Private Guided Tours of Northern Portugal with Ricardo & Co.
Ricardo is a lifelong northerner, born in X and now living X for the past X years. It doesn’t get much more local than this, so if you want to tour northern Portugal with an expert, Ricardo is your man! He’s been working in tourism for over 2 decades, and has led just about every type of tour to everywhere you can think of in his region.
In 2XXX, Ricardo and his wife Marta started their company, Plainsight, which organizes day trips and driving tours all over northern Portugal. While Ricardo and Marta are both still regularly on the road out guiding, they also work with a small team of drivers/guides and can organize everything from transfers, to day trips, and multi-day tours throughout the country.
No matter where you want to go in the north, Ricardo & Marta and their team can take you there! Whether that means visiting cities like Guimarães and Braga, heading out to the Douro Valley, or getting into nature in Peneda-Gerês National Park, they’ve got you covered. And as lifelong locals, they know all the secret spots along the way!
A note from Ricardo and Marta
“Hi there!”
A Day in the Douro Valley
Duration: 8+ hours
Cost: $500 USD + $30 per person for wine tasting and boat cruise
Price includes: your English-speaking driver, round trip transportation from your accommodation, wine estate visit and tasting, 1-hour boat cruise (or a second wine estate visit and tasting).
Not Included in cost: lunch
Max participants: 6 - Larger groups possible on request
The Douro Valley is one of Portugal's most famous regions, and if you need any explanation as to why, just consider the following quote from Miguel Torga, one of Portugal's greatest poets: “The sublime Douro. The prodigy of a landscape that strips itself from its being. It’s not a panorama for the eyes to contemplate: it’s a nature’s excess; a geological poem. An absolute beauty.” With that introduction, is tehre any question that yyou’ve got to see it for yourself?!
Your tour will start at your accommodation (typically in/around Porto), where your local driver-guide will pick you up and then set off for a full-day tour into the Douro Valley. En route, we'll ascend up Marão mountain and will make our first stop in the town of Amarante to visit the church and convent of the same name – Saint Gonçalo de Amarante. We’ll also visit the town’s bridge, dating to the 18th Century, that crosses the Tâmega River, one of the Douro river’s largest tributaries. Next, we'll taste one of this region’s most typical pastries at a local bakery overlooking the river.
Continuing our journey, we'll head into the heart of the Douro Valley, passing through vineyards, olive groves, terraced limestone cliffs, and beautiful winding roads. We’ll make a stop to enjoy the breathtaking view at the Miradouro de Casal de Loivos viewpoint and will then visit Pinhão’s renowned train station where 24 tile panels depict typical Douro Valley scenes.
Still in Pinhão, we'll board a river cruise, setting off on a 1-hour ride on a traditional Rabelo boat, navigating the Douro’s tranquil water. Also included is a visit to a vineyard where you’ll get to tour the grounds and do a tasting.
After your wine tasting, we’ll hop back in the car for a beautiful drive on the way back to your accommodation.
Day Trip to Guimarães and Braga
Duration: 8+ hours
Cost: $800 USD
Price includes: your guide (Leonor), your driver and round-trip transportation from your accommodation
Not included in cost: entrances fees to the Guimarães Castle and Duke’s Palace, the hydraulic elevator and cathedral in Braga, or lunch
Max participants: 6 - larger groups possible on request
While the north of Portugal is known for its lush greenery not found anywhere else in the country, this is also a place full of history, tradition, and modernity. And outside of Porto, nowhere is that history more completely on display than in the lovely cities of Guimarães and Braga.
Both cities are found in the Minho region, one of the greenest and prettiest in the country, and which we'll pass through on our way from Porto out to Guimarães, our first stop of the day. A World Heritage City since 2001, the town is built aside a sacred hill where the statue of Dom Afonso Henriques watches over it.
One of our first stops in the city will the impressive castle, from where we'll move on to São Miguel Church, and eventually the Paço dos Duques de Bragança (Duke's Palace). After touring these landmarks and monuments, we'll go for a wander through the historic core, which is a charming medieval center with beautiful squares.
When we start to get hungry, we'll be sure to visit Santa Clara’s pastry shop (Pastel de Santa Clara), to try some of the best sweets in town.
Finally, we’ll pay a visit to the 18th century São Gualter Church, the city’s protector and patron saint, and will then head on toward Braga, where we’ll have a delicious lunch sampling the the city’s delicacies.
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After lunch, we’ll get to know Braga. Although it’s now a modern city, you can still feel the history here, in this ancient place that the Romans once passed through. We’ll visit the Cathedral, which holds the cross used in the first mass in Brazil, and will admire its magnificent pipe organs, tour the high pulpit and the mortuary chapels of some of Braga’s archbishops, and find the graves of D. Afonso Henriques’ parents (the first king of Portugal).
We'll then pass by some of the cities’ other attractions, such as the Paço Episcopal, with its lovely Santa Bárbara gardens, the churches of Largo and Cruz, and will eventually make our way to the República Square where, you can feel the pulse of this vibrant city.
There will also be time to climb the 581 steps from Bom Jesus Church and to let ourselves be moved by its chapels and relax in its green gardens. Afterwards, we'll descend back down to the city via the only remaining hydraulic elevator in Europe!
At the end of the day, we'll hop back in the car and return to Porto, having just had a magnificent day discovering some of the most historically significant cities in all of Portugal.
Custom tours
Looking for something a bit different?
All of Ricardo’s tours can be fully customized to you, your interests, and travel style. If you’d like something totally unique, you can work one-on-one with Ricardo to co-create a one of a kind tour.
To get started, request a custom tour below and provide us some initial ideas about what you’re looking for. Ricardo will then reach out to you directly to start planning your tour together.