Viking Torgil - Douro River cruise

[willie11]

Hello:

 

If anyone has been on this cruise recently could you please recommend which optional excursions are worthwhile.  I find the optional excursions very expensive.

 

Also could someone recommend a tour company to visit Sintra and Cascais from Lisbon for a day.

 

Thank you.

[Gourmet Gal]

Carla Carita at My Way Tours.  She is a private guide and outstanding.  If you just need transportation to those sites there are very easy train connections to both or I can recommend an excellent driver Antonio info@mychauffeur.pt

[mhb1757]

The Rivers of Gold roll call site might be quite helpful to you. 
https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2759591-all-2022-viking-portugals-river-of-gold-douro-cruise/page/12/#comment-64168516

 

[jrkstl]

Hello! We took this cruise in April of this year, and didn't opt for any optional tours. While a couple of them sounded intriguing, we were very happy that we had a bit of downtime to enjoy the lovely Portugal scenery. 

You'll love this trip!

 

Jeff

[jrkstl]

Meant to add that we thought the included excursions were fantastic and very thorough. While I'm sure the optional ones are great (Viking typically does a great job on them), you won't feel like you'll be missing anything should you chose to not book any optionals.

 

Jeff

 

 

[Got2Cruise]

Used another cruiseline but want to say if you are physically capable it’s easy to take the train to Sintra. Then you can Uber to the castles. It does take a little research on your part. 
 

Cascais is a cute seaside town. My husband actually swam here. If you enjoy beach towns you’ll enjoy it, otherwise not much to see or do. 

[ahl]

Hi,

 

We just returned yesterday from a Viking Torgil cruise. All of the listed Viking optional tours were available. We went on the Tile Museum optional in Lisbon. The Tile Museum tour runs in the afternoon after the included morning Lisbon sightseeing tour. Highly recommended as you receive a good introduction to the background and making of Portuguese Azuljeos ceramic tiles that you will see everywhere on the trip. There is even a workshop where you get to make a tile in the Portuguese style. 

 

We elected to go to Fatima on the Lisbon-Porto transfer day rather than the standard stop in Coimbra. We enjoyed seeing and experiencing the Fatima shrine. This option also included a stop at the Batalha Monastery. That was very interesting for its association with Portuguese history.

 

Taking some of the optional tours during the cruise means that you will miss some of the included sightseeing tours.