An Ultimate Day in Quinta da Pacheca!

Quinta da Pacheca

Are you planning a trip to visit Douro Valley? The Douro region is classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. If so, you want to check out Quinta da Pacheca also known as The Wine House Hotel, a wine estate that will take your breath away!  Quinta da Pacheca is among the Douro Valley River situated North of Portugal in the city of Lamego, Portugal.  Quinta da Pacheca is widely known for the quality of their Port wine which is one of the best in the world. It is also of the most visited estates in the Douro Valley Region and has been given the Best of Wine Tourism* award a consecutive amount of times. If you are ready to drink some wine, get a way of the busy city life, and be surrounded by beauty then you have to visit Quinta da Pacheca!

How to get there?

Quinta da Pacheca is about an hour and a half away from Porto. If you are coming from out of town or out of the country then Porto will be the best city to start your route.

• Train: 1 hr and 51 mins (Peso de Regua station) from Porto Sao Bento station in the city.
• Car: 1 hour and 19 min 
• Boat: it depends (we found a few boat tours that leave from Porto)
• Bus: 2 and a half hours

My husband and I took the train and loved it. It was such a scenic route where you got to see all of Douro Valley and the hills filled with vines. If you would like to stop in the small towns along the way then renting a car is probably your best option. That way you have the liberty to go wherever with no time restraints. We took the train from Porto to the Peso de Regua Station. From there, we ordered a taxi and it took us to Quinta da Pacheca. Although it was a short (7 minutes) and cheap ($12) ride, it tends to add up if you want to explore outside of Quinta da Pacheca. This is why renting a car might be a better option if you're going to explore other cities besides Lamego. For more information on ticket prices click here.

What to do in Quinta da Pacheca?

Taste high quality port wines!! On our first day, we decided to do a port wine tasting and let me tell you..... it was great! The tasting consisted of 5 port wines and if you're lucky they might give you an extra one lol. We enjoyed the wines so much that we decided to take a few bottles home after our tasting. They offer different type of tastings so let your tour guide know exactly what type of tasting you would like. The bottles range from $10 to $200 depending on the type of port and year of the bottle.

The next day we did a wine tour of the estate. The grounds are breathtaking! Everywhere you look you are mesmerized by the beauty of nature and how detail-oriented the estate is. You are living in a postcard is the best way to describe it. The tour consisted of showing us the grounds, their wine making process, and they took us to the wine cellars underground. I HIGHLY suggest taking this tour before your wine tasting.

They also have their own artist that makes paintings for the estate using WINE instead of paint. Yes, you heard that right, he uses wine instead of paint! I’ve never heard of such a thing but his masterpieces were truly one of a kind. We ended the tour with another tasting because why not? They gave us another 4 tastings. I also saw that they offer cooking classes for small fee and offer massages onsite as well. For more information on any of these tours click here.

Where to stay?

Quinta da Pacheca has 2 different compounds where you can stay. There are the Wine Barrel rooms where you can stay and The Wine House Hotel. There are only 10 wine barrel rooms and they get booked pretty fast so it is always good to book at least 3 months in advanced to assure availability. The wine barrel room is roughly around $250/night. You can stay in the Wine House hotel as well for about $150/ night with free parking. 

My husband and I stayed in both the wine barrel rooms and The Wine House Hotel to get the full experience. Let me tell you... both choices are great! If you want to save a little bit of money I would suggest staying at The Wine House Hotel because you can still walk the grounds of the wine barrel rooms and take pictures. If you want to really get the full experience of staying in the vineyard I would suggest you stay at least one night in the wine barrel rooms. I still dream about that beautiful experience it was truly unforgettable.

Best time to visit?

The best time to visit Quinta da Pacheca is in November! The weather is very pleasant reaching highs of 56F/ 13C during the day and 45F/ 7C at night. You can see the leaves dark brown, red, and orange which are breathtaking. The month of November is also not considered a high season so there is not a lot of people around. It's like you'll have the estate to yourself and who wouldn't want that! The staff at the hotel mentioned that the summers tend to be busier and usually tours and tastings are all booked. So you have to book months in advance!

What to eat?

What to eat? A daily breakfast buffet is served at the property for an additional charge. It is so worth it! It serves pastries, delis, eggs, mimosas, juices and coffee. There is also a restaurant in the estate which offers panoramic views of the surrounding landscape. The restaurant offers your typical Portugese food and the menu changes daily so you'll have something different every day. Who wouldn't want that right? You can try different food every day and you don't have to leave the estate to try good qualify food. You have everything at your fingertips!

Last minute thoughts...

If you are thinking of visiting Douro Valley then I would really suggest you guys visit Quinta da Pacheca! It is truly one of the best places I have ever visited.... it's heaven on earth. The people are beautiful, the culture is wonderful and the scenery is majestic. I would also recommend you guys rent a car because that way you are able to drive around the smaller cities comfortably instead of having to taxi which can be pricey. The best time to visit is in autumn and ladies please dress comfortably.

As always, wander + be happy! 🙂