Portugal's second-largest city, Porto, is dramatically situated at the mouth of the Rio Douro, its old quarters scrambling up the rocky north bank in tangled tiers. As the de facto capital of the north, it's the hub of the region's road and railway system, and while you can't quite avoid it on any trip to the north of the country, nor would you want to. It's a massively atmospheric place, almost Dickensian in parts, though rather unfairly the attention of many visitors is focused firmly on the port-producing centre of Vila Nova de Gaia, across the river. For excellent beaches, the towns of Vila do Conde and Póvoa de Varzim, just to the north up the Porto coast, offer a taste of what's to come as you head into the Minho.

Inevitably, it's the Rio Douro ("River of Gold") that dominates every aspect of this region: a narrow, winding gorge for the major part of its long route from the Spanish border, with port wine lodges and tiny villages dotted about the hillsides. Historically a wild and unpredictable river with treacherous rapids, the construction of hydroelectric dams all along its course has tamed it considerably, making cruises from Porto a particularly relaxing way of getting a feel for this famous wine region. You can follow the river by road as well, though for many it's the Douro railway line that is the prime attraction. It joins the course of the river about 60km inland from Porto and sticks to it from then on, cutting into the rock face and crisscrossing the water on a series of rickety bridges. It's one of those journeys that requires no other justification but, if reason be needed, the amazing outdoor palaeolithic engravings around Vila Nova de Foz Côa, near the border with Spain, duly oblige.

About halfway along the Douro is Peso da Régua, the capital of Alto Douro ("Upper Douro") province, with more scope for visiting the wine lodges. Just to the south, the delightful Baroque town of Lamego is home of Portugal's champagne-like wine, Raposeira, as well as the magnificent shrine of Nossa Senhora dos Remédios. Rather less ostentatious is the twelfth-century Romanesque church at nearby São João de Tarouca, while there are even older churches near the town of Penafiel, north of the river.

Three narrow gauge railways follow the Douro's tributaries, all accessible from the Douro railway line. The Corgo and Tua lines provide access from the Douro to Trás-os-Montes, while the Tâmega line runs to Amarante, a delightful riverside town around 50km east of Porto. Amarante makes the best approach to the Serra do Marão, whose stark, eroded granite slopes and pervasive scent of pine give a taste of the mountain scenery further north and east. Particularly attractive are the small towns of the Terras de Basto, named after curious life-size Celtic warrior statues found in the area.