The Portuguese Douro Valley with the motorhome

The Douro valley is a beautiful piece of Portugal full of port and wine houses, hiking trails and many beautiful villages such as Pinhão. You can also brave the surroundings of the Douro by bike. A camper trip that will surprise you with all the beauty and treats you will encounter along the way! In addition, a visit by camper van to the romantic city of Porto is worthwhile because of its Mediterranean atmosphere. Wine, sunshine and beautiful nature: the Douro Valley has all the ingredients for a great motorhome trip!

The Douro, which also means 'Golden River', flows from the region of Castille and León in Spain to Porto in Portugal. The river flows through the famous port and wine region. When travelling by camper you will come across many port and wine houses, which are also called Quinta's. Here you can often taste the most delicious port and wine, or you can take a bottle home with you! The Parque Natural do Douro Internacional is an elongated area along the border with Spain. The natural park lends itself especially well to nature lovers: there are several horse-riding, walking, cycling and cycling paths. The area is also perfect for swimming in the Douro or for a canoe trip, all with views on both sides of the valley. A perfect nature reserve for a camper trip with plenty of wine and nature!

You can spend the night in the national park at the Miranda do Douro camper van site or at the Espaço Multiusos camper van site. At both campervan stops you will be in the middle of the national park so you can easily get on the hiking trails and visit the many wineries.

The Parque Natural do Douro International may be the official national park, but more towards the west coast of the country you will find a lot more similar nature along the Douro. Pinhão is one of the more famous villages in the foothills of the Douro valley. Although this village is not part of the official national park, you will notice very clearly that you are in the vicinity of the national park! The Douro flows quietly along the village and when you look around you from your camper, you will be surrounded by the many vineyards.


In Pinhão you can of course enjoy the most delicious port at the many port houses during your camper trip through the Douro valley. In September the grapes are harvested here, so this period is extra fun to visit! Who knows, you might even be able to help out, a unique experience! There are plenty of port and wine houses in the Pinhão area. That is why it is advisable to plan a small camper route along the port and wineries you want to visit! Besides port and wine, Pinhão has even more to offer: you can take a nice boat trip on the river, where you will see the vineyards and houses passing by. Sometimes you can also make a boat trip where you stop at different port and wine houses to taste the wines with a nice bite to eat.

The station of Pinhão is also a special one: this is the architecture as you would expect it to be in Portugal with the many Portuguese tiles and mosaics. In the station you will see beautiful tiles depicting the Douro valley. Not only the residents and tourists have noticed that the station is beautiful, because it has won several awards for its appearance! Finally, Pinhão is also perfect for a delicious Portuguese meal: especially the fish is highly recommended! Perfect to end the day in Pinhão with before heading back to the camper village.

Near Pinhão you can spend the night at Camping Municipal de Villa Real.

Porto has been booming as a city trip lately, and with a motorhome site nearby, it's a perfect motorhome destination! Both in the town centre and along the Douro river there are beautiful, colourful houses that create a typical Mediterranean atmosphere. In the city you will find beautiful old buildings in the Ribeira, the old part of town. Here you will find a lot of architecture with the typical Portuguese blue-white tiles, also called azulejos. For port tastings, cross the special bridge Ponte Luis I, because there are plenty of port houses on this side of town! Here you will also see one of the most beautiful sunsets of your life when you sit down along the river, so it is always busy around this time of year! On both sides of the river you can also take a nice boat trip on the Douro where you will see Porto passing by.

In Vila Nova de Gaia, as the other side of the Ribeira is officially called, you can spend the night at camping Madalena.