MS Gil Eanes, 5 Night Porto, the Douro valley (Portugal) and Salamanca (Spain) ex Oporto (Porto), Portugal Return

Immerse yourself in the festive and warm atmosphere of Portugal and Spain where you will discover a unique way of life. You will visit Porto, a subtle mixture of modernity and history famous for its wine, or Salamanca and its cathedral, Spain's "golden city". It has a rich architectural, religious and gastronomic culture.

Day 1
Passengers are welcome to board our ship at 5:00 p.m. After comfortably settling into your cabins, we'll introduce our crew at a welcome cocktail. Tonight, join us on an optional excursion by coach for both packages: Tour of Porto "by night".

Day 2
Join us for the optional excursions proposed :CLASSIC: Guided tour of Porto, one of the oldest cities in Europe, whose historic center was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.DISCOVERY: Touring Porto via tram and visiting the tram museum. We'll board one of the city's trams and partake in this urban-tourism experience all the way to the mouth of the Douro. We'll finish up our excursion with a tasting of some of the local specialties.After our tours, we'll return on board and spend the afternoon sailing. Enjoy an evening of entertainment.

Day 3
Join us on an optional excursion for both packages : Discover the formal gardens at the Mateus Palace and Vila Real.Tonight's evening will have a Spanish flair.

Day 4
Join us for the optional excursions proposed :CLASSIC: Discover Salamanca, its unusual cathedral and its famous university dating back to 1218, making it one of the oldest in the world.DISCOVERY: Salamanca tapas tour.Tonight's our gala dinner and evening.

Day 5
Join us on an optional excursion for both packages : Discover the Porto wine route. We'll spend the afternoon cruising. Enjoy an evening of traditional folk entertainment.

Day 6
Enjoy one last buffet breakfast on board before disembarking at 9:00 a.m. End of our services.

Named after the famous Portuguese navigator, Gil Eanes is a Premium three-deck ship specially designed for the river Douro in Portugal. Launched in 2015, this elegant-designed ship with a bright, modern feel has ample space throughout for passenger comfort with splendid panoramic windows. Its elegant taupe, bronze, and white interior tones combine perfectly with the blue shades and these conjure up the Portuguese tile designs and colours. The upper and middle deck cabins have French balconies. These decks share four suites. Two suites on the upper deck come with sun loungers. The large windows on the main deck provide great views from the privacy of your cabin. All meals during the cruise are served in the cozy dining room on the main deck. All onboard fun, music, and dancing happen in the lounge and bar on the middle deck bow. An outdoor area is found near the bow. The sun deck has a pool for cooling off and sun loungers to relax while catching some rays.

CroisiEurope has a fleet of Prestige category boats with cabins, which ply the most beautiful rivers in Europe. Spacious and light, they offer a welcoming and refined setting. Accommodation capacity varies from 100 to 180 passengers depending on the boat's design. At the cutting edge of technology, their facilities offer comfort and safety.

Carefully maintained and partially renovated each year, the CroisiEurope fleet is largely made up of recently built vessels, less than five years old, all with Veritas certification. The leading European river tour operator, our company owes its international reputation to its seriousness, its dynamism, its sense of innovation and its recognised value for money of long standing.

Vessels are rated four-star and food is superb – as you’d expect on a French-owned cruise line, staffed by French chefs and with top French and German wines aboard. One cruise of the Rhone and Saone Rivers in France concentrates on gastronomy and traditional French cusine, visiting Collonges Abbey, renowned for its great French chef, Paul Bocuse.

CroisiEurope is a family-owned and operated firm, with brothers and sisters running different aspects of the company and keeping a close eye on all operations to ensure excellence.

River cruising offers much free fun. Wake in the morning and observe the passing riverside scenery through your cabin window – perhaps from your bed. Gaze upon village churches or a patchwork of fields sparkling in the morning sun.

CroisiEurope’s network traverses a phenomenal number of European rivers and waterways. They range from the Guadalquivir and Guadiana (flowing through Spain and Portugal respectively); the Douro in Portugal, the Po and Venice Lagoon in Italy; the Rhone in Provence, plus the Seine from Paris to the Normandy Coast. And there’s more: the Moselle, the Neckar, the Saar, the Oder, the Havel, the Baltic Sea, the Camarge, the Rhine, the Main and the mighty Danube; the Tisza and the Black Sea; the Belgian and Dutch waterways. Everything from tulip time in Holland to Christmas Markets in Germany.

Drinks included with on board meals: mineral water, house wine, beer, fruit juice, and tea or coffee.