Every family has its treasured memories, and many of mine come from traveling with my kids. They had passports before they could walk and their own suitcases as soon as they could pull them. I especially cherished the trips when I could take them one at a time. Away from sibling dynamics, we found room for deeper conversations and real one-on-one time.
As they’ve grown into adulthood and built their own lives, traveling together has gotten harder to pull off. So, I was thrilled when my youngest son, Matthew, now 28, and I found 10 days to explore somewhere new together: Portugal, a country neither of us had visited, aboard Viking’s Portugal’s River of Gold cruise.
Two Nights in Lisbon
I’d heard wonderful things about Lisbon for years, so I was happy our itinerary included two nights there before boarding the ship. We stayed at the lovely Corinthia Lisbon Hotel, which gave us time to explore the city first.
Matthew and I signed up for Viking’s Lisbon City Hike, an active excursion that took us up through the hilltop neighborhoods, past the Rossio, Martim Moniz and Restauradores squares, to the Miradouro da Graça for views over the rooftops, and on to the 17th-century monastery of São Vicente de Fora and the walls of São Jorge Castle.
Our local guide was fun and gave us helpful insight into what we were seeing. Our group was small, and we met two fellow Viking passengers, Karen and Kent, and enjoyed chatting over coffee in the Garden of Rua de Recolhimento before heading back into the city.
On our own time, Matthew and I wandered Rua Augusta, Lisbon’s pedestrian boulevard, ducking into shops and a cork boutique for a locally made cork purse. (Portugal is the world’s leading producer of cork.) We stopped at Livraria Bertrand, the world’s oldest operating bookstore, and sampled pastéis de nata, the custard tarts a Lisbon bakery has served from the original monastery recipe since 1837.
Matthew has always been drawn to military history, so we made our way to Belém, where the Monument to the Discoveries and the Belém Tower stand near the Jerónimos Monastery. Inside its west wing is the Maritime Museum, which traces Portugal’s Age of Discovery from 1415 to 1543 through ship models, royal barges and centuries of seafaring history. It was a highlight for both of us.
Onboard the Viking Gyda
After a Viking coach transfer from Lisbon to Porto, we embarked on the Viking Gyda in Porto: one of Viking’s “baby longships,” built smaller and narrower than the line’s standard river vessels so she can fit through the tight locks of the Douro.
The ship carries just 106 guests, which made the whole week feel more like joining a small community than boarding a ship. My veranda stateroom on Deck 2 was compact but comfortable, with a private balcony that made for a great spot to watch the vineyards roll by each morning.
Viking Captain Alves, who had spent his career sailing the Douro, was closely involved in designing the ship. Solar panels power all the onboard lighting, wastewater is treated before it ever touches the river, and the ship’s exhaust system means she produces no CO2 emissions. It’s a genuinely green ship, and the crew was clearly proud of it.
Cruising the Douro River
The Douro Valley is where this cruise earns its name. We spent our days gliding past terraced hillsides thick with vineyards and olive groves.
One of the most memorable moments came as we passed through the Carrapatelo Lock, Europe’s tallest river lock. Nicknamed “Big Mama,” it lifts ships 35 meters (about 115 feet) in a single chamber. Watching the water rise around us, with the ship rising slowly between concrete walls back into daylight, was a unique experience.
Mateus Palace and Gardens
Viking offers an included excursion at each port. In Regua, we visited the Mateus Palace and Gardens, the 18th-century Baroque mansion built between 1739 and 1743 that most people recognize instantly. It’s the building on the label of Mateus Rosé wine. Walking its cedar-lined walkways and sculpted hedges, it was easy to see why.
From Mateus, our bus climbed high into hills blanketed in vineyards, crossing into the Douro Valley’s Tabuaço area to reach Quinta do Seixo, Sandeman’s Douro estate. It was windy up there, but the view over the terraced vines and the river below was incredible. We toured the winery and sat down for a port tasting, then picked up a few bottles of our own port before heading back to the ship.
A Day in Salamanca, Spain
On another day, we crossed into Spain on our excursion, driving over the border to Salamanca, a UNESCO World Heritage city known as the “Golden City” for the glowing Villamayor sandstone of its buildings. Our guide gave us an excellent tour. We saw the cathedral, wandered the Plaza Mayor, and later grabbed lunch at a local bakery before driving back to the ship.
Bread, Wine and an Afternoon in Favaios
If one stop captured the soul of this trip, it was Favaios, a village of just 1,500 people that mass tourism hasn’t found. We visited the town’s wine cooperative, founded in 1952, which produces Moscatel, a sweet, aromatic fortified wine made from Muscat grapes.
From there, we walked to a bakery for a demonstration of the local four-corners bread, baked in a wood-fired oven heated with old grapevines and made with just four ingredients. It came out crispy on the outside and soft inside, served with local olive oil.
We finished the afternoon with a painting workshop, using wine and port instead of paint, while a local told us about a town whose name traces back a thousand years.
In Lamego, our bus dropped us at the top of a hill, right at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Remedies, an 18th-century pilgrimage church decorated in blue-and-white azulejo tiles. We toured the shrine, then walked down all 686 steps of its baroque staircase, pausing along the way to take in the views. Once in town, we browsed shops for cork products and handmade crafts before heading back to the ship.
Porto: Bridges, Sardines and Riverside Nights
We docked back in Porto right alongside a lively riverside boardwalk, full of restaurants and street performers, with the bridge across the Douro lit up at night. After dinner onboard, Matthew and I went out to enjoy the local scene, watching young families and couples out enjoying the warm summer air.
Our Porto on Foot Viking tour that next day took us past Porto Cathedral and into the São Bento train station to see its blue-and-white tiled murals depicting Portuguese history. Afterward, Matthew and I set off on our own, walking across the bridge and exploring Porto at our own pace.
We loved wandering past the restaurants, vendor stalls and shops lining the river and ducked into O Mundo Fantástico da Sardinha Portuguesa, “The Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine,” a whimsical shop devoted entirely to tinned sardines, complete with a daily free tasting. Sardines are a genuine point of national pride in Portugal, and this quirky little store made that obvious.
Meeting New Friends
If you’ve never taken a river cruise, here’s something worth knowing: it’s remarkably easy to meet people. That’s especially true on Viking’s Douro ships, thanks to their smaller size. Dining aboard the Gyda is communal, with four- or eight-top tables.
At our first dinner onboard, Karen, who we had met on our Lisbon city hike, invited Matthew and me to join them at their table. There, we met two other couples, and from there our fun cruise group came together: John and Mary, Karen and Kent, Eva and Gary, and Matthew and me.
There were eight of us in all, ranging in age from Matthew at 28 to John at 80. John, in fact, turned 80 during the cruise, and we celebrated with him right there at the table, candles and all.
We came from different generations and different parts of the country, but every night we ended up back together, talking over the day’s excursions and comparing notes on what to order. Matthew, decades younger than the rest of the group, never seemed to notice the age gap, and neither did anyone else.
A Front-Row Seat to Portuguese Culture
One thing I appreciated most about this cruise was how much time we spent experiencing Portuguese culture, not just Portuguese scenery. Each night, Chef Mata created a three-course Portuguese menu, introducing one of his favorite dishes and explaining what it was and why he’d chosen it, alongside familiar classics, so there was always something for everyone at the table.
On shore, every excursion came with a local Portuguese guide, and we ended up talking with people at the wineries, bakeries and shops we visited along the way, not just being led past them. Between the guides, the winemakers, and the bakers demonstrating their craft, I felt a growing connection to Portugal and its people over those 10 days, rather than just seeing the country from a bus window.
Onboard, it was the same story. Portuguese guides were ready to answer questions about the food, the river, or wherever we were headed next.
Captain Alves and Executive Chef Mata
The Viking crew was a big part of our river cruise experience. Several people stood out to me: Captain Alves and Executive Chef Mata, both Portuguese natives who’ve spent their careers on this river.
Captain Alves started out as a waiter on Douro riverboats decades ago and worked his way up to the wheelhouse, a story he told us during a Q&A session there. He was closely involved in designing the Viking Gyda, from her shallow draft built to clear the river’s locks to her wastewater treatment and zero-emissions exhaust system. That evening, he asked our onboard pianist to play “My Way,” and he sang for the room.
Executive Chef Mata is the reason none of us left the ship hungry. Instead of a standard cruise-ship menu, he cooked real Portuguese food all week: bacalhau, hearty soups, and Matthew’s new favorite, picanha, a Brazilian cut of beef so popular in Portugal it’s practically a national dish, tender enough to cut with a fork. One afternoon, he gave a cooking demonstration on how to make the ever-popular Portuguese custard tart, pastéis de nata.
Program Director Stein, a 14-year Viking veteran from Norway, ran the week with warmth and humor, whether briefing us before a shore excursion or hosting an evening onboard. He also brought in local entertainment that added another layer to the trip.
The night we visited Salamanca, a group of flamenco dancers came aboard for a fiery, foot-stomping performance. Another night, a young musical group from a local Portuguese university, an all-male group called a “tuna,” came aboard to share their fun, high-energy songs, jokes and stories.
At our final cocktail reception, Captain Alves, Stein and Chef Mata made their way around the room to personally toast each guest.
As one fellow passenger put it to me while we waited for our flights home in Porto: the Douro is one of the few rivers where ships sail only during daylight, so you never miss the scenery — and paired with a chef who cooked his heart out for us every night, it made for an unforgettable 10 days.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Travel Creates Memories
As we headed home from Portugal, Matthew and I both agreed that the trip had been a huge success. Travel creates a particular kind of memory built from new places, new experiences and the people we love most, all folded into a handful of days.
I know life moves on. My son is building his own busy life and may someday have a family of his own. I know that trips like this one may not come as easily again. But this time together on the Douro, the two of us discovering Portugal side by side, sharing meals and adventures, is something I’ll always be glad we made time for.
If You Go
The Viking Portugal’s River of Gold itinerary sails round-trip from Porto aboard the Viking Gyda, with an optional two-night pre-cruise stay in Lisbon.
The 10-day trip includes stops in Lisbon, Porto, Régua, Pinhão and Barca d’Alva, plus excursions into Salamanca, Spain, and Lamego. One included excursion is offered in each port, with optional add-ons available for booking.
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