Back to the Douro Valley
From the most sophisticated border of Porto to the impressive rural beauty of Portugal, this route from west to east runs along the banks of the river that is the cradle of wines and the best of the Mediterranean diet, which to a great extent is also Iberian. and reminds us that to Portugal you always have to return.
If we take the words of Jorge Manrique , this route begins with a death. "Our lives are the rivers that flow into the sea, which is death" , he wrote in one of his famous couplets.
Foz de Douro is the place where the river that gives it its name disappears before the imposing Atlantic. For years now this old Portuguese fishing village became an elegant and quiet residential neighborhood, probably the most desired in Porto. Without going any further, Sara Carbonero and Iker Casillas have made it their home.
Exterior of the Vila Foz Hotel & Spa
The promenade in front of the sea through the Avenida do Brasil throws up some hints of the majesty to which the neighborhood aspires, but It is in the immediate Avenida de Montevideu where the palatial Vila Foz Hotel & Spa is located, a hotel that is a regular destination for the inhabitants of the area.
your restaurant lily flower ensures precisely that, living the pleasures (and flavors) of the local people, as advertised the traditional tiles created by one of the most prestigious interior designers of the moment, the Portuguese Nini Andrade Silva.
Its sophisticated and homemade cuisine, In addition to being a reminder of the indelible union between Spain and Portugal, it is affordable. Three-course lunches and drinks for less than 20 euros and dinners in which nods to the sea in a constantly changing menu are inevitable.
Its main restaurant, also called Vila Foz , hopes to reopen its doors in September, to continue betting on haute cuisine while occupying the most aristocratic room in the building.
By then, the local also hopes to recover your desired Kitchen Seat, an exclusive menu with views. is tasted in the only two seats located just before the kitchen from which the Vila Foz makes culinary magic.
His spa is another regular stop for Foz do Douro residents and is everything a spa should be: a temple of tranquility and well-being with first class treatments. Its decoration is a good reflection of the environment in which it lives, connecting the urban planner with nature.
It is not the only charm of the area. Although it is easy to find a branch of the great fashion maisons, shopping in Foz do Douro is also full of personality.
Susana Tavares , chief commercial officer of Vila Foz, puts us on the track. “The previous financial crisis forced many people to undertake and the neighborhood was filled with small shops with the particular stamp of their owners” she says. So the best advice is walk around and be surprised.
The neighborhood's food scene boasts a Michelin star, Pedro Lemos (Rua do Padre Luís Cabral, 974), and with one of those Asian restaurants that everyone longs for, Ichiban, located on Avenida do Brasil itself.
Pedro Lemos restaurant, on Rua do Padre Luís Cabral
Not far from its beaches is the Serralves Foundation , one of the most interesting cultural centers, perhaps, in all of Europe.
The interesting offer its Museum of Contemporary Art, which focuses on the work of Miró, Yoko Ono or Claes Oldenburg, extends through its extensive park that also houses art deco gardens and the Casa do Cinema Manoel de Oliveira, in honor of the great myth of Portuguese filmography.
One of his brightest ideas is the recent Teetop Walk, a project designed by the architect Carlos Castanheiro that consists of a wooden structure that allows you to walk among the treetops, offering a look that often we do not usually enjoy in the green areas that we visit.
Casa de Serralves, in the Fundação Serralves, a unique example of Art Déco
THE RURAL DOURO
Entering the rural part of the Duero, with our sights set on Spain, it is almost impossible to account for all the shades of green that surround it as it passes through Raiva, a Portuguese parish belonging to the council of Castelo de Paiva.
At kilometer 41 of the great river, before that greenish and pixelated landscape that reminds one of Cezanne's post-impressionist mountains, chef Ricardo Lourenço has his restaurant inside the Douro41 hotel, which takes its name from the geographical location of its illustrious river neighbor.
After training in the best kitchens in Paris, the Portuguese returned to his country to focus on his most personal project. Raiva is an area of good goat and beef products, river fish and sweets such as jams and the traditional Pão de Ló (the most spongy cake).
The hotel Douro41, in Raiva
All this is part of their exquisite tasting menus, which also include octopus from the not so distant sea and purely Spanish ingredients.
A selection of breads with oil begin this gastronomic milestone that is Lourenço's cuisine, among them the reddish beetroot (beetroot) bread and the walnut bread with cinnamon, so typical of the grandmothers of the area.
Despite his past, the chef does not comply with the minimalist cliché of French gastronomy nor is he afraid of combine ingredients and textures.
One of their entrees, Bucho à Pedorido laminated , is an explosion of flavor, as are its tasty ravioli stuffed with suckling lamb and Spanish cheese or cod croquettes with pumpkin puree.
as it says Duarte Goncalves da Cunha hotel General Manager, The Duero is very special, where "the best of Mediterranean cuisine" grows. Its waters irrigate places where the best cheese, meat, oil and wine.
“Not just one wine, it embraces all possible types of wines”, emphasizes Gonçalves , who knows well the journey that the Duero crosses after having worked for several years in Castilla y León.
The Douro41 area is a green wine area. And the restaurant and, by extension, the hotel and the spa take advantage of all this. Not only the gastronomic menu uses everything possible the zero kilometer , so do the infinity of activities that they offer around this building designed by the architect João Serodio and that integrates perfectly into its natural environment.
It is convenient to select them and even reserve them before arriving, because the selection of experiences is practically endless. A ride on Filipe and Fernanda's boats, a visit to Doña Otília's smokehouse, Tiago and Sílvia's wine lands or the raspberry plantation of Sergio and his family.
There are also yoga sessions first thing in the morning and you can take a walk through the Passadiços do Paiva, a path made of wooden walkways that puts you in the center of nature.
All this without forgetting the hotel's three swimming pools, which compete to offer the best views. There is one inside, inside the spa, another on the top floor and a third on the edge of the river.
As a curiosity, the earthy-colored building features an indoor funicular to traverse some of the floors and it is, paradoxically, the only place from which you cannot enjoy the impressive views that surround it.
At nightfall, Added to the landscape seen from Raiva are the lights coming from the nearby towns, Rio Mau and Oliveira do Arda. During the day, the bell towers of the three places compose a melody that, like everything that happens in this area of the Duero, creates its own harmony.
To finish the tour of the Duero that brings us closer to Spain, advancing towards the east, is Vila Real, which preserves a small part of its wall.
close stands Casa de Mateus, an 18th-century palace that is a clear example of Baroque architecture and is considered one of the most elegant manor houses in Europe. That's where rosé wine comes from Mateus Rose.
Next to the river is the hotel Six Senses Douro Valley , which serves as a resting point to visit the entire area. From there you can travel to the picturesque town of Pinhão, where one of the best ports in the world is made.
Six Senses Douro Valley, a good hub to explore the area