Portugal Food & Wine: Porto to Lisbon with America’s Test Kitchen

Board your overnight flight to Porto today.

Welcome to Portugal! Settle in to your hotel in the heart of this 2,000-year-old, UNESCO-listed city. Later, meet your Tour Director and fellow travelers at a welcome dinner featuring regional cuisine and local wines.

Get to know Porto as you join your local guide for a tour of the city.

• Visit icons such as Liberty Square, Carmelitas Church, and the Baroque-style Clérigos Tower
• Stop for coffee and a sweet treat at a local cafe
• Visit Porto’s central market, where local merchants sell fruits, vegetables, flowers, and more
• Take a scenic drive through the local neighborhoods and past the Douro riverfront

Head just outside of Porto, to Matosinhos, a seaside village renowned for its seafood and fish.

• Step inside Matosinhos Fish Market, a local institution housed in a historic building
• Meet with the fishmongers, traditionally a female-dominated profession, and hear about their lives
• Learn about canning traditions and the importance of seafood to Portuguese cooking
• Enter the Conservas Pinhais Factory to learn about its history and unique processes of sardine production
• Meet with the family staff as you tour the factory before wrapping your own tin and taking part in a tasting paired with wine

Start the day with a visit to a local cooking school, where you’ll take part in a cooking class. Prepare your own lunch of traditional Porto dishes with help from a chef and enjoy your creations with a glass of local wine.

Later, board a boat and float along the beautiful Douro, the Iberian Peninsula’s third-longest river.

• Take in scenes of Porto’s vibrant waterfront and historic Villa Nova de Gaia, home to the region’s centuries-old Port wine warehouses
• Drift under five of the river’s most iconic bridges
• Cruise past colorful hillside villas and traditional rabelos—boats designed to transport casks of wine along the Douro River

Once back on shore, pay a visit to one of Porto’s most prestigious Port wine cellars for a guided tour. Learn about the long-standing history of Port wine, as well as the ins and outs of Port production and warehousing. Then, sit down to taste three of the cellar’s world-famous labels.

Pass the rolling hills and small villages as you make your way to the Douro Valley. Then, spend the morning at Casa de Mateus, an historic mansion and hub of artistic, cultural, educational, and social science activities.

• Admire the architecture of the Baroque-style mansion, which is set against the beautiful backdrop of the Portuguese countryside
• Tour the mansion and its gardens, which were designed by architect Nicolau Nasoni in the 18th century

Afterwards, stop at a local restaurant to enjoy an included lunch featuring regional food and wine.

End the day by visiting a winery in the Douro Valley. You’ll sample three wines that come from some of the most prestigious wine-producing areas in Portugal.

Continue driving through the Douro Valley and settle in to your countryside hotel.

Pay a visit to Lamego, a town nestled among the terraced slopes of the Douro Valley’s Port wine region, for a walking tour with your Tour Director.

• View the stunning, zig-zagging staircase that leads to the town’s Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remédios
• Take time to relax or explore the town during free time

Spend the afternoon taking part in a truly authentic tradition—stomping grapes—at a local Port wine vineyard in the Douro Valley.

• Travel to Vila Real, stopping along the way to take in the jaw-dropping views of the Douro River Valley
• Set off on a guided tour of the vineyard and learn the origins of Port wine and the grapes themselves
• Soak in breathtaking views of the surrounding landscapes throughout the vineyard
• Enjoy the unique chance to step in the large, granite lagares, or treading tanks, and tread the grapes
• Sample three different Port wines, including the much-loved Aged Tawny

This evening, sit down for an included traditional farmhouse dinner featuring local specialties.

Travel into the Serra da Estrela, a dramatically beautiful, mountainous region of Portugal, and visit a local cheese farm.

• Start with a cheese-making lesson taught by one of the farm’s cheese producers
• Head out into a field of thistles and learn about how the plants are used in traditional cheese recipes
• Sample different cheeses during a coffee break before visiting the cheese curd workshop
• End your tour with a delicious farm lunch featuring local specialties

After, continue on to the Alentejo region.

Spend the day learning more about some of Portugal’s signature exports.

• Visit a family-owned cork farm and factory situated in the foothills of the Serra D’Ossa—an area within the Alentejo region that’s known for its locally made crafts
• Climb aboard a 4x4 vehicle for a drive around the farm’s grounds, which its owners and workers use in the production of cork, wine, pork, and honey
• Pause along the way to enjoy scenic views and to learn more about the farm’s cork wood harvest and how cork is used to bottle wine
• Join a local guide for a tour of an olive grove and farm
• Learn about olive oil production and the importance of the olive grove ecosystem
• Sample the olive oil along with some regional tapas made with homemade products
• Savor a scenic picnic lunch, along with Alentejo wine, in the olive grove

Stroll through the streets of UNESCO-recognized Évora, one of Europe’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, with a local guide.

• Take in the region’s whitewashed homes and intricate tilework
• Pass the remains of the Roman temple and enter the Chapel of Bones
• Visit a local shop for a tasting of Quijada, a delicious cheese based pastry which dates back to the medieval times

Visit a vineyard in the Alentejo region this afternoon.

• Learn about viniculture and the history of the estate
• Sample white and red wines that are produced at the estate
• Sit down for a light lunch and wine tasting led by a sommelier
• Enjoy time to shop for wine and local products

Head back to Portugal’s capital, Lisbon. Upon arrival, join an experienced local chef for a Portuguese pastry class.

• Learn how to craft the perfect pastéis de nata, the famous Portuguese custard tart made with egg yolks
• Enjoy a tasting of other delicious pastries with coffee and tea

This evening, meet up with a local guide for a culinary-themed walking tour of Lisbon.

• Start in the vibrant neighborhood of Príncipe Real where you’ll stop to taste petiscos snacks, the Portuguese version of tapas across the border in Spain
• Take in the beautiful views of Lisbon’s red roofs which cover the city
• Head next door to the Barrio Alto neighborhood where you’ll sample breads, cheeses, and chouriço, a delicious port sausage
• End with a visit to a family-owned restaurant where you’ll sit down to enjoy a variety of small plates featuring local dishes

Please note: You’ll be divided into groups of 20 people or less the food walking tour. Each group will have their own local guide.

Set off on a guided sightseeing tour of Lisbon.

• Admire views of Lisbon from Eduardo VII Park, and pass Praça Marquês de Pombal, a major roundabout in the city, as you travel along Avenida da Liberdade
• Stop at the waterfront to discover the city’s maritime heritage at the Monument to the Discoveries and Tower of Belém
• View the outside of the church at Jerónimos Monastery, built to honor voyagers
• Visit a few local vendors to sample tasty treats and, in some cases, wine
• End in the city center and to enjoy free time for lunch

Try your hand at making traditional Portuguese cuisine at this evening’s cooking class. Then, enjoy the three-course meal you’ve prepared and toast to your trip during a farewell dinner.

Transfer to the airport for your flight home or continue on to explore the Algarve region and more of Lisbon.