Gourmet Food Tour in Portugal from Lisbon to Porto

Lisbon Airport

Arrive at any time. An arrival transfer is included from the airport to the hotel. There are no activities planned for this day. Lunch and dinner are not included. Overnight in Lisbon.

Lisbon – Sintra – Lisbon

Meeting point at the hotel lobby – 8:30am Sintra is 30 km from Lisbon, offering a foretaste of Paradise. The temperate climate ensures permanent freshness and luxuriant vegetation, making Sintra a deeply romantic and mysterious place. Stand out from the Town Palace, the Pena Palace (Ticket entrance included). Visit Piriquita, the pastry of the famous queijada. See the 16th-century Jeronimo's Monastery (UNESCO), the Discoveries Monument honoring intrepid Portuguese explorers and their patrons, and the impressive Belem Tower (Tickets are not included). Visit an old patisserie that has managed to hold on to the secret recipe of Portugal. This pastry has existed for over 100 years. Enjoy a demonstration and tasting of the famous 'pastéis de Belem.' Accommodation: 4 stars hotel. Overnight in Lisbon. Meals: Breakfast, Pastry Pastel de Belém (one Portuguese custard tart and one coffee are included), and Pastry Piriquita (one cake and one coffee are included).

Lisbon – Obidos – Porto – Nazare The meeting point will be at the hotel lobby – 09h00 am. After a quick ride, our day begins in the medieval walled town of Obidos, most noted for its whitewashed houses. Visit handicraft stores, bookstores, and make sure to sample ginja. This liqueur is made by infusing sour cherry in brandy and adding sugar to create a potent yet enjoyable aperitif. A classic Portuguese drink. Our lunchtime will be at the picturesque fishing village of Nazaré. It is an excellent opportunity to taste the grilled fish and rice seafood. Nazaré is famous for its women who wear skirts with seven petticoats. Women would sit on the beach waiting for their fishermen to sail home. They’d wear several petticoats to fold the layers around their backs and legs. In 2011, Garret McNamara (Surfer) changed the history of Nazaré! McNamara was towed into a 78-foot monster swell off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal. At the time, it was the giant wave ever- ridden! And some of the best surfers move to the Portuguese coast every winter. Today Nazaré is the most famous fishing village in Portugal. It was always having drawn visitors to its beach and genuinely colorful life.. Accommodation: 4 stars hotel. Overnight in Porto. Meals: Breakfast.

Porto

Meeting point at the hotel lobby – 09h30 am. Elected Best European Destination 2012 by the European citizens, Porto, is history, architecture, culture, gastronomy, trade, encounters, and discoveries. Walking tours in Porto, visits to the city’s historical center of world heritage and monuments of Porto. Itinerary (3 hours – without a car): Torre dos Clérigos (Tickets are not included), Livraria Lello e Irmão (Tickets are not included), Avenida dos Aliados, Estação de S. Bento (train station), Ponte Luís I, Sé Catedral, Bairro da Sé and Ribeira. Then, we will have a brief presentation of the olive oil sector in Portugal with technical proof of three Portuguese olive oils. After that, we will taste some Portuguese products, for example, cheese, ham, olive oil, wine, bread, and sausage. In the afternoon, we will visit a Port wine cellars and tasting this famous wine. (Standard two great wines). Lunch and dinner are not included. Duration: 1/2 day. Overnight in Porto.

Arcos de Valdevez

Meeting point at the hotel lobby – 11h30 am. Our first stop will be the sardine cannery. On this factory tour, you will learn about the sardine industry in Portugal, from fisheries to canning to marketing and distribution. Don’t worry, the smell is not as strong as you might think! You will finish the tour with a delightful tasting of sardines, bread, and of course Portuguese wine. After visiting the cities, we will visit the real Portugal, off the beaten path and authentic. We will explore remote villages, authentic cultural heritage, and some of the greenest landscapes in the country. You will sleep in the heart of the Minho province and at the door of the Peneda-Geres National Park, surrounded by stunning mountains and forests. During the journey, we might come across garrano, or wild ponies. These wild animals have been native to the region since the Celtic era during the first millennium B.C. The Portuguese government began to rebuild the herds in the 1940s in what is now the national park. Dinner will be at our rural hotel. You can help Chef Vasco prepare dinner with a hands-on cooking class. This hotel works hard to incorporate slow food with the goal of promoting local small businesses while working against the globalization of agricultural products.

Duration: 1/2 day. Accommodation: Country House. Overnight in Arcos de Valdevez. Meals: Breakfast, Sardine Tasting, and Dinner (cooking class).

Arcos de Valdevez

Picnic basket for lunch in the middle of nature. Visit the vineyard and learn more about Vinho Verde. Dinner in the rural hotel, you can help the chef Vasco to prepare the dinner (hands-on cooking class in Portugal). The cooking classes will focus on seasonal produce and will be held in the working kitchen of the hotel.

At the end of the cooking class, dinner will be served in the nearby dining room. The meal will be comprised of the dishes prepared during class and complemented with local wines chosen by the chef. Duration: 1 day. Overnight in Arcos de Valdevez (countryside). A town surrounded by nature and at the door of the Peneda-Gerês National Park.

Arcos de Valdevez – Braga

Bread Making. The hands-on cooking class has a special component: the traditional bread making. Broa is a Portuguese cornbread made from a mixture of flour and cornmeal. One of the features of this bread is its cracked top and oval. The outside of a loaf of this Portuguese cornbread (Broa) is dark and crusty. The inside is chewy, moist, and dense. Corn has an ancient history in this region - Minho. And, that’s still in evidence today with the number of fields and granaries dotting the landscape. This workshop will be with chef Vasco. . Dinner is not included. Duration: 1/2 day. Overnight in Braga.

Oporto Airport

Private transfer from your hotel in Braga to the airport. End of Portugal Food Tours. There are no activities planned for this day. Lunch and dinner are not included

Suggestion: Book extra night & Douro Valley Tour. (Post-tour extension-ask us about the cost). Please note that some changes may occur in itineraries due to inclement weather and common seasonal changes to timetables and transport routes. This can happen with little notice so please be prepared for modifications to the route