Program
DAY 1: ARRIVAL LISBON – PORTUGAL
After your flight, you will arrive in Portugal’s largest city, Lisbon. Upon arrival, pick up your rental car and drive to your hotel. After check-in you will be expected in one of the most beautiful rooftop bars of Lisbon with a beautiful 360-degree view. After this, you are expected for dinner in a wine restaurant.
Overnight.
DAY 2 – LISBON – ALDEIA GAVINHA (O)
After breakfast, travel north to the Alenquer wine region. This will be an approximate one hour driving. Along the way, you might stop whenever you like to take some pictures and visit some nice villages or drive straight to your accommodation to have a nice relaxing day. Tonight you will sleep in a charming guest house in the small village of Aldeia Gavinha, in the heart of the vineyard.
Overnight.
DAY 3 – ALDEIA GAVINHA – WINE TASTING – RIO MAIOR- SANTARÉM – ALDEIA GAVINHA (B, L)
After breakfast you will drive to a small-scale wine estate in the Tagus wine region to visit a winery and its vineyards. This is followed by a wine tasting accompanied by cheese and some local cold cuts. After this, you will enjoy a nice lunch (wine included) with the owner of the estate.
In the afternoon, after visiting this lovely winery, you will reach the salt pans of Rio Maior, 20 km to the east, which date back to prehistoric times. Here, the water extracted contains seven times more salt than in the ocean and you will learn a lot about the process of evaporation, drying, harvesting and commercializing the white gold. Moreover, these salt pans form a unique landscape. After this you will continue to the small town of Santarém and finally travel back to Aldeia Gavinha.
Overnight.
DAY 4 – ALDEIA GAVINHA – BUCELAS – MAFRA- ERICEIRA – ALDEIA GAVINHA (O)
After breakfast, you will drive about thirty kilometers to the north of Lisbon, between the ocean and the mainland, to the town of Bucelas. This wine region is very popular because of its white wines. Here you will visit a small-scale winery that produces biodynamic wines. This family winery is managed by a French winemaker. During the visit you will be offered a wine tasting and you will taste different wines from this winery. Because the “biodynamic” culture is privileged, the wines benefit from a natural vinification without chemicals.
Following this, you continue your journey and discover Mafra, known for its wonderful palace and monastery, the largest in the entire Iberian Peninsula. Then you only have to drive a few kilometres to reach the fishing port of Ericeira, known for its beautiful white and blue houses and surf spots. At the end of the day you will travel back to Aldeia Gavinha.
Overnight.
DAY 5 – ALDEIA GAVINHA – TAG VALLEY – ÓBIDOS – ALDEIA GAVINHA (O)
After breakfast you drive towards a beautiful wine estate in the Tagus Valley, which has existed since the 19th century. This wine estate is about 400 hectares in size. Here you will be offered a wine tasting of three different wines from this beautiful region around Lisbon. Then you can enjoy a buggy ride of about 30 minutes through the vineyards. An opportunity to learn more about the different grape varieties and to better admire the beautiful hilly landscapes.
Then you travel further towards Obidos. A simple walk through the typical streets of the city is enough to immerse yourself in the centuries-long history that Óbidos experienced. Given to Queen Isabel in 1282, this city is surrounded by a city wall which is a perfect example of the fortresses of yesteryear. The entrance is decorated through a medieval door with beautiful azulejos from the 18th century. Once past the medieval entrance gate, you enter a maze of winding cobbled streets and whitewashed houses. A real open-air museum you must see. After this you travel back to Aldeia Gavinha.
Overnight.
DAY 6 – ALDEIA GAVINHA – VILA VIÇOSA- ESTREMOZ- ELVAS- ARRAIOLOS (B, D)
After breakfast, discover the “marble route” known for its abundance of marble, quarried and operated in more than 160 quarries. A beautiful example made of this marble is the palace of the Dukes of Bragança in Vila Viçosa in Estremoz, a medieval town. Then drive to Elvas with its military fortifications in star shapes and its aqueducts classified as Unesco World Heritage.
After this you drive to the small village of Arraiolos. Located in a typical Alentejano landscape, you will visit a winery with a domain of about 3000 hectares and some olive trees. The Adega also has some Lusitano thoroughbred horses and has a large collection of harnesses from the last century. A walk through the vineyards leads you to the winery itself where the visit ends with a wine tasting of 5 different wines.
Overnight.
DAY 7 – ARRAIOLOS – ÉVORA- ARRAIOLOS (B, D)
After breakfast, drive towards Evora. Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986, this site is an attractive city with a rich and long historical past. The centre is surrounded by medieval city walls that resemble a medina with its small winding alleys, terraces and colourful patios that invite you for a walk. From Plaza Giraldo you take a walking tour of about 2,000 years back in time. You will discover the Church of São Francisco which is famous for its Chapel of Bones, the Romanesque-Gothic cathedral, the Roman temple of Diana, the university Velha (exterior) founded in the 16th century and more.
After visiting Evora, visit an organic winery near beautiful Evora where the owners will welcome you and invite you for a tour of the estate. You end your visit with a wine tasting accompanied by regional products (cheese and other local specialties).
Overnight.
DAY 8 – ARRAIOLOS – MONSARAZ (O)
After breakfast, drive towards Monsaraz, one of the most photogenic villages perched on the hills in the Alentejo wine region. Along the way, you will make a short stop at the village of Sao Pedro de Corval known for its ceramists and potters. Monsaraz is dominated by an ancient citadel interwoven with warm whitewashed houses and cobbled streets. The Santa Maria de Lagoa church hides a beautiful fresco from the 14th century whose bas reliefs represent 14 saints. The region is also famous for its megalithic monuments. You will make a short stop at Outeiro for a final photo of the white village with the imposing Menhir.
Arrival in the heart of the Alentejo, among the vineyards and olive trees, to visit a beautiful winery. This place benefits from extraordinary conditions for its organic farming: large thermal amplitudes, extraordinary biodiversity and more. This winery has 691 hectares of vines with 40 grape varieties, olive groves with 4 types of olives, orchards and other crops. The winery also has its own vegetable garden.
You will visit the wine cellars and the winery to learn more about the winemaking process, followed by a blind wine tasting. If desired, you can extend your visit with an olive oil tasting (not included) of several extra virgin olive oil from the estate.
Overnight.
DAY 9 – ARRÁBIDA – PALMELA – SETÚBAL – AZEITÃO – CAP ESPICHEL – LISBON (O)
After breakfast today, you will first visit the Arrábida Natural Park with its pine forests, Mediterranean scents, and turquoise waters. Then you travel further towards Lisbon and make a nice photo stop in Palmela whose heights are dotted with windmills. Afterward, continue to Setúbal, the third largest fishing port in Portugal and Azeitão, a region famous for its cheese and Muscat vineyards. After a scenic drive, you will reach Cap Espichel, an unusual and impressive place with its high cliffs, its lighthouse, its Baroque church, and its large square bordered by small arcades of houses that once welcomed pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela.
Then you travel onwards towards the Portuguese capital. On the way you will visit one of the oldest wine cellars in the region transformed into a museum. Founded in 1834 in Azeitão, it has been the largest producer of Moscatel in the Setubal region for 7 generations. Explore more than 200 years of history with the visit of the House Museum, from several cellars where the oldest muscates rest. Also discover where the Periquita maturing process takes place followed by a wine tasting of 3 wines.
After your arrival in Lisbon, return your rental car to the rental office in the city centre. Tonight, you will sleep in a boutique hotel ideally located on Martim Moniz Square in the historic centre of Lisbon. This hotel has a small cellar with a selection of Portuguese wine. But first you have some free time to enjoy Lisbon.
Overnight.
DAY 10 – TOUR OF LISBON – TAYLOR´S HOUSE (O)
Today, first take your time to enjoy a delicious breakfast. Then you will discover the historic center of Lisbon on foot. You start from the Baixa of Pombal and the Rossio with beautiful squares and palaces. You will see the Praça do comercio with its arcades and the seat of various ministries or even Praça Don Pedro IV where the national theatre is located. A short distance away is the elevator of Santa Justa classified national monument. Then head towards Alfama, the capital’s oldest and most picturesque district with a maze of narrow and cobbled alleys where you will find the “Sé Patriarcal”, a cathedral in Romanesque-Gothic style from the 12th century. Then you will discover Chiado and its shops, the Barrio Alto mainly accessible via the popular Da Gloria lift that lifts the curious to the platform of São Pedro de Alcântara.
Then you will go to the Alfama district for a Port Wine wine tasting from the Taylor´s House and founded in 1692. Here you will taste three Premium Porto wines (dry white, young and old red). The wine tasting will be accompanied by a pastel de nata, the traditional Portuguese pastry.
Overnight.
DAY 11 – MERCADO DA RIBEIRA – LISBON AIRPORT (O)
Today is already the last day of this beautiful and delicious wine tour through the wine regions of Alentejo and Lisbon. After breakfast, visit the Mercado da Ribeira, one of the oldest covered markets in Lisbon that reopened in 2014. In addition to fruit, vegetables, meat and of course fish stalls, it now also has a restaurant concept with huge wooden tables under a glass roof where conviviality is the master word. The greatest chefs from Lisbon come together here to discover the delights of Portuguese cuisine and to awaken the taste buds. A real gastronomic and authentic stop in the historic centre to meet the Portuguese and a nice ending to this fantastic wine tour. Afterward, transfer back to your hotel and get a private transfer, depending on your flight schedule, from your hotel to Lisbon Airport.
Escape back home … or extend your trip to one of the other beautiful wine regions of Portugal such as the Douro wine region or why not the lesser known wine region of the Azores and Madeira? This will certainly add value to your wine tour.
