Pinhão
I’ve written about the Douro Valley in every season because every trip to the home village is a journey through the region. If I had to name a favourite season, it would be a toss-up between the scenery of early spring (blossoms) and early autumn (harvest time). I do love the lushness of spring in the Douro Valley, though, and the temperatures are pleasant by Easter. By the time we reach cherry harvest-time (late May to early June), the Valley can sometimes feel like a convection oven. Thankfully, this year it was milder than the norm and sunnier than the forecast.
In 2015, Avis calculated that the N222 from Peso da Régua to Pinhão is the best road in the world to drive according to their Avis Driving Ratio. It’s a road we know pretty well because it’s how we get to the home village of Penela da Beira, except we take the M504 exit before Rio Torta, which is at the 5:10 mark in this video (total running time 6:27) filmed near sunset.
If you’d rather have a birds-eye experience, here’s a 4-minute drone video over the N222 with full sun:
Now on to the photos from Sunday, on our way back home after a morning of picking cherries and lunch in Penedono:
A couple of shots from Peso da Régua on Saturday, where I was too busy managing Ice the Dog to document the boisterous, traditional wedding that was taking place nearby. Hopefully there will be another the next time we pass through. I don’t shoot weddings for work anymore, but they can be fun to watch!
And last but not least, some pictures from Sunday in Pinhão (the top photo is also part of this batch). We don’t usually stop in Pinhão because we turn off the N222 to climb up to Valença da Douro and travel on the south side of the Douro in the Viseu District, but we wanted to take my friend visiting from Canada for a look around.
Pinhão has one of the most decorated train stations of its size, with azulejos on both the interior and exterior, which I photographed completely in 2015.
While Paulo and Ice the Dog wandered around, my friend and I popped into The Vintage Hotel to check out the property and the prime views of the river. I have yet to take a boat this far upriver, but I have taken the train, which is another fantastic way to see the Douro Valley. Whichever way you travel through, the scenery is magnificent.
May 27-28, 2017
Album: Douro Valley + Penela da Beira [May 2017]
