Linha do Douro Railway

For the price of a 50 minute river trip from Porto I spent almost eight hours on the quaint Douro Valley train from Porto to the end of the line in Pocinho high in the hills. The train was quiet and I had a great view switching sides at Ferradosa so I always felt close to the water.

The engineering work was impressive with several bridges and many tunnels, 23 I think. The train itself was like going back to the sixties, the extra, windows that pulled right down, curtains and a very traditional WC with a dark green bar of soap. Even with the all windows pulled right down it was incredibly hot, especially coming back and it was difficult to stay awake, which I did mostly, refraining from leaning dangerously far out of the window.