When David bought our tickets to Regua, the girl asked in good English if we were Seniors and gave us cheaper tickets when we showed our passports – only 4.2 euros each for a fast train. We loaded our cases into a taxi before showing the written destination. The cab driver pointed across the road, so we gave him 40c to unload them.
We arrived at lunchtime, well before anyone else on the same walking trip. The place was buzzing because a half marathon was being held on the next day. The hotel Regua Douro is 4 star and very comfortable. Again we eat here every night, but the service is excellent, wine of reasonable quality is included and food varies from OK to good. Views from our room and the dining room are lovely.
Each day, a coach is used to drop us at a starting point and the 20 walkers split into hard and easy groups. There are 2 guides, 7 Canadians, 11 Brits and us. Our first day of walking took us above the Douro and ended at a village called Godim.
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Looking down to Regua
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The hard option which we took on days 1 and 2 was quite hard, 13 km on day 1, including 435m up and 615m down. Roads in and out of villages are particularly steep; trails are generally easier to deal with, not as hard underfoot.
The second day was spent around Tarouca Valley, some distance from Regua. The countryside was prettier, the walking harder and longer – 17km, 400 up and 790m down.
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We started high on a ridge...
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| Descended to a bridge for morning tea... |
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Which straddled a pretty gully.
We walked through some lovely flowers to a now deserted village, except for a green lizard about 28cm long.
 
Our walk down a steep gorge took us past a levada, an irrigation system mostly seen on Madeira.
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