Douro Acima -Transport Tourism and Catering Ltd.

Pilar Morais

3 months ago

It’s nice to be on the water but in all honesty it’s not worth the Mo st and the staff are truly awful. They clearly all hate their job and spur the experience from the get go. If you really want to do the boat tour try any other operator than this one. The jam pack the boat so if you want a good view arrive early and line up right away. Something they don’t tell you. Also the audio was a complete waste of time. We couldn’t hear a thing not that it said much at all

Ilya Katz

3 months ago

This trip was recommended by a tour guide from about tour. This boat trip was a disappointment. A bunch of people were packed onto a boat like sardines (Portuguese do love sardines) so it did not feel leisurely at all since everyone was sitting on a boat like it was a classroom. Prerecorded message was turned to talk about the bridges that the boat passed by - it was very basic. The views from the boat are nice but you can get those for free in other places

MEIR Y

a month ago

One star is much more than enough. The vouyage on the rivee is in the same path like all the other operators. But although many of the travrlres are foreign tourists - NO one word of explanation is in English (or any other language except Portugueese). Sure enough, they could not care less. You must have seen the other opinions here. So did they. And if they are all united about the quality the operators should have noted and tried to improve. Well, they did not. גשו למפעיל אחר, כי כאן אין תיאור והסבר באנגלית במהלך השייט. יש בפורטוגזית בלבד... כאילו אין תיירים על הסיפון. לכן, הצביעו ברגליים.

Richard West

a month ago

We took the one day Douro tour in the unfashionable direction which we thoroughly recommend. We met our guide at Sao Bento station in Porto from where we took the train to Regua along with at least two other boat loads of tourists. The toilets on the train are pretty basic but the facilities at the station and on board are excellent. The train journey was an event in itself, after leaving Porto the line follows the Douro for a mile or so before heading North through several towns and villages and varied countryside, crossing the River Tamega and rejoining the Douro at Pala. The rest of the journey is quite magical, following the river at a varying level and giving a quite different view of the Douro, it's valley and sites than that to be enjoyed from the boat. Having disembarked we followed our guide for the short walk to the Quay, boarded a rather beautiful, traditional looking, wooden boat and were invited to take our seats at a table in the saloon. Once boarding was complete and heads had been counted it didn't take long to get under way. Our only mistake was not to have left time for breakfast or to have packed sandwiches so we were more than peckish but it didn't take long for snacks to be placed before us, followed by a glass of Port, a bottle of wine and a sumptuous meal. The foredeck was lined with built in benches and had more than enough chairs for everyone. We spent the whole trip moving in and out depending on our mood, how much Sun we felt we could take and the timing of the various courses of food, wine and Port wine that were delivered to our table. The food was excellent traditional fayre and more than plentiful. The staff were pleasent, efficient and spoke good English. After the included food, wine, water and coffee had all been consumed we were able to buy more at the bar. Although we had been the first boat to leave the Quay, a larger, more modern, metal boat quickly overtook us in a cloud of diesel fumes. The interesting thing is that, although the other boat was a little faster and much noisier, we caught it up as it waited for each lock. It was as if our captain knew the times of the locks and the other thought they would open just for him. Of all the boats we passed on our way down stream, none was as pretty as ours and we felt quite proud to be in the only traditional boat, built by a local firm as the brass plate above the door proudly stated. We thoroughly recommend Douro Acima. Although we don't have experience of other operators, we very much enjoyed our trip and have heard horror stories of blaring music and poor service from friends. We also recommend taking the train above a bus and travelling up by train and down by boat. It was lovely to disembark into the hustle and bustle of the old town in Porto and go for a wander before selecting a restaurant for dinner rather than boarding a train. I can't understand the poor rating that Douro Acima has received here. Most reviews seem to have been left in English by locals. A more suspicious person might conclude that many of them are friends of other tour operators. Enjoy Porto, we did.

Krisztina

a month ago

Very bad organisation....not enough seats, too many people on a small boat, you can’t hear the guide’s voice. Definitely not recommend...