Boat trip on a Rabelo from Pinhão

A rabelo is a keelless cargo boat, specially designed for transporting barrels of port across the wild Douro to the wineries in Porto.

Nowadays the barco-rabelos have been outcompeted by road transport, but it is still possible to take a boat tour in Pinhão on such a boat. You leave from Pinhão, sail under the iron Eiffel bridge upstream to the Roncão area where you turn around and return to Pinhão. On the way you see hills with terraced vineyards down to the river, without national roads or traffic in sight.

Willem Vandenameele