Tage & Alentejo Wine Route, Selfdrive – 10 days

Travel Itinerary Idea

Enjoy the freedom of this self-drive tour, as you explore at your own pace, Tage and Alentejo Valley,  some of the greatest wine regions of Portugal. The places visited throughout the journey are rich from very well preserved historical and natural heritage.

Because wine is a often related to “Good Living”, we have selected boutique and charismatic accommodation offering a close connection with the wine experience and being unique from their cachet, service or originality.

Suggested duration: 10 days

Theme: Food & wine

Difficulty : For all public

Visited countries: Portugal

Your tailor-made trip

Travelers reviews : 9,5/10

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Day 1 : Lisbon International Airport

As you arrive to the airport, you collect your rental car and drive north for about an hour. Your arrive to your hotel, in a beautiful and peaceful haven.  You will enjoy this modern and rustic luxury home away from home with its delightful spa, ideal to relax from your flight.

 

Night at Areais do Seixo Boutique Hotel, Suite with fire place and jacuzzi

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Day 2 : Lisbon - Aldeia Galega da Merceana

Today you visit the Quinta de Chocapalha, a wine estate in the Tage region. Your guide will take you through the vineyard, the cellar and cooperage. You will of course enjoy a beautiful wine tasting served with local cheese and cured meat.

The visit will conclude with lunch accompanied by the vineyard’s owner and includes wine from the property.

*The tour will last for 3 to 4h.

There are various points of interest worth considering in the surroundings. Only 20 km East from the wine estate are Rio Maior salt marshes, still active and dating back from prehistorical era. Here the water extracted is seven times saltier than the ocean. You can find out more about the extraction, evaporation, drying and distribution of this ‘white gold’.

You then drive to the small town of Santarém before to head back to your hotel in Lisbon.

 

Night at Areais do Seixo Boutique Hotel, Suite with fire place and jacuzzi

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Day 3 : Lisbon - Mafra

This morning you drive about 30km north of Lisbon between ocean and land to Bucelas, a very popular wine region, renown for its white wines. Here you explore a small family vineyard run by a french winemaker with several home wine tasting. This place practices the biodynamic cultivation, avoiding chemicals.

*Duration is about 1h30. 

You will also get a chance to see Mafra and its palace and monastery; the largest from the entire Iberian Peninsula. A few kilometres away is the fishing port of Ericeira, with its charismatic white and blue houses and its hot spot for surf enthusiasts.

 

Night at Areais do Seixo Boutique Hotel, Suite with fire place and jacuzzi

 

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Day 4 : Lisbon - Aldeia Galega da Merceana

Today you drive back to the Aldeia Galega da Merceana Region for a guided visit of the Casa Santos Lima wine estate, a 19th century, 400-hectare’s vineyard in the Tage valley. You will get a wine tasting with 3 wines from the region as you learn about the wine-making process. You will also explore the vineyard from the back of your buggy and enjoy the beautiful hilly landscape as you check out the different types of vines.

After your delicious tour, it is time to discover the surprising village of Óbidos. A simple stroll through the typical streets of the city is enough to immerse yourself in its centuries of history. Given as a dowry to Queen Isabel in 1282, the town, surrounded by a crenelated wall, is a perfect example of the fortresses of yesteryear. It is entered through a medieval gate decorated with beautiful azulejos dating from the 18th century and opening onto a maze of winding cobbled streets and whitewashed houses. Take the time to walk through the streets of this real open-air museum.

And why not unwind and relax with a massage combining Japanese and Indian influences at the spa of the hotel?

 

Night at Areais do Seixo Boutique Hotel, Suite with fire place and jacuzzi

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Day 5 : Alentejo - Vila Viçosa

After enjoying the Tage Valley, now is the time to explore the beautiful Alentejo Region. You start with Vila Viçosa, famous for its marble quarries and the gorgeous Dukes of Bragança Palace. You also visit the medieval towns Estremoz and Elvas with its military fortifications and acqueducs, listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

In Arraiolos, a typical small Alentejo village, you will find Monte de Ravasqueira, a 3,000-hectare property dedicated to the wine and olive production. In Adega, you will find pure-bred Lusitanian horses with its last century team of horses.

A guided walk through the vineyard will conclude with 5 different wine tasting.

*Duration of the guided tour is about 2h 

 

Night at the Pousada Convento Arraiolos, a former convent in the heart of the Alentejo valley, Superior Room,  includes dinner at the gastronomic restaurant La Pousada.

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Day 6 : Evora

A half day guided tour will take you to visit Evora. Classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, Évora is an attractive city with a rich and long history. Its centre, surrounded by medieval remparts, looks like a medina with its small winding streets or colourful terraces and patios. From Praça do Giraldo, a walking tour taking you back in time for up to 2,000 years will take you to the  São Francisco Church, which began the Manueline period and is famous for its Chapel of the Bones, the Roman-Gothic cathedral, the Roman Temple of Diana , the Velha University (Exterior) founded in the 16th century.

*Entrance fees included: Church São Francisco, Chapel of the Bones and University of Évora.

You continue with a guided tour of the Quinta Vineyard from Dona Dorinda, known for its biologic wines, including wine tasting served with local cheese.

*Duration of the visit is about 1h

 

Night at the Pousada Convento Arraiolos, a former convent in the heart of the Alentejo valley, Superior Room,  includes dinner at the gastronomic restaurant La Pousada.

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Day 7 : Monsaraz

As you further your exploration of Alentejo Region, time to go to Monsaraz, a very charismatic village, located on top of the hill. You can stop on the way to Sao Pedro de Corval for ceramic and pottery art work. Monsaraz citadel has been used for centuries to keep an eye on Portugal’s enemy (Spain) at the time. Its winding streets, medieval houses painted with blue-tinted whitewash are part of its unique charm along with Santa Maria de Lagoa church and its famous murals from the 14th century displaying 14 saints.

The region is also known for its Megalithic monuments and you can make a final stop at Outeiro, the white village, and capture its huge menhir.

Back on the wine route from Alentejo, you stop at the Herdade do Esporão vineyard. With rich and diverse soils, and perfect climate conditions, this 691-hectare’s land cultivating wine and olives is proud of its biological approach.

The tour will take you in the cellar as you learn about their wine-making process followed by a ‘blind’ wine tasting for a fun and sensorial experience.

*Duration of the tour is about 2h but you may ask to extend the visit to the olive production part.

 

Night in a local quinta (winery) in Monsaraz region.

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Day 8 : Palmela - Lisbon

As you start the drive back to Lisbon, you go through Arrabida Nature Park with a scenic coastal drive along pine forests and turquoise water. You make a stop at Palmela and its windmills with a fantastic view of your surroundings. You continue to Setúbal, the third largest fishing harbor in the country.

You drive through Azeitão, famous region for its cheese and Muscat wine, up to the Cap Espichel and its atmosphere of the end of the world, reaching the most southerly point of the European continent. You shall be impressed by its dramatic scenery with high cliffs, the lighthouse, baroque church and its main square surrounded by typical small houses with arcades, that used to host the pilgrims from Santiago de Compostela.

As you explore the region, you will stop at one of the oldest caves now converted into a museum, Jose Maria da Fonseca wine house museum. Built in 1834 in Azeitão, this is the largest producer of Muscat from Sébutal Valley, since seven generations. Explore over 200 years of history as you visit this wine house – museum and learn about the wine-aging process from Periquita wine, followed by 3 wine tastings.

As you drive back to Lisbon you can drop your rental vehicle in the city centre.

 

Night at Portugal Boutique Hotel, centrally located in Martim Moniz Square and home to a small cellar with a great selection of Portuguese wines.

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Day 9 : Lisbon

Today is dedicated to the discovery of the city of Lisbon. On your guided tour, you will walk though the streets of the different districts is the better way to feel the city of the seven hills. From the Baixa district with its amazing squares and palaces to the oldest district of Alfama, enjoy sightseeing all the best spots from this great city.

In Alfama, you will go on a Porto tasting at Taylor’s house, founded in 1692. You will try 3 different premium Porto wines (dry white, young red and old). The tasting will be served with a traditional portuguese nata cake.

At night, the Bairro Alto wake up with all of its restaurants and bars. Lisbon is a living city which will surprise you with its beauty, culture and contrasts.

 

Night at Portugal Boutique Hotel.

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Day 10 : Time Out Market - Lisbon International Airport

According to your flight schedule, we recommend you to check out the Time Out Market, also known as Mercado da Ribeira.

Lisbon’s Mercado da Ribeira has been a landmark since the 1890s when the market’s doors first opened in Cais do Sodré, but it was never as trendy as it has become today. It is now home to the Time Out Market, a food court run by its namesake, Time Out Lisbon Magazine. It reopened its doors in 2014 and beside its impressive food stalls with fruits, vegetables, meat and fish they also have a dining area with large wooden tables in great atmosphere. Some of the greatest chefs from Lisbon meet here to share about theirs countries finest delicacies.

Private transfer from your hotel to Lisbon International Airport, according to your flight schedule.

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