A mother and son tourist team give Ken Snowdon an insider's view of Portugal and its culinary delights

I'M in a car squeezing uphill along a narrow backstreet in Porto, Portugal, which offers tantalising glimpses of the city on the other side of the river Douro. Despite three previous visits I've never been on the Rua Vitoria before and I doubt if it's in any guidebooks, but that’s the point of this trip.

We eventually reach the Vitoria and Flores hotel and seem to drive into the glass-fronted reception, but it's actually a lift for the entire car. Slowly, we are lowered down the hill to a courtyard car park in one of the city’s newest boutique hotels. It's the first of many surprises.

The two people responsible are a mother and son team who offer intimate knowledge of Portugal and privileged access on a bespoke trip. Teresa van Zeller seems well qualified. Walking down the street with her takes twice as long because she keeps meeting people she knows – the chef of a restaurant, the owner of a vineyard, the maker of bespoke jewellery – and the sense of acquaintance is infectious. My brief was food, wine and interesting places to stay and already I’ve eaten traditional duck and rice aboard a FeelDouro charter boat on the river, seen parts of Porto’s seashore that are often overlooked and visited a part of the city where only fishermen live.

The van Zellers have a long history in Portugal; they arrived from Holland in the 1700s. She’s the 14th generation of the wine-making branch of the family (these days it’s her brother’s business) and worked in hospitality for more than 30 years. Goncalo her son studied art until the partnership with his mother took his career in another direction.

Next day he’s driving us along the N222, voted the best road in the world for drivers and not bad for passengers either. Between Peso de Regua to Pinhao, the Douro valley is at its best with amazing views of the river to the left and wine estates laid out to the right, their narrow terraces cut into the hillside left to right or vertically up and down the slopes.

We head uphill and then descend an impossibly narrow and steep single track road, looking down on the Ramos Pinto estate. The buildings look like a carefully laid out work of art, with red pan tiled roofs and white ridges contrasting with the neat greenery and the yellow and red autumn leaves on the vines. Teresa will only take you to lunch when there is a member of the owner's family to host the meal. Here I meet Mafalda on the terrace overlooking immaculately laid out gardens. Over a meal of traditional salt cod and potatoes and her father’s wine, she tells me that the estate has been in the forefront of wine research since it was founded by her great, great uncle in 1880, but the grapes are still pressed by bare feet.

The night is spent at the Six Senses Hotel in the middle of another Douro wine estate. Wide open rooms, fantastic eating and drinking spaces, a forest, spa and pool all compete for attention. They even lay on tree climbing lessons. Teresa and Goncalo’s standards are high. I heard them discussing removing one hotel from their list because the breakfast coffee wasn't good enough.

After breakfast (the coffee was very good) we're heading for the Beira Alta region and its historical and medieval settlements. We lunch at Theresa and Goncalo’s family home, a 16th Century cottage in Trancoso, a walled village that looks picture perfect. It's here I discover it's not only port that links us with Portugal. We were allies during the Napoleonic wars when we helped drive out the French. The Van Zeller home was used as a military hospital for the British army.

That evening yet another surprise awaits. Casas do Coro in Marialva isn't a conventional hotel. Here you stay in a variety of restored houses rebuilt from the stone of an abandoned village originally occupying a hillside leading up to one of Portugal's ancient monuments. My stone built house shares a garden with olive and almond trees and a wonderful view down the valley.

Next day we have to rejig the itinerary because I wanted one last visit before Lisbon. One phone call later we’re meeting another of Teresa’s friends in Santarem. Madalena shows us around before (inevitably) guiding us to lunch at a restaurant she knows is good.

Finally, at the swish Valverde hotel in Lisbon, we say goodbye. I haven’t been given any special privileges on this trip because Teresa or Goncalo always accompany their guests. What I have been given is an endless amount of insider knowledge, unique experiences and utter charm by two people who really know this country inside out and are happy to take you with them.

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