Travel thoughtfully · drink responsibly · 18+

Independent wine travel

Wine trips worth taking slowly.

Choose a region, find the right season and turn it into a route you could genuinely travel.

Find your region →

Terraced vineyards above the Douro River near Pinhão

Douro Valley, PortugalA four-day rail-and-river routeRead the route →

Region intelligenceHistorical weatherRail & road realityHuman-scale itineraries

A note from the guide

The best wine trips leave room for the landscape, the lunch and the person pouring.

ClimateTerroirAccessLocal rhythm

Region matcher

Choose a wine region for your trip.

Three choices, then a grounded place to begin. Results use an editorial season guide—not live availability or a paid ranking.

01 When are you going?

02 What pulls you there?

03 Choose a pace

Your strongest starting points

Ready to shape3/3 preference signals

AlsaceFrance

A single road down the Vosges foothills, linking villages that have been making white wine for a very long time.

Sep–OctLong lunchesOne slow week

StrasbourgColmar

Best window: May — Jun · Sep — Oct
Trip length: 3–5 days
Getting around: Rail runs the length of the plain; local buses and bikes cover the villages above it.
Book first: Grand cru producer visits and, in autumn, anywhere at all.

Start with this rhythm

Base in Colmar and work outward in short arcs rather than driving the whole route.

Compare region details ↓See the sample route →

Editorial fit from season, access and pace tags—not live availability. See sources and review policy.

Start with a place

Six useful starting points, with all 21 guides one click away.

Wine regions to start with.

15Gallo Nero zone since 1924 · ~7,200 ha of vine

Italy

Chianti Classico

The original zone between Florence and Siena — oak woods, stone villages and Sangiovese on every good slope.

Best window: May — Jun · Sep — Oct
Go for: Sangiovese
Shape: Florence → Greve or Radda · 3–5 days

Read the Chianti Classico guide

18Kouloura-trained, ungrafted vines on phylloxera-free sand

Greece

Santorini

Vines coiled into baskets on the ground, ungrafted, on an island most people visit for something else entirely.

Best window: May — Jun · Sep — Oct
Go for: Assyrtiko · Athiri · Aidani
Shape: Fira → Pyrgos · 3–5 days

Read the Santorini guide

10South Africa's first wine route, 1971 · five sub-routes

South Africa

Stellenbosch

Cape Dutch farms under granite mountains, an hour from a city, with harvest in the European winter.

Best window: Feb — Apr
Go for: Cabernet Sauvignon · Chenin Blanc · Syrah
Shape: Cape Town → Stellenbosch · 4–7 days

Read the Stellenbosch guide

03Southern-hemisphere harvest

Argentina

Mendoza

High-altitude vineyards, Andean horizons and destination-worthy lunches.

Best window: Mar — Apr
Go for: Malbec · Cabernet Franc · Torrontés
Shape: Mendoza → Uco Valley · 5–7 days

Read the Mendoza guide

09Poios terraces · estufagem ageing

Portugal

Madeira

Terraced smallholdings above the Atlantic, and a fortified wine deliberately aged by heat.

Best window: Apr — Oct
Go for: Sercial · Verdelho · Bual · Malvasia
Shape: Funchal → Câmara de Lobos · 4–7 days

Read the Madeira guide

01UNESCO landscape · 24,600 ha

Portugal

Douro Valley

Schist terraces, river light and a journey that works beautifully by rail.

Best window: Sep — Oct
Go for: Port · field blends · Touriga Nacional
Shape: Porto → Pinhão · 4–6 days

Read the Douro Valley guide

Compare all 21 wine-region guides

Filter every region by month, wine, trip length and transport

Compare 1991–2020 historical weather by month

The wine year

When to travel.

Harvest is magnetic, but it is not automatically the best time for a visitor. Spring brings open calendars and green landscapes; winter can bring makers back to the tasting room.

Our month guide is a prompt to investigate—not a weather guarantee. Always check current opening days, transport and local conditions.

01JANMendoza

02FEBStellenbosch

03MARMendoza

04APRSicily

05MAYBurgundy

06JUNMosel

07JULEngland

08AUGChampagne

09SEPDouro

10OCTEtna

11NOVJerez

12DECMadeira

Read the full month-by-month guide · Compare historical weather

Fresh startsLong daysHarvest pulseSouthern summer

One trip, fully shaped

The Douro
without the rush.

4 daysBy rail + riverOne tasting a day

Choose a day

Porto & Gaia

Begin where the wine matures

Arrive by rail or air, cross the river for a pre-booked lodge visit, then keep the evening for Porto rather than rushing inland.

Régua

Follow the river upstream

Take the Douro Line through the valley. Break the journey in Régua for the museum and a first look at the working landscape.

Pinhão

A day among the terraces

Book one well-matched quinta, leave room for lunch and walk a signed route or arrange a local transfer rather than stacking tastings.

Tua → Porto

The long view home

Travel farther east for the changing landscape, then return by rail—or pair a one-way river journey with the train when seasonal services align.

Practical advice

Before you book.

Fewer tastings,
better days.

Two serious appointments can fill a day once travel, conversation and food are included. Leave white space.

A vineyard is
a workplace.

Harvest can mean limited visits and busy roads. Book; arrive on time; never assume a cellar door is open.

Designate the
way home.

Use a driver, train, taxi or spit. Rural distances are deceptive and drink-driving limits differ by country.

Buy with a
journey in mind.

Check airline, customs, tax and shipping rules before a large purchase. A memorable bottle still needs to get home.

Our method

How recommendations are made.

Follow The Vines separates named regional sources, open route data and editorial judgement. A beautiful place is never treated as proof that it is open—or bookable.

01Publication boundary

What the site uses, what each licence permits and what remains excluded.

Data sources →02Places & access

OpenStreetMap plus official tourism and transport guidance.

ODbL data ↗03Season judgement

Editorial travel windows from cited local context, kept distinct from forecasts.

Wine year →04Historical weather

Qualified 1991–2020 station normals, with distance, coverage and explicit gaps.

Weather evidence →

Last editorial review: 22 Aug 2026Sources show scope and dateNo paid region rankingStays and prices only after rights + freshness checks