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2024 WINE ARCHITECTURE + GASTRONOMY ™

Porto/Douro Valley

September 13-16, 2024

An exceptional add-on option available exclusively to Creative Spirit and Textiles and Fine Craft Tour registrants

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An exquisite and unique landscape of historical significance and deep wine culture embraces the very best of contemporary Portuguese architecture and cuisine. The Douro Valley, known for 200+ years as the source of the worlds’ finest Port Wine is now so much more. Join Culture Viewfinder on a new type of wine travel experience, driven as much by presenting compelling contemporary ‘wine architecture’ as by the spectrum of fine wines, and top-notch cuisine.

 

Culture Viewfinder's Douro Valley ‘wine architecture’ program begins with a focus on the most famous and acclaimed of Portugal’s wine regions. Each destination has been selected for its superior wine, cuisine, and architecture in equal measure, as well as for breathtaking physical beauty and deep respect for the traditions of the region.

 

Let yourself be transported and immersed in the Douro's charm and bounty as you discover a jewel of a wine museum; enjoy a personal tour by the architect we fondly call the 'Douro modernist' of two of his outstanding projects; participate in a rare studio visit to an artisanal UNESCO World Heritage site; experience an exquisite wine tasting lunch amidst breathtaking Douro views one day and break bread together with winery staff at their mid-day meal the next; learn about each winery's unique approach to winemaking; feast at a Michelin listed restaurant adjacent to the river; and truly relax at the hotel oasis we know you will love. 

 

* The number of Wine Architecture + Gastronomy participants is limited to 14, necessitated by the requirement of a smaller bus to navigate the narrow back roads of the Douro where a number of the finest wineries are located. In addition, our favourite Douro hotel is small and intimate with a very limited accommodation capacity.

PORTO & DOURO VALLEY

September 13-16,2024

BOOKING IS NOW OPEN!

Book prior to January 2024 to lock in current pricing, space is limited and available on a first come first served basis.

Tour Includes:

Hotels

Douro Valley, September 13-16

3 nights at  4* wine experience hotel

depart Porto, September 13 by coach

return to Porto by coach late morning September 16

Meals

All meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) are included everyday of this tour up to and including breakfast at the hotel on September 16.

 

  • 3 Breakfasts, everyday at the hotels

  • 3 lunches, select lunches include a glass of wine or wine pairing

  • 3 dinners, select dinners include a glass of wine, or wine pairing

Transport

All land transportation as outlined in the tour itinerary, via luxury A/C coach

Visits and Admissions

Intimate tours, tastings and/or meals at five outstanding wineries; dinner at the premiere Douro restaurant DOC, by Chef Rui Paula; private visits and tours provided by architects of their work; tour of the beautiful Museu do Vinho; rare visit to a working ceramics studio  designated a UNESCO heritage site and the beautiful Douro Archeological and Fine Art Museum; excellent, ambiant, and welcoming accommodation; PLUS the unbeatable dramatic beauty of the Douro Valley.

Tour Includes

  • Gratuities

  • Entry fees to all museums listed on the Itinerary

  • Services of a Culture Viewfinder Tour Manager – Esther Shipman

  • includes all applicable taxes and service charges as of September, 2024

  • 24-hour Ellison Travel & Tours Ltd, Emergency Contact Number while on tour

Estimated Tour Cost:

Advertised costs listed below are guaranteed if Booking confirmed and deposit received prior to January 2024 

$2795.00 CAD/pp Double Occupancy*

$895.00 CAD Single Supplement*

*Note: our Douro Hotel is small and intimate with a capacity of only 8 rooms,  6 Standard, 1 Superior, and

1 Suite all are excellent.

The 6 Standard Rooms are included in the tour pricing above. There are modest upcharges for the Superior Room (additional $289.CAD total for three nights) and the Suite (additional $389.CAD total for three nights). These larger rooms are available on a first come first served basis.

Not Included

  • International airfare

  • Passport photos, visas (NEW for 2024), government processing fees

  • Luggage handling

  • Incidentals

  • Additional taxes, fuel surcharges or service charges levied by the governments or our suppliers

 

Optional

  • Upgrade to superior accommodations (pricing provided on request)

  • Manulife Travel Insurance (coverage available for Canadian residents who have a valid provincial health card—includes emergency medical coverall, cancellation and interruption, limited baggage insurance—see policy for terms and conditions. Ask our agent at Ellison Travel & Tours for details.

 

Payments

  • Booking and Payments will be handled through our logistics partner Ellison Travel + Tours via EFT, Visa or Mastercard.

  • Deposit $1200.00/pp at time of booking

  • Balance due on or before June 4, 2024.

  • Book prior to January 2024 to lock in current pricing, space is limited and available on a first come first served basis.

 

Cancellation Penalties

  • All payments received by Ellison Travel & Tours are 100% non-refundable, except in the case of government designated international travel bans and/or forced tour cancellation due to COVID 19. Please confirm payment dates and COVID refund policy with our Ellison representative prior to payment.

  • $40.00 service fee for NSF transactions

  • Please note that there are no changes to the itinerary or number of travellers.

Booking Closes June 4, 2024 10am EST

To book please contact:

Melissa Zinga or Emily Bilyea

Ellison Travel + Tours

4-1930 Hyde Park Road,
N6H 5L9 London, ON

1. 800.668.0719

or cultureviewfinder@ellisontravel.com

Direct link:

https://www.ellisontravel.com/ET/culture-viewfinder/

For info and updates, subscribe to our mailing list here

Tour Itinerary

All Culture Viewfinder Inc. itineraries, and augmented travel information are  the exclusive intellectual property of Culture Viewfinder Inc. and protected by Copywrite. They are not be copied, distributed, or used outside of Culture Viewfinder Tours without the written permission of Culture Viewfinder Inc.

 

All registered tour participants will receive further detailed itineraries and supplemental travel information prior to the commencement of their tour. 

Day 1 Porto to the Douro Valley    September 14, 2024

Please deposit All luggage at Reception prior to breakfast.

Breakfast at the hotel

Early departure 8:45 am (post breakfast) from the Hotel Vincci Porto for our first full day in the Douro Valley. Enroute once we leave the city and its environs behind us, we begin to climb.  Take in the beauty of the landscape as it shifts from verdant forest to steep stone terraced vineyards.

Our first destination is a very innovative winery created by the man considered by many to be the country's finest next generation winemaker. Their approach to wine production and promotion has been ground-breaking and their wines excel. In addition, their very creative graphics program has won them international acclaim. Here we will enjoy a winery tour plus a unique informal lunch with wine pairings where we join winery staff for their midday meal.

Our final destination for the day will be our beautiful, award-winning winery and intimate wine-experience hotel where we will occupy all eight rooms in their award-winning new wing, designed by Porto-based Menos E Mais Arquitectos (Less is More). Enjoy the wonderful lounge, patio, grounds and pool, before embarking on a tour and tasting at the winery and an evening dinner at the hotel's excellent restaurant.

Day 2 in the central Douro

Breakfast at the hotel.

Depart at 9:30 Today we  move northward to destinations in and around Vila Real, where we meet well-known locally-based architect António Belém Lima who will personally lead tours of two of his projects, including a small, but very special Archeological Museum, as well as his creative and sensitive  additions to a historic winery that hugs the Douro River. At this picturesque locale, we cap our visit with a delicious wine accompanied lunch at their excellent restaurant perched just above the Douro River.

Note: An added special treat...if she is in residence, we will meet the charming, characterful, and knowledgeable winery owner, who will bring an added dimension to the visit.

In between these two architecture destinations we punctuate our morning with a visit to a rare working ceramics studio--one of only six that still practice the unique traditional Black Pottery of the region. This disappearing craft has been recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Meet the artist, and see a demonstration of his work (some of which is available for sale).

Literally around the corner from our lunch at the winery, is the picturesque river town of Pinhão, where we briefly stop for a photo-op at the quaint hand painted tile facade of the train station and cross the Gustav Eiffel designed bridge enroute to the small but very impressive Museu do Vinho (housed in an architectural gem), that features exceptional exhibition design, and a top-notch introduction to the colourful history of Douro viticulture. 

Enjoy a couple of hours R+R at the hotel before dinner at the hotel restaurant. 

Day 3 

Breakfast at the hotel.

We begin the day with a visit an acclaimed Quinta for a tour and wine-tasting where the farm is beautiful, the wine is delicious and sustainable,  and the winery building is designed by Alvaro Siza Vieira, Portugal's most renowned architect.

 

Next is a winery tour and lunch at a legendary Douro Quinta nearby. Our tour guide will meet us at the administrative office/shop and provide us with an introduction to the winery, and the farm (history, behind the scenes tour of their wine production, culminating with a visit to the most incredible view of the Douro River and Valley as framed by Pritzker Award Winning architect Edouardo Souta da Moura's infinity pool. All of this is followed by a sensational 'al fresco'  lunch on the Quinta's Farmhouse Terrace, accompanied by a selection of their award winning wines.

After lunch we return to the hotel for some R+R before our final Wine Architecture + Gastronomy dinner at the Michelin listed DOC restaurant, created by celebrated Chef Rui Paula.

(Group Pictures)

Day 4 return to Porto                                     September 17

Please deposit All luggage at Reception prior to breakfast.

 

Enjoy a leisurely breakfast, then join together for a final  Group Picture before returning to Porto.

The return trip will take approximately 90 minutes. The coach will make three stops in Porto.

The Hotel Vincci Porto for those participating in the Textiles and Fine Craft Tour or who simply want more Porto!, as well as the Campanhã Train Station (departure station for the high speed train to Lisbon), and the Porto International Airport (for International and regional flights).

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