Returned earlier this week from this trip. There is a review of last month's trip, so this just adds a few thoughts and how this later trip went.
There were 18 of us - 5 men/13 women. There were 3 pairs who booked together, 2 lots of friends and a brother/sister. However, everyone mixed well and the group gelled. The bus was small, as per last month, 25 seats.
My first time in Portugal. I enjoyed it, it was pretty low key but, looking back, there was a lot of interest. Historical/buildings/food/scenery. There were no early starts. Hotels all good, but the Regua Duoro in Peso da Regua the best. Apart from the first and last evening meal, evening meals weren't included - the group I ate with had a bit of a hit and miss selection of eateries, we had one really good evening meal (in Peso da Regua - a recommendation of the bus driver) but the rest were a bit disappointing (just picked the wrong restaurants). Lunches were eaten where we were visiting, again some better than others, but I always enjoyed the pitchers of sangria we ordered.
Weatherwise it was OK, the first few days pretty cloudy at first. No rain.
All our local guides were good. The tour manager was new to JY, but he was organised and everything ran smoothly.
Katy