Almond Blossom and the Gardens of the Douro Valley Tour

We were very unfortunate with the weather but the Tour Leader worked tirelessly to minimize the impact of this.

The tour manager sets the tone and Ellen made sure it was a cracking good tour. Weather and the rock fall were challenging, but work-arounds meant the 'travellers' weren't bothered by either. It was a really good group and all got on well.

it was very unfortunate that the weather was so awful (except the last day!), which meant that the almond blossom was a bit disappointing) but the holiday was very enjoyable anyway. An extra day in Porto would be good in future (a whole week's holiday?) in order to get more of a feel for the place, and perhaps the holiday should be called "Camellias of the Duoro" as they were much more in flower and looking good.

I was not very happy to be flying with Easyjet as they are not a company I admire or would choose to fly with. I did think twice about booking the tour because if this. The admin support was excellent, ie printing boarding passes, the itinerary, etc. I would have liked to have had more time in Porto, ie an additional day and the tour to have been 7 days. The rejigging of the itinerary due to the weather early on in the week was good, but we spent a lot of time driving around to try to see the almond blossom which to my mind was unnecessary. Maybe the tour shouldn't have included the words 'almond blossom'!! I enjoyed the tour and the varied things we saw and did. The itinerary needs a bit of tweaking, but I hope it continues.

There were aspects of the trip which were beyond the control of Travel Editions, such as the weather (wet) and a landslide (train from Porto to Pocinho), but there were other aspects which prevented me scoring you "excellent". The second and third hotels were marvels of restoration and were generally well run. However, the first, the Vila Gale in Porto was not. Enormous queues at reception made receptionists unavailable for booking taxis, etc.. All room keys needed reprogramming one evening, but guests were not stopped from going up to their rooms even though staff knew they wiuld have to come straight down again. Ellen was generally helpful as tour manager, but Anna was useless I'm afraid. She was a nice girl but her english is not good enough for a tour guide, her delivery was in a dull monotone. and she had a habit of walking 50 yards ahead of most of the group, describing sights well before the group could get there and then moving on straight away. The "whisper" communicators were rendered almost useless by this behaviour. Food was generally good, the visits to the camellia garden and Avaleda were highlights, and the walking tour of Porto was also pretty good

Overall very good. Your manager coped well with the train delay and ever present chance of rain so that we really didn’t miss anything. Of the garden visited, only the wine estate where we had a tasting was worth visiting. Excellent guide and interesting garden. Sadly both the Mateus garden and the one in Braga were ravaged by box blight and since both relied heavily on clipped box but the gardens had taken no effort to replant (with something else) they were a real disappointment. Hotel one was fine, a bit soulless but ok. Hotel three from the same chain had way more character but a pervading small of damp, at least on the second floor. Hotel two was very interesting. I felt like I should be one of the “beautiful people” to stay there. I imagine it would be glorious by April/may. Down side was that it was quite difficult terrain for us oldies with slippery cobbles on a slope. Our room also had a really treacherous step between bed area and bathroom to beware at night. Enjoyed it anyhow.

I enjoyed the trip and it was a super group. My only comment is that I thought the local guide could have been better prepared. Some of the walking city tours were too long. I would have liked to have taken advantage of the spa facilities available at the hotels. The hotel in Porto was a bit tired.

The weather during the first few days was rather unkind but some astute adjustments to the proposed itinerary in Porto enabled us to remain relatively dry for the most part! However, on the third day, the more than 2 hour delay to the train at Regua due to a rock fall on the line ahead had a much greater impact on that and the following day, especially at the Côa Museum where the planned guided tour with a local rock art expert was replaced by excerpts from the audio guide played through our “whisper” headsets; a poor substitute. The Quinta da Aveleda gardens and wine-tasting on the fifth day were most enjoyable but we spent so long there that the “ample time … allowed for a leisurely lunch” in Guimaraes was only 50 minutes, including pigeon swatting! Highlights for me; the final part of the railway journey from Regua to Pochino, the dinner at Casas do Coro, everything in Braga and the company of so many friendly fellow travellers.

I know this was an inaugural tour, so finding not everything can run smoothly and you have no control over the weather which was not friendly with the blossoming almond trees not at their best. Day's three schedule was thrown by a 2 hr delay caused by a landslide on the track, nobody's fault but we missed the afternoon's planned itinerary and the visit to the Museum was so rushed as to be completely ineffective, and we certainly didn't need the large mid afternoon meal when we had had a hotel breakfast and were having a superb dinner in the evening. One good meal a day after the breakfast is certainly enough. The tour of the Quinta da Aveleda was excellent, that of Casa de Mateus less so. The House of Casa Biscainhos in Braga with its enthusiastic guide was well worth the visit. I loved Oporto.