Set out on a full-day discovery of the scenic Douro Valley. Head to Amarante, an important pilgrimage town, where you'll visit the historic city centre, spotting houses overhanging the Tamega River. Visit the 16th-century Church of Sao Goncalo Monastery, its chapel home to the tomb of revered Dominican friar, Saint Goncalo. The Douro Wine Region Valley is the oldest demarcated wine region in the world. First, the river carved the deep valleys out of the land and then Man transformed the schist mountains into soil and walls and planted the vines, green in summer, flame-coloured in autumn. With knowledge handed down from generation to generation, he inclined the terraces to expose the vines to the rays of the sun which give the grapes the warmth that the wine craves. It was from the fruits of the land and Man’s labour that this unique wine and landscape were made. These wine estates are in the Peso da Régua and Pinhão area, two towns that are not far apart.