Are you taking a trip to Porto but have limited hours in this amazing city?! Then you’re in the right place. We were just in your shoes, and we’re going to share a huge tip with you … Especially if you only have one day, you MUST take a river tour to maximize your experience!! The best Porto tours will not only bring you along the river, but they’ll also teach you Porto’s history and culture!
And if that boat tour were private and were to include yummy wine and snacks? We bet you’d enjoy that even more! We know we did!
This specific private boat tour was the best activity we did during our whole time in Portugal, and we can’t wait to share it with you!
This post will walk you through our favorite of all our Porto Tours in detail!!
Basics of this Porto Day Tour
This 2-hour private boat tour takes you under the famed 7 bridges of the Douro River, including the iconic one built by Gustave Eiffel (yes, like the Eiffel Tower!) You will have an English-speaking captain and first mate. The captain and his family are Porto locals who own this small business, and they are as knowledgeable as they are friendly!
What’s Included?
The tour includes unlimited local wines and snacks aboard the ship!! This is a great way to beat the heat of the city and still get a ton of history and views. As you pass under the 7 iconic bridges of the Douro River, the Captain and First Mate will give you history lessons about the bridges, the river, and the city from a local’s perspective!
Communication with Tour Guides
Our Captain was extremely communicative through the Get Your Guide platform! We received excellent directions to the yacht’s dock. I messaged him through the Get Your Guide app several times leading up to the trip, mostly with questions for the kids … what kind of food they had, whether they had children’s life jackets, etc.
We always received prompt and kind responses!
Booking this Porto Tour:
Booking this tour was simple through Get Your Guide. I downloaded the Get Your Guide App, so the tickets were in the palm of my hand. Especially when you’re abroad, you don’t want to be searching for tickets in your email or google drive … the app is so convenient!
Cost of this Tour:
This yacht accommodates 8 guests and costs $350 in high season, or $280 when we took it in shoulder season. We went as a group of 3 couples and 2 kids, and only spent $94 plus tip per couple for this top Porto experience. And as I mentioned earlier, there was plenty of wine and snacks for everyone aboard!
Final Thoughts on this Porto Day Tour:
Thanks to the amazing tour guide skills of our captain and first mate, and thanks to the comfort of the yacht with the unlimited wine and snacks, I can confidently say that this was one of the best private tours we’ve ever had ANYWHERE! Our whole group enjoyed it, and we would absolutely book it again.
The views of Porto from the boat are incredible. You get a real sense of the scope of the city, get to see multiple neighborhoods and monuments in a short period of time, and learn about their history.
Particularly if you only have 1 or 2 days in Porto, this is a wonderful way to cover a lot of ground! Not to mention, Porto is an extremely hilly city, and your feet can get exhausted quickly. So this boat tour could be a welcome luxury and change of pace!
But by far, the best part of the whole tour was the crew. They spoke with us for hours about what it’s like to actually live in Porto. They spoke with us in detail about the changes they’ve seen in their city, what their lives are currently like as young people in Porto, and even their plans for the future.
That personal touch was really what made this tour the best excursion our group did during our entire Portugal trip! Plus, we had two small children with our group, and they were EXCELLENT with the kids.
One very important note: Thought they did have children’s life vests, they weren’t quite small enough to fit our toddlers. Please keep this in mind if you’re traveling with kids under 3 years old!
Overall, this is the best way to see the most of Porto possible, in total comfort! If you’ll be in Porto, please do yourself a favor and book this yacht and crew for your trip to Portugal.
