Walking and wine tour of Portugal

Planet

Accommodation & meals:
We spend the week in Porto as well in the small towns of Mesao Frio and Mondim Basto, some relatively unknown towns in the Douro Valley; so our guests are providing income to an area that does not usually benefit from tourism. The variety of hotels used aims to provide a service where quality and sustainable environment are always present. They pledge to continuously improve their systems and reduce their impact on the environment, utilising energy efficiency and saving alternatives. Throughout this walking vacation we visit small cafes and restaurants for drinks and food. All the staff employed by the hotels and our local partner are local. Packed lunches are purchased from family-run or small shops so our guests are directly contributing to their sustainability.

Activity:
Few vacations have as little detrimental impact on the environment and local residents as a walking trip. It is a quiet, low impact activity requiring comparatively little resources to support. We do believe in leaving more than just footprints, however; this walking tour actively encourages guests to chat with local people, visit local cafes and bars, purchase local produce, gifts and crafts and discover what life is really like in this rural part of Portugal. On the trips we include some visits to local wineries where the money spent there goes directly to supporting and maintaining these very traditional industries. We also use a local transport company for all transfers needed during the trip and throughout the trip we use a local guide.

Group size:
This is a small group tour, meaning that we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit and are able to ensure that we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people. The small number also allows us to stay in unique, family-run hotels that cannot benefit from coach tours and other mass tourism due to their limited sizes.

UK office:
It all starts at home where we work towards reducing our carbon footprint in our offices through energy conservation measures, recycling policies and the promotion of cycling and walking as a means for our staff to commute. Our head office has become a plastic-free zone with the use of plastic bottles being banned in our head office and we distributed reusable water bottles and tote bags to every staff member. We also support a large number of community and environmental projects in different parts of the world and try to give something back to the places we visit.

People

Local community:
Throughout this walking vacation we visit small cafes and restaurants for drinks and food. All the staff employed by the hotels and our local partner are local. Packed lunches are purchased from family-run or small shops so our guests are directly contributing to their sustainability.