AmaWaterways on the Douro

[Worksheet]

We will do the Madrid to Lisbon trip with AMAWaterways later in the year and would appreciate any insights or suggestions. Initially, does anyone know how the river portion of the trip flows? In particular, 1) is there day sailing, night sailing, or a combination of both? 2) are there days during the sailing portion when passengers debark the ship for excursions at one port and join the ship farther on at another port?

[Gourmet Gal]

There is no night sailing on the Douro.  You’ll see why.  It is very narrow and curvy.  Not sure about Ama but most of the ports require bus travel and at least once will meet up with the ship further up or down stream.

[beanpittsburgh]

Gourmet Gal is correct.  We did this trip in 2017 with Viking.  The locks on the Douro are only available during the day so ships travel then.  The ports on the Douro other than Porto are small and really don't have much of anything to do.  Viking bussed us everywhere and returned us to the ship.  I think there was one day where the ship travelled to meet us after visiting a Port House.  I remember taking a picture of our ship travelling up the Douro from high on the hill overlooking the river while drinking our glass of Port.