Why I'm skipping Lisbon and Algarve for the Douro Valley this summer

In the canon of travel literature Portugal has often been overlooked as a gastronomic and cultural behemoth in comparison to its neighbour Spain, unjustly so in my opinion.

Of course, in the last decade Lisbon has become something of a mecca for hipsters and artists looking for a warmer and (sadly no longer) cheaper way of life and the pretty tiled-capital Porto has long been frequented by Port enthusiasts and then of course there’s the Algarve, that much favoured summer holiday location for British middle class families.

But the Douro Valley has slipped under the radar, for now at least. Named after the river Douro that snakes from Spain into Portugal, the verdant valley is the oldest demarcated wine region in the world producing and supplying Port to gouty English noblemen since 1756, but it is also Vinho Verde country,