

Pipadouro, the driving force behind the concept of Vintage Wine Travel – Luxury River Tourism in the Douro, has just been honored with a ‘Best of Wine Tourism 2025’ award in the category of Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences.
The competition is organized by the ‘Great Wine Capitals Global Network’ and the winners were announced at the annual conference held in Verona, Italy. The river tourism company that operates from Pinhão was recognized for the originality of its luxury proposals, which meet the high standards of a market that favors superior quality, comfort and exclusivity.
‘This award recognizes Pipadouro as a luxury river tourism brand. It gives us great pride to realize that our work is yielding results. We also feel an immense responsibility to always fulfil the expectations that our clients and partners have in relation to the experiences we promote. That is why we are going to keep working to improve our services of excellence. Our ambition is to reach new markets and partners who until now have been unaware of our proposals. We dream, we believe, and things happen. There are no words,’ says Ana Clara Silva, the company’s operations director.
A specialist in designing experiences that last in time and memory, Pipadouro suggests exclusive trips along the river on Gentleman’s Vintage Boats, sailing to Barca D’Alva, a beautiful village that borders Spain, or to the mouth of the Douro River in Porto, with the region’s farms, wines and most distinctive local products on the menu.
The ‘Friendship I’, a 1957 superyacht built in the now-defunct E.F. Elkins shipyards in Christchurch, southern England, for the British Royal Navy, stands out from the competition for its grandeur, beauty, amenities, facilities and unique characteristics, combining original features with guarantees of comfort, charm and exclusivity. The operator’s fleet also includes the ‘Pipadouro II’, dating from 1965 and built in the João Brites shipyards in Lisbon using American Chris-Craft designs.