Pinhao: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
The port that ages in the lodges of Gaia is grown here, on the schist slopes around Pinhão, and the great houses keep their best vineyards within sight of the village. This route walks the north bank from the station to two of them, then crosses the bridge to the south bank. The north-bank part is flat and on foot; for the south bank take the car, or a taxi if everyone is tasting. Book tastings a day ahead in the harvest season, from mid-September.
A short history of Pinhao
Pinhão is a small village on the bank of the Douro River, where the Pinhão stream flows into it, in the middle of the port wine vineyards. In 1756 the Marquis of Pombal set the boundaries of the Douro wine region, creating one of the first regulated wine regions in the world. For generations barrels of wine were carried from here down the river to Porto in flat-bottomed boats. The railway reached the village in 1880, and in 1937 the station was decorated with blue azulejo tile panels showing the grape harvest. In 2001 the Alto Douro region was declared a World Heritage Site.
The ten best sights in Pinhao
1Quinta do BomfimDow's estate since 1896, a few minutes' walk east of the station; tastings, an exhibition and a vineyard path
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2Quinta da Roêda
Croft's estate just upstream of the village; tastings on a terrace among the vines
3Quinta das CarvalhasReal Companhia Velha's hill on the south bank; a shop by the bridge and tours to the top
4Quinta do SeixoSandeman's estate on the south bank, with the caped Don on the terrace and a long view of the river
5Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do CarmoA wine estate with a small hotel and a restaurant on the slope above the south bank; trails through the vines
6Museu do DouroThe museum of the whole wine region, by the river in Régua; give it an hour before the N222
7Casa de MateusThe baroque manor from the Mateus Rosé label, outside Vila Real; house and gardens are open daily
8Favaios Bread and Wine MuseumBread and Moscatel in a hill village 15 km north, with a working wood oven
9Casal de Loivos ViewpointThe classic view of the Pinhão bend, ten minutes up a steep road; best in the late afternoon
10São Leonardo de GalafuraA hilltop chapel and viewpoint high above Régua, with the valley spread on both sides
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What is an audio walk?
Tours in Pinhao →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Pinhao:
Free walking tours in Pinhao
Port, quinta by quinta
The port that ages in the lodges of Gaia is grown here, on the schist slopes around Pinhão, and the great houses keep their best vineyards within sight of the village. This route walks the north bank from the station to two of them, then crosses the bridge to the south bank. The north-bank part is flat and on foot; for the south bank take the car, or a taxi if everyone is tasting. Book tastings a day ahead in the harvest season, from mid-September.
- Pinhão Station · The station is decorated with azulejo panels of 1937 showing the harvest, the treading of grapes and the boats that carried the barrels downriver. It is the whole story of port told on a platform wall, and it costs nothing to see.
- Quinta do Bomfim · The firm of Silva & Cosens, the makers of Dow's port, bought this estate in 1896, and it now belongs to the Symington family. The old winery by the river holds an exhibition on the family and the valley.
- Quinta da Roêda · Croft, the house that owns it, was founded in 1588 and is one of the oldest port houses still trading. Its vintage ports are built around the grapes of this estate.
- Pinhão Pier · The rabelo was a flat-bottomed boat with a long steering oar at the stern, built to carry barrels of wine down the rapids to Gaia. The railway and then the dams ended that trade, and the boats now carry visitors.
- Quinta das Carvalhas · The estate belongs to the Real Companhia Velha, founded by royal charter in 1756 to control the port trade, in the same year the Douro region was demarcated. The hill climbs from the river to about 550 metres, with terraces all the way up.
- Quinta do Seixo · The figure in the black cape and wide hat on the terrace is the Sandeman Don, drawn in 1928 by George Massiot Brown. The cape is that of a Portuguese student and the hat a Spanish one, for the firm's sherry.
Above the terraces
From the river you see the walls; from above you see the pattern, hundreds of kilometres of dry-stone terraces cut into the schist by hand. This drive climbs out of Pinhão to the viewpoints and the hill villages, crosses to the manor of Vila Real and comes back down to the river at Régua, where the N222 runs home along the water. It is a full day of narrow roads; allow about 110 km and start early.
- Casal de Loivos Viewpoint · From here the Douro makes its bend at Pinhão with terraces on every slope. Many of the walls were rebuilt after phylloxera, the vine louse, destroyed the vineyards of the valley in the late nineteenth century.
- Favaios Bread and Wine Museum · Favaios makes Moscatel do Douro, a sweet fortified muscat, and a square loaf with four corners baked in wood ovens. The museum shows both, and the village bakeries still sell the bread.
- Provesende · Provesende was the seat of its own municipality until the nineteenth century, and the pillory in the square is the mark of that status. The granite manors around it belonged to families who grew rich on wine.
- Casa de Mateus · The house has been on the label of Mateus Rosé since the wine was launched in 1942, but the wine has never been made here. The family that owns the house runs it as a foundation, with the gardens and their tunnel of cedar open to visitors.
- São Leonardo de Galafura · The poet Miguel Torga, born in the nearby village of São Martinho de Anta, wrote about this hilltop as the prow of a ship sailing over the valley. Lines of the poem are set in stone at the viewpoint.
- Museu do Douro · The Alto Douro wine region became a World Heritage site in 2001, and this museum tells how a slope of bare schist was turned into a vineyard by hand. From here the N222 runs back to Pinhão along the south bank.
Up to the gorge and the Côa
Upstream from Pinhão the valley gets wilder, the quintas fewer and the river narrower, until it squeezes through the Valeira gorge. Beyond it, on the Côa, a tributary, are rock engravings some twenty thousand years older than the first vine. This is a long day by car, about 150 km in all; book the engraving site ahead, since visits are by guided jeep only.
- Foz do Tua · The narrow-gauge Tua line, opened in 1887, ran from this station up the gorge to Mirandela. Its lower part was flooded by the Foz Tua dam, finished in 2017.
- Valeira Dam · The dam stands at the Cachão da Valeira, a rock barrier that blocked boats on the river until it was blasted open at the end of the eighteenth century. The water behind it now covers the old rapids.
- São Salvador do Mundo · In 1861 a boat carrying the British port merchant Joseph James Forrester and Dona Antónia Ferreira, the great lady of the Douro, overturned in the rapids below. Forrester drowned; Dona Antónia was saved, the story goes, by her wide crinoline skirts.
- Vila Nova de Foz Côa Church · The parish church in the main square has a Manueline doorway of the early sixteenth century, carved in granite. Foz Côa is also the town of the almond blossom, which turns the slopes white in late February and March.
- Côa Museum · In the 1990s a dam was being built on the Côa when thousands of Palaeolithic engravings were found on the schist. In 1995 the government stopped the dam, and in 1998 the valley became a World Heritage site; the museum stands on the cliff above the meeting of the rivers.
- Penascosa · At Penascosa horses, aurochs and ibex are cut into the rock at the water's edge, some of them drawn with several heads to suggest movement. Visits leave by jeep from Castelo Melhor, including night visits when torchlight brings out the lines.
Getting to Pinhao and getting around
- Porto Airport · The nearest airport, about two hours' drive up the A4; most travellers collect the car here
- Pinhão Station · Trains from Porto São Bento take about two and a half hours; sit on the right going upstream, on the river side
- Peso da Régua Station · The main station of the valley, 25 km downstream; on summer weekends the historic train to Tua starts here
Cheap eats in Pinhao
The Douro eats like the rest of the north: roast kid, salt cod, cured sausage and bola, a bread baked with meat inside, which Lamego claims as its own. Pinhão itself has only a handful of places, all within five minutes of the station, and a dish of the day with a glass of wine costs about €10-14. For a picnic in the vines, the four-cornered bread of Favaios and a bottle from the quinta where you tasted are the whole menu.
- Veladouro · Grilled meat and fish on a terrace by the river, mains about €12-18
- Segredos do Douro · On the station square; dish of the day about €10-14
- Café Beira Rio · Coffee and a toasted sandwich by the river, about €3-6
- Café Central de Provesende · Village café on the square; coffee about €1, a bifana about €3
- Ponte Velha · By the old bridge over the Pinhão river; roast kid and cod, about €12-16
- Pastelaria Gomes · Cristas de galo in Vila Real, about €1.50-2 each
Museums in Pinhao
- Museu do Douro · The wine, the boats and the terraces; about an hour
- Côa Museum · Palaeolithic rock art and the story of the dam that was stopped; about 50 minutes away
- Casa de Mateus · House, chapel and gardens; guided visit about 45 minutes
- Favaios Bread and Wine Museum · Small and hands-on; ends with a taste of Moscatel
- Espaço Miguel Torga · The poet's village of São Martinho de Anta; a small museum on his life and work
Nature and day trips near Pinhao
- Casal de Loivos Viewpoint · The bend at Pinhão from above; ten minutes by car
- São Domingos Viewpoint · Quieter viewpoint above the Pinhão river valley, west of the village
- Carvalhas Hilltop · The top of the Carvalhas hill, reached on the estate tour
- Fisgas de Ermelo · A long waterfall in the Alvão hills, about an hour north; a short walk to the viewpoint
- Serra do Marão · The mountain that walls the Douro from the coast; a road climbs to the chapel near the top
Things to do in Pinhao with kids
- Pinhão Pier · An hour on the river in a rabelo; children love the long oar
- Douro Historic Train · Old carriages from Régua to Tua and back on summer weekends; book ahead
- NaturWaterPark · Water park in the hills outside Vila Real, open in summer
- Penascosa Night Visit · Rock engravings by torchlight; older children only, book ahead
- Corgo Park · A riverside park in Vila Real with paths and play areas
Where to eat in Pinhao
- Bomfim 1896 · At Quinta do Bomfim, by the chef Pedro Lemos; book ahead
- Rabelo at The Vintage House · The hotel restaurant on the riverbank in Pinhão; Portuguese cooking and a long wine list
- DOC · Rui Paula's restaurant on a deck over the water at Folgosa, on the N222; tasting menus, book ahead
- Castas e Pratos · In an old railway warehouse by Régua station; regional dishes and Douro wines
- Quinta Nova restaurant · Dinner on the estate terrace above the south bank; book ahead
- Veladouro · The simple riverside choice in the village, mains about €12-18
Frequently asked questions about Pinhao
What is there to see in Pinhao?
The top sights in Pinhao are Quinta do Bomfim, Quinta da Roêda and Quinta das Carvalhas. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Pinhao?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Pinhao without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Pinhao?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Pinhao, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Port, quinta by quinta.
How do you get to Pinhao and get around?
The main ways are Porto Airport, Pinhão Station and Peso da Régua Station. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Pinhao, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Pinhao that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Pinhao for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.