The company’s Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours and Emerald Cruises brands will recommence sailings from 30 July. Both lines will resume their original Douro schedules offering eight-day round-trips from Porto.

Scenic said it would be providing British holidaymakers with "full flexibility” by offering deposit-free bookings until the UK government’s traffic light system is confirmed. 

Prices for Emerald’s eight-day Secrets of the Douro itinerary start from £1,945pp (based on 2 October departure) and Scenic’s eight-day Delightful Douro itinerary leads in from £2,545pp.

Both lines said they intended to preserve originally published itineraries and included excursions “as much as the global health environment at the time allows”.

UK managing director Colin Downing said: “We’re so excited to be safely restarting operations and ultimately welcoming back our guests, after more than a year of suspended operations.

“We can’t wait to return to Portugal this summer and have an incredible line up of sailings for our guests to experience. 

“This is just the first step to getting our ships back sailing on Europe’s rivers. We continue to work closely with Clia and the relevant government authorities to ensure a safe return to each river as soon as possible.”