Régua Quay

The Cais da Régua (Régua quay) lies on the right bank of the Douro in Peso da Régua, beside Avenida de João Franco. It is one of the boarding points for river cruises in the region, in a town that Wikipedia describes as one of the main river ports of the Douro and the historic centre of the Port wine trade.

A quay tied to wine

According to a cruise operator's blog, the quay was built in the 18th century to ease the loading and unloading of Port wine. Rabelo boats carried the wine from the Douro estates down to Porto, where it was stored and exported. Today the same waterfront serves tourist boats, with modern boarding and disembarking facilities.

Cruises from Régua

• One operator advertises a rabelo-boat cruise of about 50 minutes from the quay, running between May and October and requiring a minimum number of participants.
• Other operators list day trips to Pinhão, Porto, Pocinho or Barca d'Alva, close to the Spanish border and the end of the navigable Douro.
• Going upriver means passing locks: the one at the Régua dam, inaugurated in 1973, is about 90 m long and 12.1 m wide and overcomes a maximum drop of 28.5 m.

Timetables, prices and seasons vary by operator, so confirm them directly when booking.

Around the quay

The town was historically the centre of the demarcated region. The Museu do Douro, open to the public since 2008, occupies the former Casa da Companhia Velha building, and the Douro line links Régua with Porto and Pocinho; see the Estação da Régua. Further upriver, Pinhão is one of the destinations named by the operators. In 2001 UNESCO inscribed the Alto Douro Vinhateiro as a World Heritage cultural landscape.