A long weekend in Porto with no motorhome, no kids, and a borrowed left-hand-drive campervan from friends who run our favourite campsite in Portugal. That is, genuinely, one of the better sentences we have ever been able to write.
Estrela Gardens, Pedro’s Itinerary, and the Douro Valley
We have been to Estrela Gardens campsite in Gaia, just on the edge of Porto, before. Pedro and Claudia invited us back during our summer trip, and this time they went a step further and lent us their CI Prestige campervan for the weekend. It is a four-berth, four-travelling-seat van, 115 brake horsepower, about six metres long, and it has the steering wheel very firmly on the wrong side. Driving out of Gaia with a manual gearbox operated by my right hand was, to put it charitably, an experience. Not impossible, just constantly slightly wrong, like eating with your knife and fork swapped. We got there in the end.
Pedro, being Pedro, had put together a full itinerary. First stop was the Douro Valley, specifically the town of Mesão Frio, one of the oldest municipalities in Portugal, dating back to 1152. The views across the terraced wine valleys were genuinely stunning, the sky was an absurd shade of blue for October, and Lyndsay found every single information board in the town and read all of them. Standard. We had coffee, shared a slice of quiche and a local cake that turned out to be flaky pastry, chocolate icing, and a custardy centre, and the whole thing came to £5.69. Travelling without the kids does funny things to your wallet.
From Mesão Frio we headed to Quinta da Roeda winery, which is part of the Fladgate Partnership alongside Taylor’s and Fonseca. We paid €30 each for a tour and tasting. The guide was excellent, full of detail about how vintage port is still produced using foot stomping in granite tanks, four hours between eight and midnight, with the first two hours marching in a steady rhythm and the last two, shall we say, more free-form. They produce around a million litres of port a year, which puts the foot-stomping into some perspective. We tasted three ports: a Ruby, an LBV from 2021, and a Tawny. The Tawny was my favourite, all wood and caramel and dried fruits. Lyndsay was more taken with the idea of a glass of pink wine in the afternoon sunshine, which is fair enough. We arrived at the overnight campsite slightly warm and glowy. No idea why.
Food Poisoning, Aveiro, and a Restaurant You Should Absolutely Visit
The campsite that Pedro had reserved was lovely, with a cracking view, a bar open until 10:30, and pizzas on order. We had a walk up to the local church, watched the bells strike seven o’clock as the lights came on, declared it very romantic, and headed back for an Al Capone pizza and a glass of port. Perfect evening.
The following day took a turn. We drove to Aveiro, which bills itself as Portugal’s Venice, parked the van across from the canal, had lunch at a 4.8-star restaurant, and I had a steak. That steak subsequently gave me the worst food poisoning of my life. Without going into excessive detail: very violent, up until 2am, and entirely one-way traffic. Lyndsay, who had eaten the salmon, was absolutely fine. She went to Pedro and Claudia’s 25th wedding anniversary party at a restaurant nearby, enjoyed eight courses and champagne, and I stayed in the back of the campervan. That is not the evening I had planned.
The restaurant itself is extraordinary and I am genuinely gutted I missed it. We went back the following morning for a look around when I was feeling approximately 90% human, and it is the kind of place you would struggle to believe exists. Multiple dining rooms, a party trick involving opening wine bottles in a rather theatrical fashion, and a Sunday welcome drink that turns out to actually be an everyday welcome drink. If you are coming by motorhome, they own the car park across the road and you can park overnight. Just give them a heads up that you are there.
One other detail worth knowing: Pedro told us there is only one cassette-cleaning machine of its type in all of Portugal, and it lives at Estrela Gardens. €2 and it handles the whole job. That is the kind of practical detail that makes you feel very looked-after.
Questions people ask
Can you actually rent Pedro and Claudia’s campervan for a trip in Portugal? Yes, and that is exactly what Steve suggests at the end of the video. The idea is to fly into Porto, rent the CI Prestige from Pedro and Claudia, and use Estrela Gardens campsite as a base to get familiar with the van before heading out on a road trip. Full details are in the video description, and it is worth getting in touch directly to check availability.
How much did the winery tour at Quinta da Roeda cost? €30 per person, which included a guided tour of the vineyards and winery plus a tasting of three ports: a Ruby, a Late Bottle Vintage (LBV) from 2021, and a Tawny.
How did the smaller campervan cope for power compared to their usual motorhome? Easily, as it turned out. Steve and Lyndsay came with phones, a laptop, a Kindle, and a couple of battery packs, and charged everything from the van’s TV USB and a small inverter. Steve’s conclusion was that they clearly do not always need all the power they carry, though he acknowledges it makes life considerably easier when you have it.
Is Aveiro worth a visit, and how much was the boat tour? Lyndsay enjoyed it, and the canal setting is genuinely attractive, particularly in blue-sky October weather. The boat tour was €15 per person, running for around 45 minutes, which came to just over £25 for the two of them. Steve noted it was considerably better value than a gondola in Venice, which had cost €90.
The full video is well worth watching for the winery tour, the Aveiro canal footage, and a complete walk-around of Pedro’s campervan. All the links Steve mentions, including the campsite, the restaurant, and the winery tour, are in the video description.
Watch the full video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAEc-FccB7M