Pierre Francois goes on a trip of a lifetime, exploring the Douro Valley in the most elegant way possible, driving in a vintage car. Here’s how you can do it.
In the early days of May, I’m joining the team of Vintage Tours, a German company that offers tours in Portugal and Spain on board classic cars, for a few days of exploration of a renowned vinhateiro (‘vine land’) in the North-East of Portugal.
What gave birth to the venture, is the desire of co-founders Valeska and Matthias Haux to share their love and fascination for these regions through a stimulating cocktail of the unique experience of driving a classic car, the pleasure of bathing in the local culture and traditions, and the baroque comfort of staying at exceptional hotels.
The first leg of the tour – The Palácio do Freixo
The starting and ending point of Vintage Tours’ exploration of the Alto Douro is a sophisticated baroque palace designed by Italian architect Nicolau Nasoni in the middle of the 18th century. Classified as a national monument in 1910, the Palácio do Freixo is now a five-star hotel.
However, It is the beauty of the cars that first strikes me when I arrive at the Palácio do Freixo in Porto, in the North of Portugal. Their elegance is simply undeniable.
Dressed in charming colours — the blue my personal favourite —, their graceful lines immediately please the eye, confirmed over the course of these few days by the many passers-by who wave cheerfully while they watch us drive by on the roads of the Douro valley.
More than once, we pass cyclists in the middle of a steep slope who beam with joy at the sight of our vehicles as they keep at their arduous pedalling.
Later on, when I sit at the steering wheel, I’ll discover the intensity of the sensations that come from driving a classic machine, even though the car itself seems almost rudimentary by comparison with the modern ones: there is indeed no smart screen on the dashboard that numbs down your direct relationship with the powerful mechanical beast.
2026-05 Vintage Tour’s classic cars tour in Alto Douro | Porto Antigo: the blue MGA
Driving through Douro Valley and tasting Wine Country
Once our small party is assembled, and after an introduction to our sporty vehicles, we depart on the first leg of the journey in the direction of Porto Antigo, a small town situated at the confluence of the river Douro and its tributary the Bestança, which together create a wide water space that resembles a peaceful lake.
The valley of Alto Douro is a realm of schist, olive trees and vines. A breathtaking sight from a viewpoint on top of a hill, the vineyards may at times evoke the terraced plantations of Asia.
The landscape unwinds lines of vines interspersed with olive trees (we’ll taste a truly fine olive oil at the opening of a remarkable dinner in Pinhão). The walls of schist that structure the vineyards are one of the distinctive features that led to the inclusion of the region into UNESCO’s World Heritage — and then, there are the wines themselves, of course.
The vinho do Porto (Port wine) is a fortified wine typically known for its rich flavour, its sweetness and a relatively high alcohol content (between 19% and 22 %).
Depending on a variety of wine-making techniques, Port wines may either come in rich ruby reds, as well as amber tawnies that range from golden to light gold, or in white, which can work quite well in a Port tonic at the time of the aperitivo.
2026-05 Vintage Tour’s classic cars tour in Alto Douro | the Douro looking like a lake on the morning, in Porto Antigo
Overnight Stay in Porto Antigo overlooking the Douro
We spent our first night at the beautiful Porto Antigo, a hotel with one of the most spectacular views of the Douro river.
Set in a restored manor house from the 19th century, this four-star hotel is oriented towards a stunning panoramic view over the Douro. Its location is exceptional thanks to the confluence of the Bestança and the Douro which gives this wide segment of the river the appearance of an enchanting lake.
The hotel offers 23 comfortable rooms with a view on the water, a restaurant, bar, terrace, conference rooms, a gymnasium and a massage room. It has a riverside swimming pool and a private marina.
It makes an ideal base to enjoy a range of nautical sports or explore the area — and an excellent break on a road trip across the region.
Driving along the famous N222 road through the Douro Valley
The trip follows sections of the national road Estrada Nacional 222 which car rental company Avis declared in 2015 ‘the best road in the world to drive on’.
Starting at the level of the sea in Porto, the itinerary climbs up to altitudes of close to 1000 metres as we drive on a never-ending succession of curves through forests and on hillsides.
The iconic sound of the engine does not prevent conversation.
Portugal is easily associated with the idea of a blue sky but its climate is under the influence of the Atlantic Ocean and the weather changes swiftly.
While the most iconic experience of the MGA is no doubt an open-top ride, the roof provides an effective and welcome protection in the moments of precipitation.
2026-05 Vintage Tour’s classic cars tour in Alto Douro | the garden with a view on the swimming pool at the VHH Pinhão
Pinhao and Vintage House Hotel
An appealing riverside town, Pinhão is where we end the second day of driving the fantastic MGA roadsters. We’re staying at the Vintage House Hotel, a sumptuous residence set in a restored 19th century winery.
It offers distinguished accommodation with charming views over the river Douro and constitutes a royal base to explore the local wines and cuisine — dinner in its restaurant is a night you will not forget.
At walking distance from the Vintage House Hotel, the train station of Pinhão has walls decorated with beautiful azulejos (ceramic tiles) that document the landscape of the Douro and the tradition of vinification. Finding another excellent motive to stretch our legs, we stroll towards the neighbouring Quinta da Roêda for a guided tour of the vineyards and the craft of
winemaking.
Experience Wine-making first-hand
As we approach the visitors’ centre, we notice a man working with a horse to plough the soil in the old lines of vines that remain too narrow to allow the passage of modern machinery.
Wine-making has not remained captive of the days of old: the wine cellars of Manor House, which we visit the next day, incarnate an encounter of the wine-making tradition with present-day architecture.
The building adopted straight modernist lines and surfaces but its walls are built with schist and cork in order to create ideal
conditions for a natural maturation of wines in accordance with the strict rules of the tradition-preserving society of Instituto do Vinho do Porto.
2026-05 Vintage Tour’s classic cars tour in Alto Douro | Fundação da Casa de Mateus, in Vila Real: 3 MGAs in front of the palace
Visiting the Palace of the Casa de Mateus
To reach the Casa de Mateus in Vila Real, we take a scenic road that snakes through magnificent landscapes of huge boulders. This is truly a scenery for folk tales and legendary quests.
Discovering this slightly surreal landscape from a vehicle that is slightly out of our times, only deepens the feeling of stepping out of the ordinary world and into another time, another world even.
Another baroque achievement by architect Nicolau Nasoni, who designed the Palácio do Freixo in Porto, the Casa de Mateus is a large estate that includes a monumental palace and beautiful gardens in which you can wander under an impressive cedar tunnel.
The tours offered by Vintage Tours include a fine dinner in the spectacular old kitchen.
The highlight of the visit to the palace of the Casa de Mateus is no doubt the library, where you get to admire rare editions and pieces of historical significance for the country, such as a monumental edition of Os Lusiadas by Luís de Camões, an epic poem that is foundational of Portuguese identity.
2026-05 Vintage Tour’s classic cars tour in Alto Douro | Fundação da Casa de Mateus, in Vila Real: 2 MGAs in front of the palace
The MGA Roadsters – Classic cars from 1955-1962
The stars of the show in this trip infused with British culture, the cars are MGA roadsters built in the United Kingdom between 1955 and 1962. Some are equipped with a modern 5-gear gearbox, others a 4-gear system where the first gear is not synchronised (meaning that you can only engage it when the car is stationary).
The vast majority of MGAs were manufactured for exportation, notably to the USA: the steering wheel set on the left side makes them appropriate for driving in European countries.
They were designed as sports car, a vehicle resolutely dedicated to fun.
During the trip, I observe that, when the winding roads allow for some acceleration, the cars behave perfectly at speeds up to 70 km/h — which happens to be the speed limit.
The average pace of our progression, however, is closer to 35 km/h, due to the tortuous nature of the scenic roads.
There is no power steering but the wooden wheel, a replacement to the larger original piece, does not demand too
much strength.
The sensations while driving are reinforced by the sitting position, closer to the road than you would be on a modern vehicle and with your legs on a horizontal plane with the pedals.
2026-05 Vintage Tour’s classic cars tour in Alto Douro | blue MGA in front of Palácio do Freixo, in Porto
A company who values equality and the environment
The distinction of the cars and the hotels may well be rooted in another era, but Vintage Tours definitely brings a decidedly contemporary outlook.
Valeska is keen to offer tours for ladies only.
The idea arose from the observations that when a couple joins a tour, the husband will often be doing most of the driving, and that the attitudes of women behind the wheel depart from that of the average male driver.
It also echoes the fact that, while gender parity has made some progress, the business and work spheres are often dominated by obsolete practices of inequality.
The trips for the ladies are curated slightly differently, with an additional touch of culture or some extra time enjoying the wellness infrastructure of the hotels, but in essence this proposal literally puts women in the driver’s seat, which still does not happen too frequently in modern societies.
Another sign of a company that is well aware of the challenges of our times, Vintage Tours has partnered with NGO myreforest (link:https://myreforest.org ) to ensure that the CO2 emissions of the cars during a tour are compensated by the planting of trees in old forests in Germany.
Final Reflections
It is on a sunny morning that we drive back to the Palácio do Freixo in Porto, where the tour began and where it now comes to an end.
As we travel on the other side of the Douro on this last part of the trip, the road offers a series of astounding views over the valley.
As I reflect on the experience, reminiscing about the beauty of the MGAs, the delight of the food and wines and the comfort of the accommodation, I observe that joy results from situations where simplicity, quality and elegance come together.
Plus, it was enormous fun.
This article was written by Pierre François Docquir.
His work can be found at https://www.
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