Train Ride to the Douro Valley

The Linha do Douro is a train line that starts from Porto and goes along the Douro River and is said to be one of the most scenic train rides in Portugal. Most people will take a bus tour out to the Douro Valley, visit the vineyards, and do a river cruise. We opted for something a little different since it was too early for vineyards and we didn’t want to do all of the things that tours do. For a much cheaper alternative, we took a train out to the small Douro Valley town of Régua.

We started bright and early at the beautiful São Bento Railway Station which itself is a sight to see with its walls covered in 20,000 tiles filled with scenes from Portgual’s past.

A classic 1960’s diesel locomotive. One of the unique things about this Douro Valley route is that the trains used are different from the typical modern trains we normally rode while here.

This is the very vintage interior of the train. These cars were built in the mid-1950’s and are well kept and comfortable.

There are no speakers or signs that light up to announce what stop we were at, so we really had to pay attention to the signs posted outside as we pulled into stations.

The trip from Porto to Régua takes about two hours. The first hour of the journey took us through rolling fields and green country side.

In the last hour of our trip, the train turned and the Douro River floated alongside us for the rest of the journey. A tip - sit on the right side of the train to see the river.

While walking between cars, I noticed these doors were open. I was not the one that opened them, nor was I the one to close them, but I did pause to enjoy the unobstructed valley view.

The station of Régua. We didn’t buy return tickets when we first started out in Porto, but we probably should have just to know when the train back would be.

Our plan was to get to Régua and then take a river cruise around the area (since a few blog posts had mentioned this as an option).

However, perhaps it was the day we came, or it was too early in the season, but the ticket offices were closed and there were no boats in sight.

Like seriously, the whole time we were there. No boats as far as the eye could see. We enjoyed a lovely river walk instead.

The train we had originally planned to take back to Porto got cancelled, but spending a few more hours here wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

The later train actually gave us a lovely surprise on the way home. Sunset in the Douro Valley.