Arrive in Porto and settle into your accommodation. This evening, a welcome dinner at a celebrated local restaurant sets the tone — you'll taste the francesinha, Porto's beloved stacked sandwich of cured meats, melted cheese, and a distinctive brown beer sauce that draws locals and travellers alike. This is comfort food at its most iconic, the kind of dish that tastes different every time because each cook brings their own hand to it.

Begin the morning at Matosinhos, one of Portugal's most vital seafood markets. Walk the stalls with a local guide, meeting vendors, learning to spot the day's finest catches, and selecting the very ingredients you'll cook with in the afternoon. The market is alive with the sights, sounds, and salt-spray history of Portugal's fishing tradition — it's as much a lesson as a shopping expedition. Return from the market to a hands-on cooking class where a local chef teaches you to transform those fresh catches into a proper meal. You'll learn the foundations of Portuguese coastal cooking: how to treat delicate fish, build layers of flavour, and finish a dish with the restraint that Portuguese cuisine does so well.

Spend the morning exploring Porto's historic centre — the ribeira district with its medieval alleyways, the Dom Luís Bridge arching over the Douro, the riverside energy that has drawn travellers here for centuries. Lunch is at a tasca, one of the neighbourhood's small, unpretentious eateries where locals eat. Here the menu is brief, the wine list is even briefer, and the food tastes like someone's grandmother cooked it (in the best way possible). In the afternoon, your private driver transfers you into the Douro Valley. You'll arrive at Quinta da Pacheca, a celebrated estate that has been making wine here for generations. Settle in, walk the vineyards if you wish, then a hands-on cooking class awaits using the estate's own produce — vegetables from the quinta's gardens, herbs from the slopes, everything tasting of this exact soil and climate. A wine tasting at the estate follows, pairing the wines you've just learned to make with the food you've just learned to cook. Overnight at the estate accommodation, where you'll wake to vineyard views.

A full day immersed in the Douro's wine culture. Your day begins with a private Rabelo boat cruise on the river itself — these traditional wooden boats once carried Port barrels downriver to the lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia; today they carry travellers through some of the world's most beautiful wine country. The terraced vineyards rise steeply from the water's edge, the river bends through narrow gorges, and time seems to slow. The boat brings you to Quinta do Bomfim, one of the Douro's most respected estates. A tour of the property includes the vineyards, the winery, and insights into how this quinta has earned its reputation. Estate lunch — prepared with local ingredients and paired with the estate's wines — captures the essence of Douro hospitality. An afternoon wine tasting deepens your appreciation of the terroir that makes this region distinct.

Your final day centres on Quinta da Gricha, another estate whose approach to both food and wine reflects the Douro's philosophy of quality and place. A cooking class here — using the estate's own ingredients — offers a chance to deepen the skills learned earlier in the week. You'll have grown more confident in the kitchen, more attuned to the flavours of this region. A wine tasting at Gricha reveals how this quinta's wines express their own corner of the valley. An estate lunch brings the cooking class full circle — the dishes you've prepared, paired with the wines you've just tasted. Afternoon at leisure to rest, walk the grounds, or simply sit with a glass and watch the light move across the vineyard slopes.

Transfer to Porto airport for your departure, carrying with you the tastes, hands-on skills, and river-valley memories of a week spent cooking and tasting your way through one of Europe's most storied wine regions.