Pinhão is a small town on the Douro whose most memorable building is a railway station. Inside, the walls are covered in blue-and-white azulejo tiles that show scenes of wine harvests and life along the river, painted in the early twentieth century, and they give the little platform the look of a gallery. The trains no longer carry port wine barrels downriver, but a line still runs through the valley, and a few tourist trains stop here.
The setting is the real show. The Douro flows through a narrow valley in northern Portugal, and its slopes are terraced from river to ridge with vineyards that have been cultivated for centuries, a landscape listed as a World Heritage cultural landscape. Port wine was born here, and the quintas, or wine estates, scattered along the river are still the lifeblood of the region. The schist hillsides retain heat, the vines grow in thin stony soil, and the smell of fermenting grapes drifts through the valley in September.
The N222, which runs along the river from Peso da Régua to Pinhão and beyond, has been voted one of the best driving roads in the world, and it deserves it. It is not wild or fast, but it is beautifully made, with smooth tarmac, an endless run of easy bends, the river glittering beside you and terraces rising on both sides. Traffic is generally light, though tourist coaches appear in high season, and in the autumn harvest tractors and grape trucks mean you should slow down. The best times are spring, when the vines are fresh green, and autumn, when they turn red and gold; in July and August it is very hot, with the schist radiating heat.
In Pinhão, the riverfront has cafés and restaurants, and you can take a boat trip or taste wine at quintas nearby, though if you are riding you should be sensible about how much you sample. Simple Portuguese food, grilled meat, bacalhau and sweet pastries, pairs well with a coffee by the water. Fuel is not always available in the town itself, so the larger places nearby such as Régua or Tabuaço are safer, and it is a good idea to fill up before heading into the valley.
Wander down to the river, take in the quiet pace of the village, and watch the barges and boats drift by.