Fodor's Expert Review Pousada Barão de Forrester

Time fades away as you sit reading by the fire in the lounge, glass of port at your side, at this pousada in Alijó, 18 km (6 miles) northeast of Pinhão. Its restaurant has two terraces for sunlit lunches and star-filled suppers—try the river mackerel, when in season—and the outdoor swimming pool and tennis courts make the place feel like a resort. It is named for Joseph James Forrester—the scion of a Scottish family of port vintners. His 1848 map of the Rio Douro helped open the river to navigation, and he later became the first foreigner to be given the Portuguese title of baron. His life and work are reflected in the hotel's updated interiors.