5-Nights Madrid to the Douro River & Porto Bike Tour — CALL

The ancient city of Salamanca, famous for its university founded by Alfonso IX in the early 1200s, is well preserved, with turreted palaces, faded convents, Romanesque churches, and colleges that have attracted scholars from all over Europe. Nearly all the attractions are within walking distance of the Plaza Mayor. In its day, Salamanca was ranked with Oxford, Paris, and Bologna as one of "the four leading lights of the medieval world." The intellectual life continues to this day, and a large invasion of American students brings added life to the town in summer. Still a youthful, spirited place because of the venerable Salamanca University, the city has been named a "World Heritage City" by UNESCO, one of six such cities in Spain.

Overlooked by one of Portugal's most important shrines, Lamego is an ancient episcopal city lying within the Upper Douro's demarcated Port wine area. Located in a fertile valley, it is a delightful Baroque town with a central square laid out as a public garden surrounded by elegant 17th-century buildings. Its most significant role in the country's history was as the site where, in 1143, the cortes met for the very first time to declare Afonso Henriques as Portugal's first king.