visiting Ferdinand Magellans house, the legendary explorer in Sabrosa was very memorable 

All the food in all the stays was exceptional rustic and tasty local cuisine.

The holiday lived up to our expectation. it's a great trip to a beautiful part of the world.

HIGHLIGHT: Views from terrace of Casa de Casel de Loivos and having evening meal on the terrace (I know this is weather dependant) sitting out talking to other guests till late evening.

TIP: Don't miss the Bread and wine museum in Favios which includes a tasting of moscatel wine on the terrace with good views (and for only 2 euros)

Beautiful area with some wonderful views. The ridge walk on the first day was very beautiful. We found some of the walking through the vineyards rather repetitive and at times steep up and down with little shade in 30+ temps. The villages and points of interest were high points. 

We loved the variety this holiday afforded. Different types of walks, varied accommodation and food. This combination of accommodation brought us into contact with so many lovely people. Most were not Inntravel clients, but most were walkers. So many different nationalities and all very friendly. It was an unexpectedly sociable holiday where we met a range of like minded people from very different backgrounds and experiences. Tips for future customers: talk to fellow guests. We learnt so much and felt very enriched.

Other highlights - the luxury of Casa das Pipas; the individuality and welcome at Casa da Visconde; the amazing first night - food, communal outdoor dining, Barnardo; the stunning landscapes; the peace and tranquility - we often met only one or two people on our walks; the variety of food, accommodation, walks, etc. We've had a tremendous holiday that exceeded expectation. Came back and immediately began browsing Inntravel brochure for next holiday (though I suspect this particular holiday will be very hard to beat!)

The undoubted highlight was arriving at Casa Visconde do Chanceleiros after a 5 hour walk and seeing how perfect it was. I would highly recommend an extra night here both for the pleasure of staying there and because the short circular walk offers some of the best scenery of the holiday.

It is three years since our last Inntravel walk due to the pandemic so we were a little anxious about whether it would still be ok for us. But Inntravel walking and arrangements were as good as ever and we had a brilliant holiday. The walks were varied and dramatic providing lovely insights into the area. One highlight was the walk through Sabrosa and on to the iron age hill fort. The views were amazing and we had the place to ourselves so it was very atmospheric. 

A memorable holiday in every way. Unexpectedly high temperatures made walking challenging but the scenery and welcoming hotels more than compensated. Another Inntravel success.

Six of us enjoyed the walking tour of the Valley of Gold. There were a lot of long ascents and long descents on each of the daily hikes and spectacular views of the terraced vineyards. This is not for the casual stroller. We bought our Porto/Pinhao return train tickets online. All of the hotels were comfortable, and the food and service was good. It was nice to get out of Porto and the throngs of tourists and into the countryside. We particularly liked the Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros's accommodations and food.

Excellent walking but quite challenging with quite of lot of climbs and descent, with a particularly long descent on the fourth day. The standard of hotel and the meals provided was very good and probably the best of the 15 Inntravel holidays which we have been on. Porto was very crowded with tourists and after a day and a half we could not wait to depart and start walking.

Another wonderful holiday with Inntravel - my 11th - amazing scenery, great walks and the manor houses that I stayed in were wonderful and so welcoming. Especially enjoyed the Casa de Casal de Loivos and Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros. Unfortunately had to miss the walk from Casa de Casal de Loivos because it was so wet, so went in the taxi that was transferring my case. Loved walking through the vineyards - some of the ascents were a little challenging but when you got to the top the view more than made up for the effort to get there! My favourite walk was from Alijo to Vilarinho de Sao Romao - probably the longest walk of the week and with the highest ascent but through some beautiful countryside. Your notes were excellent for all the walks but did find that in a few places had to concentrate as sometimes there were various options. I did enjoy seeing Porto but found it very busy. Thank you Inntravel yet again for another wonderful holiday - will be back next year for my fix of walking in Europe.

An excellent walking holiday stopping at a selection of hotels/country houses. Sampling the local wines and ports after walking through the vineyards was a particular highlight. The last stop at Casa de Vilarinho was an ideal way to end the holiday as the facilities were outstanding and the food excellent. All together a perfect blend!

We started with On the Waterfront and enjoyed a wonderfully rich experience exploring the three cities. Each city was quite different, hotels all good quality and well located, and were able to provide us with much helpful advice and assistance. The Inntravel walking and guidance notes were, as always, excellent. The only change I would consider is possibly adding a further night in Lisbon as we only really scratched the surface in this fascinating city.

We followed this with Valley of Gold (4 nights). The walking was scenic and varied, although we hardly met anyone else. The route guidance provided was clear and easy to follow - we didn't require the additional maps provided. Accommodation was spacious, comfortable, and good quality. Vilarinho de Sao Romano House was like staying in a country house we were all made to feel so welcome - all guests dined together enjoying the wonderful "home cooked" food. We moved on to the more modern Quinta de la Rosa at Pinhao - again very comfortable accommodation, views over the river Douro and first class dining.

A very busy holiday with so much to do and see but we returned home refreshed and relaxed - well done Inntravel.

The beautiful terraces, balconies etc with wonderful views. Eating out on the terrace with other guests at the Casal de Loivos was so beautiful.

A highlight for us was the communal meal at Casa de Casal de Loivos, where Bernado and George were excellent hosts. We also made full use of the facilities at Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros which was an idylic location, with once again wonderful hosts. We were pleased that we decided to do the circular walk in reverse as it allowed us to get refreshments when they were most useful.

Stunning walks scenery. Amazing people so helpful and friendly. Accommodation varied all excellent, staff excellent. Will definitely book inntravel again. Will recommend Inntravel too.

The walks and vineyard tours give a great insight into this wonderful part of the world - the scenery is really breathtaking.  Eleven euros spent on the rail fare from Porto to Pinhao is one of the best scenery bangs per buck that you'll find in Europe.  The Agro-tourism hotels also gave us the chance to meet both local people and other Europeans which added hugely to the enjoyment of our week.

A very enjoyable holiday with beautiful walks, excellent accommodation and it was a delight to discover and learn about Portuguese wine.
We found vegetarians very well catered for despite all the guide books suggesting this may not be the case.
I strongly recommend the small Bread & Wine Museum at Favaios which was well worth a short detour. We were the only visitors at the time. The curator spoke excellent English and gave us a very interesting introduction and served us a glass of the wine on the terrace at the end of our visit. Excellent exhibits in well laid out air conditioned modern museum in an old building.
In my opinion the best hotel was Casa Visconde de Chanceleiros. Beautiful setting, very comfortable, lovely pool and gardens, great food and a warm welcome at dinner each night  from the owner Ursula. Excellent vegetarian meals.
We were disappointed bit to have the planned night in Pinhas due to the hotel changing the booking as this made the following days too walk long starting at the hottest part of the day just after 11 am when we arrived at Pinhao from Porto.

Fabulous scenery, wonderful accommodation. We enjoyed that most of the evening meals were included, as it means no discussion about where to eat at the end of a long day. We particularly enjoyed the communal suppers; sitting around the table with fellow walkers, recounting the experiences of the day, and learning about each others' lives and backgrounds.

The sheer, monumental beauty of the landscape; vast, terraced hills, patterns of the winemakers work evident everywhere, made for a lush visual experience. Also, looking back on where you jouneyed from gave one quite a sense of accomplishment. There were times going forward facing a significant ascent where a certain apprehension arose. This challenge, once achieved, gave one ample justification for the sumptuous meal and elegant lodging that reliably followed each day. The cold beers at walks end became a goal in themselves. But caution: Do mind the dogs. There were quite a few of them and not all gentle. We did find that often the owners would come out and calm them. We even shared our lunch with a seasoned trail begger, and happy to do so. Hiking poles are strongly recommended. Many parts of this hike are a solid level 3+ due to the long inclines especially. We wished we had trained a bit more, truth be told.

The whole holiday was just fantastic. The hosts were all great and meeting other walkers at dinner around the table fun. We can't wait to do our next walking holiday with Inntravel. We loved the Douro and amazingly with 60km of walking we never saw another walker in the day! We only saw occasional people in the villages and working on the fields. 

This is a fabulous walking holiday. The countryside is stunning and the flowers beautiful. All the accommodation was first class - the owners of the hotels were kind and welcoming and provided excellent food. The only tip I would give to future customers is to avoid the tapas bar Vale do Tabua in Pinhao - a very bad experience, service, value for money and food were poor and the bar should be avoided at all costs. We had received such a wonderful welcome from all the other places we ate and drank, so this bar on our last day was such a disappointment but it did not spoil a wonderful holiday.

First time using Inntravel and was very impressed. The walks were challenging but the grading was fair and we saw a lot along the way. The hotels were good and one or two being very quirky with interesting owners. The food in all of the hotels was of a good standard with the hotel in Chanceleiros being exceptionally good. All in all a great experience and a fantastic way of experiencing a country. Will be booking again! 

A brilliant holiday, very well organised. We had rain on the first day in Porto, then not a drop afterwards - cloudless skies and temperatures hitting the mid-20s C. The walking was challenging for us at times, but that meant that we felt we deserved to put our feet up when we arrived at the next destination. We thought that the Pousada in Alijo was fine, but the other three locations had far more character and interest. Casa de Casal de Loivos (the first accommodation after Porto) is in a superb position and Bernardo was a very good host. Another night there would have been good. Cristina at Casa de Vilarinho de Sao Romao was charming and her homemade produce was delicious. The last place at Chanceleiros was the best, as others have noted, and both Ursula and Adelaide are lovely.  

One of the best of the 20 Inntravel walking holidays we've done: consistently good walks with great views and no other walkers in sight. The places to stay are all very comfortable and quirkily interesting, it was enjoyable meeting other walkers round large dinner tables. The Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros is a truly wonderful spot, we could go back to northern Portugal just to stay there. Porto is a small, very walkable city (although expect a lot of road works right now as they build a new underground). If you want a guided tour of one of the big port houses over the river (eg Graham's, Taylor's, etc) you'll need to book before you arrive, they all seem to be full for 24-48 hours ahead. 

This was our first visit to Porto and the Douro Valley. We loved both Porto and the scenery in the valley and hope to come again. The food and accommodation in all the hotels where we stayed was excellent

Make sure you allow enough time for the amazing breakfast in Porto - food offer was outstanding, and using the wine cellar for chilled goods was such fun.

The main highlight was the warm and personal welcome from almost all of the hotels, and the high standards of service. 

A lovely holiday with reasonably varied walking (although it's best if you appreciate vineyards!) and many stunning views of the River Douro and the beautiful hilly countryside beyond. There were a couple of fairly arduous uphill climbs ..... but then you have the downhill, the picnic spots and the village bars for a refreshing beer.  The locals were unfailingly welcoming, the food throughout excellent and the wine inexpensive enough to have another glass, or bottle!  We had a great time.

The Casa Visconde de Chanceleiros is an amazing place and a great way to end the journey. Two nights are an absolute minimum and being able to stay another night would have been great and highly recommended.

The views while hiking are spectacular but the hiking is definitely on the strenuous side of enjoyable. The hikes are not for casual hikers who think they might be just out for a stroll through the vineyards.

Casa do Visconde was a perfect 2 night end to a week in the Douro region. Views to die for and the meals were excellent.

The scenery and beauty was beyond our expectation. The detailed route notes from Inntravel gave us assurance that we were on the right track and we had no worries about getting lost. The accommodations and transportation was reliable and to our expectation (with the exception of the Pestana in Porto). We are fit people in our early 70s but we found a couple of the days more challenging than we had expected. 

A stunningly scenic walk that we would recommend highly. The accomodation and the food were brilliant throughout especially the Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros which was outstanding. We did enjoy the bread and moscatel museum in Favaios and would recommend it to all your clients.

For us the highlight was our stay at Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros. We stayed an extra day there, which allowed us to do the circular walk, visit the local Quinta, and do the wine tour in Pinhao. 

This was our first Inntravel holiday and we really enjoyed it and are already thinking about our next destination. The notes are a little overwhelming when we tried to trace them exactly onto the maps but made complete sense on the ground. We never felt unsure or lost at any time. The welcome and the quality of the food and wines were superb and it was lovely to be there at harvest time.

We had a wonderful time in Portugal and the Valley of Gold walk was fantastic.The accommodation was varied, intresting and superb. In particular we had a very nice night at the Pousada Barao de Forrester, Aligo where David the manager couldnt have been more helpful and kind. We enjoyed a fabulous three night DBB stay at Casa Visconde de Chaceleiros. Ursula and her team are very hospitable, the venue was amazing and in stunning setting. They were enjoying a lot of return business.

Personal highlights were:

Porto: a great town to explore.  We really liked Restaurant Elemento but you need to book  in advance.  I think one more night in Porto would have been good to ensure we could go down to the coast and try the fish restaurants down there.

In the Douro we really enjoyed Quinta de la Rosa and we were vey glad we did B&B and not half board here as the restarant is really good. We were offered the opportunity to tread the grapes which we declined!! but it was great to watch.

Early September was an excellent time to go as the harvest had started, the weather was great (28/30 degrees during the day, so nice for walking) and no rain. 

The Minho was less interesting than we had thought but it was good to see another part of Portugal.  The Paço de Calheiros is a must but be prepared for a rather laid back approach to service.  We very much enjoyed the Count's after dinner tour of the house.  I also enjoyed the swimming pool, although it was very under used!  Weather in the Minho was variable but we had expected that so had wet weather gear with us. 

Another enjoyable holiday. High Paths was strenous in the heat, particularly the tarmac ascents. Our favorite walk was into Geres, especially reaching the plateau with just stunning rock formations. But beware of the horseflies! If you don't like crowds stay at the Infante Sangres in Porto - lovely room,wonderful elevator and staircase, and best breakfast of the holiday--real yogurt, figs, Serra da Estrada cheese, meat pastries, as well the usual spread. If you have time, do walk the ecovia in Arco de Valdeves. Just lovely and a nice easy start before the tough level 3s over the next three days.

The cafe bar at the foot of the Indiana Jones staircase in Peneda is very welcoming. Refresh yourself before climbing those stairs!  And take a look at the contents of the small red chapels lining the staircase.

Douro Valley - magnificent scenery. More trash on the hikes than we expected. We fell in love with Braga and enjoyed it much more than Porto.  Beautiful, clean, welcoming.  And great fun!

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined High Paths of Northern Portugal, Valley of Gold, Porto city add on and Braga city add on.

A fantastically planned vacation! Thank you, all aspects surpassed expectations!

We were delighted with the variety of scenery, walking and accommodation. We changed the itinerary as our flight arrived late in the evening at Porto to spend the following day there too. This gave us an opportunity to explore Porto which we enjoyed. We returned to Porto on the last day to complete our explorations, taking the cable car down the far side. The Jimao tapas restaurant was a great place to eat.

Food highlights were the restaurant upstairs opposite the Pestana (Casario) and the special lunch we had at the Quinta da Portal at Vilarinho. The wonderful view from the terrace at Loivos and the very good welcome glass of wine was another. The views were marvellous too: across the river from Porto at night when all the Port lodges were lit up, the view from San Domingo(?) and sitting in the loggia at Vilarinho. 

An excellent walk, punctuated by a range of friendly, enjoyable hotels.  The walking was strenuous - but not too challenging; however, the unexpected 40-degree heat in June required us to modify the routes and schedules to manage the risk of heat exhaustion.

We very much enjoyed our walk. Interesting routes through countryside with wild flowers and pine forests as well as walking by the very green vertiginous vineyards. Limited walking on tarmac roads which was great. Quinta de la Rosa was really good. Lovely eating on the balcony looking over the river if a somewhat long slog down the road in the heat to get there. We enjoyed the boat trip and wine tour. On the loop walk you can get a sandwich at Cafe Central.

This was our first Inntravel holiday and we are looking forward to future holidays with you. We enjoyed the walking and felt that the walking notes were invaluable to our experience. We could not have planned such effective routes ourselves. In the future I will read the upgrade options more carefully and consider room or hotel upgrades when offered. 

This was a very special holiday for us and our 4 friends. The highlights were the variety of the walking, swimming in the pools after our walks, the tour of Graham's Port house, the traditional food and the warm welcome we received from the staff at the accommodations.

It's well worth an extra night in Porto, otherwise the time in the city would be rather short.  The Grahams tour is very good and informative.  A highlight for us would be the Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros, one could easily spend extra time here soaking up the atmosphere and just relaxing in a lovely setting.  
We recommend pre booking restaurants in Porto, particularly if in a group.

Great and interesting places to stay with lovely hosts while walking through stunning scenery through quiet little villages where the locals stop and say 'hello'. We thought this was a great trip through unique countryside.

The holiday fully met our expectations and we would definitely consider booking with Inntravel again. We were very impressed with the efficient way in which the staff resolved the problem we experienced as a result of the lightning rail strike during a Sunday afternoon. 

The Valley of Gold hike was absolutely fabulous! Our group of 7 enjoyed every minute from start to finish, enhanced greatly by beautiful sunny weather everyday.

It is well worth arriving mid-afternoon at Casa de Casal de Lovois. The terrace has amazing views of the river valley, and it is a fabulous place to relax with a glass of wine after the 2.5-hour scenic train ride from Porto. We ate dinner outside at stone tables while the sun went down. It was a beautiful setting.

In Alijo we went to O Pelourinho for dinner and it was excellent value for money and delicious food - 2 courses for 7 people with house wine for 114 euros. Bargain!

Due to the size of our group and limited availability at Casa de Vilarinho de Sao Ramao, Inntravel accommodated us at an alternative property called Casa das Pipas (also known as Quinta do Portal). I think I got the honeymoon suite - a beautiful room with a huge four-poster bed and a little private patio overlooking the vineyards. The farm-to-table dinner restaurant was a 700m walk from the main hotel building, and the cuisine there was phenomenal. We paid extra for the wine pairings with each of the multiple courses, and it was well worth it. The chef came out in person to describe each dish, and we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful view.

The final hotel on the hike was Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros. This property is truly heaven on earth. Many of the rooms are stand-alone villas nestled in beautiful gardens with a profusion of blooming roses. The restaurant has floor-to-ceiling glass walls so we had spectacular views while enjoying excellent meals. Omelettes were available on request to supplement the delicious continental breakfast, and wine was included with dinner.

The hikes themselves were really enjoyable, and we particularly liked that it was a true inn-to-inn hike, with no transfers required along the route.  The scenery was varied - vineyards, olive groves, pine forests, orange and lemon trees, the occasional sleepy village and breathtaking views throughout. We also really enjoyed the peace and tranquillity of the trails. On the whole hike, we only met 7 other hikers. Our favourite routes were from Alijo to Casa das Pipas on Day 3 of the itinerary, and Casa das Pipas to Chanceleiros on Day 5. Hiking poles were helpful, particularly on Day 5 for the steep ascent to the Sao Domingos Hermitage, and the even steeper descent down a path of scree. 

We stayed on in Porto afterwards and there was lots to see and do,. We loved the port wine lodge tour at Graham's (arranged by Inntravel), followed by lunch at their restaurant Vinum (advance reservations required). We also did a Sunset Segway Tour of Porto with Bluedragon City Tours which was great fun.

The Inntravel staff were fantastic throughout. They responded to communications promptly, and were always friendly and helpful. The route information they provided was very well put together. Between the maps, GPS files and written instructions, we kept on track everyday. (The maps are very detailed, so it helps to use a highlighter pen to mark the route.) And we liked the daily distances which allowed us to eat a leisurely breakfast before we set out, and arrive at the next property mid-afternoon so we could relax by the pool and enjoy the delightful hotels.

Thank you, Inntravel. We had a really amazing time.

The hike from Casa de Casal de Loivos to Pousada de Alijo was breathtaking.  Strolling through vineyards high above the Douro Valley provided stunning scenery.  The rural landscape of terraced green vineyards and olive trees provided the peace and tranquility we have come to enjoy through slow travel.

An absolutely wonderful holiday combining a couple of days in Porto with a walking circuit of the Douro Valley. The walks were interesting and well judged with outstanding views each day.  The wild flowers were absolutely stunning (we went in May). Inntravel's walknotes are comprehensive and informative. A couple of our walking days were very hot - at our request the hotel brought the time of breakfast forward for us so we could start walking in the relative cool before 9. The hotels were all comfortable and very different from each other which added to the experience. We were very pleased to have added an extra day to our final stay in Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros - an exceptionally beautiful place with fantastic food and facilities.

This is possibly our best Inntravel walking holiday so far. Beautiful breathtaking scenery, lovely accommodation, good food and kind hospitable people made for a brilliant holiday. The walks are well graded and the walking notes were excellent. (Beware of another company who have stopped providing walking notes and clients have to rely on GPS). Whilst we downloaded the routes to AllTrails, and were very happy to have them, they were a great aid, not a substitute.

This was a very enjoyable walk - not too taxing, but sufficiently stretching! The scenery was varied and there were some fabulous views especially from the comfort of a hotel terrace at the end of the day.  

Our first experience of a self guided walking holiday. We thoroughly enjoyed it and using the gpx maps gave us additional confidence - highly recommend using them with the walking notes. Brilliant service and we will definitely book again for next year. Special thanks to Will and Rob from Inntravel - it was a pleasure to meet you both during our trip.

This was such an excellent and enjoyable holiday.  While the daily distances covered weren't/aren't 'excessive', we decided to leave the accommodation after an early breakfast each day to ensure we could do a fair chunk of the walking before the heat became a little too 'noticeable'.  We suprised the next host a couple of times by arriving at their accommodation as soon as we did; never a problem but more in the 'Blimey, you've done well' category... The time of year we walked was perfect for the route. The maps all worked a treat (the 25000 scale gives perfect detail); I prepared by doing route studying to avoid any surprises. I marked our route on the map with 'dabs' of day-glo felt pen as there is so much detail on the maps with lines of the walking paths it could be quite easy to start to follow the wrong one; we didn't...

The routes take you into the heart of a unique and very beautiful area of Europe, which was entirely new to us.

Our highlights:

If staying in Durraes try the cafe down from the train station for an introduction to local life.

Paço de Vitorino presented a slightly forbidding exterior as the gates were closed due to Covid (April 2022) but when you enter you are provided with an interesting tour of a lovingly restored Manor House with all modern conveniences.

Paço de Calheiros, the Count is very passionate about promoting local tourism and provides another intersting tour but the beautiful grounds are best discovered walking his lovely dog, Leo.

Grahams Port Tour exceeded our expectations and the restaurant looked lovely,with great views over Porto, however a reservation was required.

Casa de Casal de Loivos, has stunning views overlooking the Douro.

Casa do Visconde de Chanceleiros is set in beautiful gardens with an amazing view and facilities, from swimming pool and hot tub to tennis court and pool table.

INNTAVEL NOTE: these customers combined our walks Manor Houses of the Minho and Valley of Gold

This was our first holiday with Inntravel and it was excellent! The communication - telephone, email and hard copy - were faultless. The choice of hotels was very good, the walking notes were accurate, the extra detail was interesting and we will definitely be using Inntravel again. We are happy customers and have been spreading the word about Inntravel since our return!