I visited the Douro valley on the 18th and 19th of oct.2024.
On the 18th I took the train from Porto-Campanha to Pinhao at 7:25, where I arrived a little late at around 10:00. At 10.30 I had a 2 hour trip with the rebelo boat of the magnifico douro company upriver to Tua and back to Pinhao. Nice,but nothing special. Afterwards I strolled across the Pinhao bridge and entered the Quinta das Carvalhas, where I took part in a wine tasting of white wines; not a single one of the white wines appealed to me.
I had been to Porto/Vila Nova de Gaia several times and had already taken part in 3 wine tastings at various Porto houses, so this time I preferred white wine. Disappointing! I had another Porto wine, but it didn't really convince me either. Afterwards I wandered around Pinhao for about an hour. At 4:40 p.m. I took the train to Pocinho, where I arrived around 5:30 p.m. The train route between Porto and Regua is quite boring, the one between Regua and Pinhao is much more interesting, but the one between Pinhao and Pocinho was certainly the highlight of my entire Douro valley visit.
I had planned to walk or hitchhike from Pocinho station to Vila Nova de Foz; there were no taxis at the train station.
However, I was lucky, after about 300 meters walking towards Vila Nova de Foz a taxi came towards me, so I stopped it and it took me to the youth hostel in Vila Nova de Foz for 8€ .The following day I was going to see the prehistoric rock art sites in the Côa valley.

On the 19th I took the train from Pocinho to Regua...this time I opened the window and stood looking at the spectacular landscape between Pocinho and Pinhao. Before that, however, I had seen the dam in Pocinho and the nearby closed and disused drawbridge with a lower level for cars and pedestrians , on which a Portuguese family with 2 children was running around despite the fenced off entrance.. I happily joined them when I found the hole in the fence :).

As for Regua......it isnt a pretty place....I wandered around the small city and had a porto wine in one of the wine bars there waiting for the next train to Porto.

All in all I can say that I enjoyed my visit to the Douro valley, but I missed a little the magical moments that the wine region-for example- in Wachau, Austria, gave me.