Portugal
Pocinho, Portugal
Pocinho: The End of the Douro Railway and the Road to the Côa Valley Rock Art
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Where Ships Moor
River ships moor at a quay on the Douro's south bank just upstream of the Pocinho dam. Pocinho is a small village in the municipality of Vila Nova de Foz Côa, whose town and Côa Museum lie 6 to 7 km to the south.
- Pocinho's station is the eastern terminus of the Douro railway, with regional trains down the valley to Peso da Régua and Porto.
- The village grew up around the station after the railway arrived in 1887.
- The old combined road and rail bridge over the Douro at Pocinho is closed to all traffic.
- The Côa Museum stands above the point where the Côa flows into the Douro.
Pocinho on Your Own
Pocinho is a village rather than a town, so an independent day here means a short drive to Vila Nova de Foz Côa and the Côa Museum, about 7 km away. Visits to the rock art sites in the valley are booked through the park's reservation service, so arrange them ahead or join your ship's excursion.
- The Côa Museum: Opened in 2010, the museum introduces the valley's rock art before you see it in the open air. In 2026 it opened from 9 a.m. to 5:30 or 6 p.m., depending on the season, and closed on Mondays from November to March, so check before you go.
- The rock art sites: Visits to sites such as Penascosa, Canada do Inferno and Ribeira de Piscos start at different times through the year, and one site, Fariseu, is visited by solar-powered boat.
- Vila Nova de Foz Côa: The town's parish church has a Manueline facade, and its stone pillory is a national monument.
- Getting there: Arrange a ride before you set out rather than planning to walk the 7 km.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.
- Watch the clock: All-aboard is given in ship's time, which may not match the local clocks or your phone. Portugal is one hour behind neighboring Spain all year.
- Carry photo ID: Police in Portugal can ask to see photo ID and may hold you until your identity is confirmed, so keep your passport or other photo ID with you.
Food and Drink
The country around Foz Côa grows almonds, olives and vines, and its traditional sweets are made with almonds. The municipality lies within the Douro wine region, which makes both table wine and port.
- Vila Nova de Foz Côa has Portugal's largest concentration of almond trees, and the town holds a festival each winter when they blossom.
- Local almond sweets include súplicas and lampreias de ovos.
- Olive oil and dried figs are other long-standing local products.
Tipping in Portugal
Portugal uses the euro. A tip is generally not expected, though it is appreciated when service has been especially good.
- For exemplary service in a restaurant, around 8 to 10 percent of the bill is sometimes left.
- Tipping is not usual in bars.
- A taxi fare can be rounded up to the euro.
Culture and Local Life
Life around Pocinho is rural and follows the farming year of vines, olives and almonds. The Côa Museum, opened in 2010 above the mouth of the Côa, also keeps the largest library in Portugal devoted to rock art.
- The museum was designed by the Porto architects Camilo Rebelo and Tiago Pimentel, and its concrete walls are tinted with mineral pigments to blend with the local rock.
- In the 1990s, campaigners against a planned dam on the Côa adopted the slogan "As gravuras não sabem nadar", "the engravings can't swim".
- The writer and politician Francisco José Viegas was born in Pocinho in 1962.
History
People have cut images into the rocks of the Côa Valley since the Paleolithic, and those engravings, recognized in the early 1990s while a dam was being built, are now a World Heritage Site. Pocinho itself grew up around its railway station after 1887.
- Ice Age engravings: The oldest Côa engravings date from around 22,000 to 20,000 BC, and more than 80 sites with rock art are known along the Côa and the Douro.
- Later images: Engraving continued long after the Ice Age, through the Iron Age and up to recent centuries, when people added boats, trains, bridges and planes.
- A medieval town: King Dinis gave Foz Côa its first charter in 1299.
- A royal ferry: By 1827 a ferry belonging to the Portuguese crown crossed the Douro at Pocinho.
- The railway, 1887: The Douro line reached Pocinho on January 10, 1887, and Barca d'Alva on the Spanish border that December, opening a through route from Porto to Salamanca.
- Dam and discovery: The reservoir of the Pocinho dam probably flooded some rock art. Engravings were reported in the lower Côa in the early 1990s during work on a dam on the Côa, and after a national campaign the new government cancelled that dam in November 1995.
- Park and listing: The Côa Valley Archaeological Park was created on August 10, 1996, UNESCO listed the rock art in 1998, and in 2010 the listing was extended to Siega Verde across the border in Spain.
- End of the line: Trains stopped running east of Pocinho on October 18, 1988, and the narrow-gauge Sabor line north from Pocinho closed the same year.
- To learn more ashore: The Côa Museum, on Rua do Museu in Vila Nova de Foz Côa, introduces the valley's rock art.
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