Peso da Régua

Where the Douro leaves the plateau and turns west towards Porto, the river gathers its largest town: Peso da Régua, the working capital of the wine country. For two centuries the barrels of port wine came down the river to this quay, and Régua remains the natural base for the terraced vineyards that climb the valley walls on either side of the water.

The town that marked the wine

The Douro is the oldest demarcated wine region in the world: in 1756 the Marquês de Pombal had its boundaries marked out with granite pillars to control what could be sold as port, and the vineyards around Régua have been governed ever since. The story is told in the town by the Museu do Douro, and the terraced slopes of the Douro Valley begin at the town’s bridges. The railway line from Porto follows the river into the valley, and Régua is its principal stop — a comfortable way to arrive with the vineyards sliding past the window.

What to see

• The river quay and the old wine-scaling buildings
• The Museu do Douro and the region’s story
• The terraced vineyards on the valley slopes
• The railway line along the Douro
• Boat trips upriver towards Pinhão

Practical information

Peso da Régua stands on the right bank of the Douro in the district of Vila Real, about a hundred kilometres upriver from Porto by road and by rail. The town is built on steep slopes: comfortable shoes matter, summer heat is strong on the quay, and a light layer helps on the evening river breeze.

Image credit: Rio Douro – Peso da Régua – Portugal by Vitor Oliveira — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.