European sun - Douro

Portugal is around the size of Scotland with twice the population and has tremendous variety both geographically and in its ways of life and traditions. Along the coast around Lisbon, and on the well-developed Algarve in the south, there are highly sophisticated resorts, while the vibrant capital Lisbon has enough going on to please most city devotees. But in its rural areas this is still a conspicuously underdeveloped country, and there are plenty of opportunities to experience smaller towns and countryside regions that have changed little in the past century.

The valleys of the Douro and its tributaries are among the most spectacular landscapes in Portugal, and the Douro Valley itself, a narrow, winding gorge for the majority of its long route east to the Spanish border, is the most beautiful of all. The Douro rail route , which joins the river about 60km inland and then sticks to it across the country, is one of those journeys that needs no justification other than the trip itself. At present there are quite regular connections along the line as far as Peso da Régua, though you will most likely find yourself on a single carriage train; beyond Régua, there are less frequent connections to Tua and Pocinho.

Cete, half a dozen stations out of Oporto, is just a mile away from the village of PAÇO DE SOUSA , a former headquarters of the Benedictines in Portugal and a popular picnic spot for Oporto locals. If you're looking for a bed, it's not much further down the line to Penafiel station, connected by bus to the village itself. Split by main-road traffic, PENAFIEL is not that enticing a place, but it has a saving grace in its fabulous local vinho verde wine, served from massive barrels in the adega in the central Largo do Padré Américo. Fado's restaurant still has barrels but is quite smart - the owner will sing fado at weekends if you're lucky; above is the best and cheapest hotel , Casa João da Lixa (tel 255 215 158; £5-10/$8-16/?9-18).

At Livração, about an hour from Oporto, the Tâmega line cuts off for Amarante in the mountains. Shortly after, the main line finally reaches the Douro and heads upstream until, at Mesão Frio, the valley broadens into the little plain commanded by PESO DA RÉGUA , the depot through which port wine must pass on its way from Pinhão - the centre of production - to Oporto. The tiny tourist office (summer daily 9am-12.30pm & 2-5.30pm; winter Mon-Fri only; tel 254 313 846), 1km from the train station, can inform you about visits to local cellars. Apart from these alcoholic diversions, there's not much to do except wander through the upper village and along the river. If you need to stay, the high-rise Pensão Império at Rua José Vasques Osório 8 (tel 254 320 120; £15-20/$24-32/?27-36) offers good accommodation , breakfast and views, and Pensão Borrajo on Rua Dos Camilos near the post office, is basic but cheap (tel 254 233 396; £10-15/$16-24/?18-27). There are plenty of restaurants along the main street.

Beyond Peso da Régua begin the terraced slopes where the port vines are grown: they look their best in August, with the grapes ripening, and in September when the harvest has begun. The country continues in this vein, craggy and beautiful, with the softer hills of the interior fading dark green into the distance, to Tua (junction for the Tua line) and Pocinho, where buses take over for routes east towards Miranda do Douro. From there it's a straightforward hitch in summer to Zamora in Spain.

Things to do
BOM JESUS , 3km outside Braga, is one of Portugal's best-known images, as much concept as building, a monumental place of pilgrimage created by Braga's archbishop in the first decades of the eighteenth century. It is a vast ornamental stairway of granite and white plaster cut into a densely wooded mount high above the city. There is no particular reason for its presence, no miracle or vision, yet it remains the object of devoted pilgrimage, penitents often climbing on their knees. Buses run from near the post office on Avda. da Liberdade in Braga to the foot of the stairway about every thirty minutes at weekends when half the city piles up there to picnic.

If you resist the temptation of the funicular and climb up the stairway, Bom Jesus' simple allegory unfolds. Each landing has a fountain: the first symbolizes the wounds of Christ, the next five the Senses, and the final three represent the Virtues. At each corner are chapels with mouldering wooden, larger-than-life tableaux of the life of Christ, leading to the Crucifixion at the altar of the church. Beyond are wooded gardens, grottoes and miniature boating pools, and several cheap, lively restaurants - filled on Saturdays with a constant stream of wedding parties.

Birthplace of Afonso Henriques and first capital of medieval Portucale, GUIMARÃES remains a lively and atmospheric university town. The town's chief attraction is the Castelo (Tues-Sun 10am-12.30pm & 2-5.30pm; free), whose square keep and seven towers are an enduring symbol of the emergent Portuguese nation. Built by Henry of Burgundy, it became the stronghold of his son, Afonso Henriques. From here the Reconquest began along with the creation of a kingdom which, within a century of Afonso's death, was to stretch to its present borders. Afonso is said to have been born in the keep, and was probably baptized in the font of the Romanesque chapel of São Miguel on the grassy slope below. The third building here, the Paço dos Duques , was once the palace of the dukes of Bragança, but under the Salazar dictatorship was "restored" as an official residence. Looking like a mock-Gothic Victorian folly, it now houses dull collections of portraits, furniture and porcelain.