Travel advice for my Mum!

Post your experiences of travel, especially for the Douro region. Make recommendations for places to stay and visit or ask advice from those that have already been there.
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benread
Niepoort 1977
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Travel advice for my Mum!

Post by benread »

My 70 (ish!) year old Mother and her friend plan a trip to Porto in May. Does anyone have any hotel and/or attraction and/or experience suggestions that may appeal to two culture seeking ladies of a certain age. Their budget will be at the lower end of the scale. Whilst they are not seeking luxury, the basic civilities are required I suspect!

Thank you.


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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
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Re: Travel advice for my Mum!

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Are your mother and her friend port drinkers? Or even drinkers of any kind?

If not, we might be scraping the depths of our knowledge to come up with a suggestion.

However, I do have one thought - have they already booked? If not, perhaps it's worth them considering a river cruise. I did one with Elizabeth back in the mid-90s and it was a nice mix of port, sights, monasteries, fortified towns, museums and fabulous scenery. I think we did the 4 (or 5?) day cruise and stayed on the boat for the whole of that time. 1st day in Oporto, 2 days cruising up past the Valeira dam, then 2 days coming back downriver and then another night in Oporto. It was a pretty good introduction to the wider aspects of what the Douro has to offer compared to what I tend to focus on these days.
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Re: Travel advice for my Mum!

Post by DRT »

Contrary to your description of what is required I just had a look at prices for the Intercontinental Hotel, which is 5* and quite new, and rooms can be had for as little as £119 per night. If they are sharing that is very good value given the quality of the hotel and its location. It is near the top of the lift that takes you down to the Porto end of the Dom Luiz bridge and is in a large square filled with restaurants.

There is a nice hotel down on the front roughly opposite the Sandeman lodge but I forget its name.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
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Glenn E.
Graham’s 1977
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Re: Travel advice for my Mum!

Post by Glenn E. »

DRT wrote:There is a nice hotel down on the front roughly opposite the Sandeman lodge but I forget its name.
Do you mean the Pestana Porto?
Glenn Elliott
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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Re: Travel advice for my Mum!

Post by DRT »

Glenn E. wrote:
DRT wrote:There is a nice hotel down on the front roughly opposite the Sandeman lodge but I forget its name.
Do you mean the Pestana Porto?
Yes :D
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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