optional excursions for Viking Douro cruise

From what I gather, there probably aren't many opportunties for optional excursions except for in Lisbon and Porto on the Viking Douro river cruise.

Can anyone let me know what optionals are available for this cruise? And what you recommend or thought was worthwhile (or on the flip side, what was NOT).

I do not need info on the post cruise extensions, as we have visited both Santiago de Compestela and Madrid, Toledo on previous trips.

As far as the tile museum optional in Lisbon, is it worth the price that Viking charges, or better to visit this on our own, one of the precruise days we are in Lisbon. I had read a review that time was spent creating your own tile - but did that cut into time touring the actual convent/museum? How much time was the tile making portion?

Thank you.

From what I gather, there probably aren't many opportunties for optional excursions except for in Lisbon and Porto on the Viking Douro river cruise.

 

Can anyone let me know what optionals are available for this cruise? And what you recommend or thought was worthwhile (or on the flip side, what was NOT).

 

I do not need info on the post cruise extensions, as we have visited both Santiago de Compestela and Madrid, Toledo on previous trips.

 

As far as the tile museum optional in Lisbon, is it worth the price that Viking charges, or better to visit this on our own, one of the precruise days we are in Lisbon. I had read a review that time was spent creating your own tile - but did that cut into time touring the actual convent/museum? How much time was the tile making portion?

 

Thank you.

Sorry, we did not sail with Viking, but most companies offer an optional tour from Lisbon to Sintra. We opted for this one and thought it was well worth it. The drive along the coastline was beautiful and the visit to the palace in Sintra was very interesting. So you might consider this one if it is offered.

Cole

We're on a June sailing aboard Hemming - we'll be in Lisbon for a few days prior to meeting the Viking folks. We have plans for food and wine tours along with exploring the different districts on our own. We'll be in Porto for some days post-cruise and will do the same sort of things there and then take the train back to Lisbon for more time and a day trip to Sinatra on our own. I'm not seeing too many optional excursions other than the Lisbon Tile Museum. One optional excursion that we were interested in was an afternoon visit to Guimarães. That excursion seems to have been offered in the past but isn't showing now. Hopefully it will be available during our cruise.

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We're on a June sailing aboard Hemming - we'll be in Lisbon for a few days prior to meeting the Viking folks. We have plans for food and wine tours along with exploring the different districts on our own. We'll be in Porto for some days post-cruise and will do the same sort of things there and then take the train back to Lisbon for more time and a day trip to Sinatra on our own. I'm not seeing too many optional excursions other than the Lisbon Tile Museum. One optional excursion that we were interested in was an afternoon visit to Guimarães. That excursion seems to have been offered in the past but isn't showing now. Hopefully it will be available during our cruise.

 

 

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thanks, we have been to Lisbon before, the day trip to Sintra is magical.....We have recently been to Guimaeres on a port stop in Porto while on an ocean cruise in the Canary Islands - we really enjoyed that visit...... If they do still offer that optional, I highly recommend going to Guimaeres.

The only optional for our trip in Nov is the Tile Museum. Viking did have another optional trip that was a bit cheaper (can't remember what it was) but it is now gone. If you log into your My Viking page, you can see each day's tours and the optionals.

We took this trip with Viking April 2016, water issues so we only got up to lock 4 and bussed most of the time. However, there is really no time to do any trips on your own as all sites outside of Porto are not along the river. The river towns are just small and not very historic. Viking takes you by bus to see all the sites and as I recall one was a 1 and a half hour journey to spend an hour at the Mateus Palace. We were pretty lucky all things considered as the tour director got us an over night in Salamacia Spain instead of a 3 hour bus too (which was pretty long) and back, and they supplied a nice dinner and Spanish show at the hotel which was in the town center and 5*.

The wineries are up stepped hills (which makes for the incredible views) and the bus drivers do an excellent job of navigating the winding roads, we were calling it the bus and wine tour as that is what most of the sites involve. Some wineries (all port wine) I just walked by myself in the gardens and skipped the tours (only so many I needed). Hope this helps

When we took this cruise with Viking 2 years ago the Tile Museum tour didn't run because there weren't enough signed up. We took a taxi to the museum on our own and enjoyed it and didn't feel we missed anything by not making a tile.

Also the Sintra tour didn't have enough signed up. I hadn't imagined that would be the case and stupidly didn't have a back-up plan. We were able to set something up with the concierge at the hotel at the last minute.

Again, the optional from Porto to Guimarães didn't have enough signed up to run.

So if you would really like to see the optional locations just be aware they may not run and have a plan B ready.

It was a wonderful cruise - I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

When we took this cruise with Viking 2 years ago the Tile Museum tour didn't run because there weren't enough signed up. We took a taxi to the museum on our own and enjoyed it and didn't feel we missed anything by not making a tile.

 

Also the Sintra tour didn't have enough signed up. I hadn't imagined that would be the case and stupidly didn't have a back-up plan. We were able to set something up with the concierge at the hotel at the last minute.

 

Again, the optional from Porto to Guimarães didn't have enough signed up to run.

 

So if you would really like to see the optional locations just be aware they may not run and have a plan B ready.

 

It was a wonderful cruise - I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Thanks - we have been to Sintra before, so no problem there. We have also been to Guimaeres as an excursion on Canary Island ocean cruise - so again, no problem

We will probably do what you did and go to the tile museum on our own, as we are not interested in making our own tiles.

Many thanks for your information, looks like I will not need to spend $$ on optional excursions!

This was just added as an optional for our trip in Nov. Cost is $99. Anyone been on this and is it worth the cost? Previous comments imply it gets cancelled quite a lot due to not enough people.

Visit the nation’s first capital, a city beloved to the Portuguese, to view its medieval quarter of palaces, monasteries and squares. Northeast of Porto in the Braga district lies Guimarães. Originally settled in the 9th century, the city is often referred to as the “birthplace of the Portuguese nation.” It was Portugal’s first capital in the 12th century and home to its first king, Afonso Henriques. Take a scenic drive here with your guide and enjoy a guided walk through the narrow streets of the city’s medieval Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the main square, you’ll see palaces and monasteries dating to the 10th century. You will see iconic landmarks such as Guimarães Castle, the Palace of the Dukes of Braganza and the charming houses in Santa Maria Street. Later, enjoy some free time exploring Praca Santiago (Santiago Square), with its arches and colonnaded buildings.

This was just added as an optional tour for $99 to our trip coming up in Nov. Anyone been on it and is it worth the price? It appears that it gets cancelled a lot due to not enough sign ups.

Visit the nation’s first capital, a city beloved to the Portuguese, to view its medieval quarter of palaces, monasteries and squares. Northeast of Porto in the Braga district lies Guimarães. Originally settled in the 9th century, the city is often referred to as the “birthplace of the Portuguese nation.” It was Portugal’s first capital in the 12th century and home to its first king, Afonso Henriques. Take a scenic drive here with your guide and enjoy a guided walk through the narrow streets of the city’s medieval Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the main square, you’ll see palaces and monasteries dating to the 10th century. You will see iconic landmarks such as Guimarães Castle, the Palace of the Dukes of Braganza and the charming houses in Santa Maria Street. Later, enjoy some free time exploring Praca Santiago (Santiago Square), with its arches and colonnaded buildings.

This was just added as an optional tour for $99 to our trip coming up in Nov. Anyone been on it and is it worth the price? It appears that it gets cancelled a lot due to not enough sign ups.

Visit the nation’s first capital, a city beloved to the Portuguese, to view its medieval quarter of palaces, monasteries and squares. Northeast of Porto in the Braga district lies Guimarães. Originally settled in the 9th century, the city is often referred to as the “birthplace of the Portuguese nation.” It was Portugal’s first capital in the 12th century and home to its first king, Afonso Henriques. Take a scenic drive here with your guide and enjoy a guided walk through the narrow streets of the city’s medieval Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the main square, you’ll see palaces and monasteries dating to the 10th century. You will see iconic landmarks such as Guimarães Castle, the Palace of the Dukes of Braganza and the charming houses in Santa Maria Street. Later, enjoy some free time exploring Praca Santiago (Santiago Square), with its arches and colonnaded buildings.

I can't speak to river cruise, but on our last ocean cruise we had a port stop for Porto. There was a full day tour to Guimaeres and Braga, which got cancelled, BUT the 1/2 day tour to Guimaeres by itself went (we were automatically rebooked for it)

We really enjoyed it..the old castle is very nice, but the Palace of the Dukes of Braganza was the highlight - the town itself is very nice and we had time to sit at a corner cafe and order espressos and pastry (and Poetuguese pastries are soooooo good).

I cannot recall the price we paid for the 1/2 day excursion. It is a shame that there is often not enough interest, because I thought it was worthwhile.

Thanks CJcruzer. We have decided to skip the Tile Museum and go for the Guimaeres tour. Hoping the tour goes; getting the minimum number is hard on these smaller boats.

I can't speak to river cruise, but on our last ocean cruise we had a port stop for Porto. There was a full day tour to Guimaeres and Braga, which got cancelled, BUT the 1/2 day tour to Guimaeres by itself went (we were automatically rebooked for it)

 

We really enjoyed it..the old castle is very nice, but the Palace of the Dukes of Braganza was the highlight - the town itself is very nice and we had time to sit at a corner cafe and order espressos and pastry (and Poetuguese pastries are soooooo good).

 

I cannot recall the price we paid for the 1/2 day excursion. It is a shame that there is often not enough interest, because I thought it was worthwhile.

Smokinmike: Would love to read about your cruise since we are on the same one in November. More optionals were added to our trip, however the only way I found out was to go back in to the myviking page. We signed up for all except the tile museum. Hope you had a wonderful time. Please pass along any tips that you discovered. Thanks!

We're on a June sailing aboard Hemming - we'll be in Lisbon for a few days prior to meeting the Viking folks. We have plans for food and wine tours along with exploring the different districts on our own. We'll be in Porto for some days post-cruise and will do the same sort of things there and then take the train back to Lisbon for more time and a day trip to Sinatra on our own. I'm not seeing too many optional excursions other than the Lisbon Tile Museum. One optional excursion that we were interested in was an afternoon visit to Guimarães. That excursion seems to have been offered in the past but isn't showing now. Hopefully it will be available during our cruise.

 

 

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One of the absolute best parts of the trip was the optional Taste of Lisbon excursion with great music (and some acting and dancing too).

We did the tile museum on our own. It took us about an hour.

The best walking tour was the one on the Lisbon preextension since it was all walking whereas the one on the regular tour was a nice bus tour that stopped for sights with a small walking tour at the end.

We took this trip last September and had a fantastic time.

You can see 200 or so of pictures of the trip, as well as five other Viking voyages on my pictorial website:

http://www.RhodesVacations.com

And you can read my review of the trip here:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=552010

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