Portugal
Regua
Peso da Régua: Port Wine Country on the Douro
- Port traffic
- Very busyNext 30 days
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What to Expect
River ships stop at Peso da Régua, a Douro town usually called just Régua, and your cruise line confirms where yours ties up. The town's main sight, the Museu do Douro, is on Rua Marquês de Pombal.
- Tourist boats from Porto pass through the locks of two dams on the way to Régua.
- The Douro railway line runs along the river and connects the town with Porto.
- About 10,000 people lived in the town itself at the 2011 census. It is in the district of Vila Real.
Wine and the Douro
Port wine has shaped Régua's economy, and the Museu do Douro tells the story of the wine region around it. The museum occupies the Casa da Companhia, an 18th-century building that belonged to the company set up in 1756 to run the trade.
- The museum opens every day, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. between March 1 and October 31 and until 5:30 p.m. in winter, with last entry 15 minutes before closing. It closes on December 25, January 1 and May 1. Check before you go.
- Besides the permanent exhibition, the museum has a restaurant, a shop, a wine bar and a terrace over the Douro.
- The Santo António viewpoint looks down on the bend of the Douro at Régua, the town's three bridges and the Bagaúste dam.
- Wine estates near the town, called quintas, offer tastings and visits to their vineyards and cellars.
History
Régua's fortunes have followed port wine since the Douro's vineyards were marked out by royal charter in 1756. The town became the center of that trade, and later a city.
- Early settlement: The area is thought to have been settled in Roman, Suebi and Visigothic times.
- A royal charter: Régua received its foral, or municipal charter, from King Sancho I.
- The demarcation, 1756: A royal charter of September 10, 1756, defined the Douro as the production region for port wine. The Companhia Geral da Agricultura das Vinhas do Alto Douro, set up the same year, marked the vineyards' limits with granite posts.
- Town and council, 1837: Régua became a vila, or town, on February 3, 1837, and its town council was set up that month.
- The iron bridge, 1872: King Luís I had an iron road bridge built across the Douro at Régua in 1872.
- The growers' house, 1932: The Casa do Douro was founded in 1932 as a federation of the Douro's wine growers, and its granite-clad headquarters dates from 1944.
- A city, 1985 and 1988: Régua became a city on August 14, 1985, and in 1988 it was named an International City of Vine and Wine.
- World Heritage, 2001: The Alto Douro wine region was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2001.
- To learn more ashore: The Museu do Douro on Rua Marquês de Pombal, opened in its present home on December 20, 2008, covers the people, landscape and wine of the whole demarcated region.
Accessibility
The Museu do Douro gives people with reduced mobility access to all its public and exhibition spaces. Ask your cruise line about the gangway and the route from the ship to the center before you go ashore.
- The museum has a lift, adapted toilets and a wheelchair for visitors to use.
- Free parking for cars and minibuses is reserved for museum visitors beside the building.
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