Guadiana

At the Gulf of Cadiz, the Guadiana meets the Guadalquivir, linking picturesque Andalucia with the Algarve and running the length of Portugal's south-eastern border with Spain. The name of the Guadiana, a combination of the Arabic for river and Latin for duck, provides an insight into the cultural diversity of the region.

The river winds its way through some of the most idyllic landscapes on the Iberian peninsula. From the Phoenicians in 8 BC and the Greeks two centuries later, traders and merchants were drawn to its fertile banks. Carthaginians, Romans, and Moors also traded gold, silver, copper, wheat, leather, olive oil, honey, salt, fish, and other valuable goods on the calm waters of Guadiana and a cruise along its banks can transport you back in time.