Exploring Portugal’s Stunning Coastlines: Active Senior Vacation

I have used Zicasso for a few of my trips and I appreciate that they assist in connecting you with a local travel company, without trying to find someone on my own. Having booked a few trips, I have a pretty good idea of what to expect with the arrangements being made with the local company. What I have learned is that this travel company doesn't deliver some of the concierge services like other companies.

Upon arrival, the travel company was there to greet me and check me into my hotel, which was great after a long day of travel. However, I never heard from them again until the fourth day into the trip. Yes, I could have messaged them if I really needed something. However, I have been accustomed to some of the other agencies that check in each day to see how things are going and remind me of what is on the schedule next. In addition, if there were tour days that needed to start prior to breakfast being served at the hotel, they arranged for a breakfast box at the front desk. This was an arrangement I did myself on this trip. With other agencies, they took on this task. It is by no means a deal breaker, but just a different level of service provided.

The lodging booked in Lisbon was extremely tight in space and I would not recommend staying at that site, which I told the travel company. It was so tight that I could not even open the closet door when pushing the bed as far as I could. Thankfully, I was traveling solo, or it would have been absolutely miserable trying to fit two people, with luggage.

My trip included going to Lagos. In that area, the travel company did a good job arranging a local driver and an excursion with a local guide; it was nice to get out of some of the touristy type of excursions in Lisbon (Sintra and Fatima).

Overall, the trip was pretty seamless and enjoyable.

My husband and I traveled with our two adult children for 12 days through Portugal. Our trip was absolutely amazing, with every transfer, lodging, and tour detail seemingly tailored especially for us. Zicasso's travel expert was so wonderful to talk with as he planned our trip; he asked great questions to understand what kind of travelers we are and our interests. Our itinerary was perfect as we reviewed it prior to our trip, but as we experienced every transfer guide, tour specialist, and lodging, we could not have asked for a better experience. "Mahalo nui" (thank you so much) for helping us to experience your beautiful country and your even more beautiful and kind people. We can't wait for our trip back.

I wanted to make a special note of recognition about our transfer drivers/guides: they were absolutely amazing; so experienced and warm. We all enjoyed learning from them about Portugal and just felt so very well taken care of as they seamlessly transported us through your beautiful country and made sure we knew where to go and where to meet later. One of our drivers walked us through a local pastry shop to see the pastries being made; without him, we would have surely missed that experience. In Douro, another driver recommended a "locals" restaurant down the hill from our hotel. The owner was so kind he arranged for our server to drive us up the steep and winding hill to our hotel! These "special" experiences so reminded us of our beautiful Hawai'i and the spirit of "aloha" we felt so strongly in Portugal! At our departure, another driver walked us with our luggage into the airport departure terminal and showed us where to go (it was so much larger than any terminal we had been in). We would surely have been lost without his expert guidance.

Your tour guide selections were all simply amazing. We felt each guide's love ("aloha" for us) and attachment to each place we visited. We cannot thank you enough for all your work in planning so that we could truly enjoy and now have lasting memories until we return again.

With much "aloha" and gratitude, our "'ohana."

Zicasso’s travel company designed a fabulous 17-day Spain and Portugal tour for us. It was a pleasure to work with our travel specialist during the entire design process. First, the travel specialist spent time talking to us over the phone so she could get to know what each of us wanted to get out of the trip. Armed with that information, she was able to come up with a recommended agenda. We went back and forth a few times until she designed a trip that suited both of our interests. This trip turned out to be the perfect balance between learning about the history of the area, experiencing the culture, and enjoying our surroundings in rural and urban environments.

The week before we left on the tour, we reviewed our entire trip with the travel specialist over the phone. She wanted to answer any questions we may have had and to make sure we understood how to use our trip app. The trip app made it easy to see what we were doing each day. It contained descriptions of each tour and what was significant about the sites we were visiting. We had access to all our tickets through the app. There were Google Map links, so we could easily navigate to the location we needed to be. Recommendations for various restaurants and other things to do in the area were also included in the app.

The travel specialist provided her contact information and back-up contacts in case we needed anything during our trip. She made it clear to us that if our guide or driver was more than five minutes late to contact her. The travel company was there to support us 24/7.

The travel specialist pays attention to details. I highly recommend the travel company for designing a trip to Spain and Portugal.

Our Zicasso travel agent curated a private tour for the six of us, including the perfect mix of historical, gastronomical, wine, and cultural experiences. 

We stayed in Lisbon, Évora, the Dao Valley, the Douro Valley, and Porto. We traveled in a comfortable Mercedes van and, to break up our trips, we stopped at amazing sites along the way as we traveled from city to city. 

Some of our favorite things were a private sunset sail in Lisbon, a fado dinner, the Évora Cathedral, a cork trek and wine tasting in Alentejo, the monastery at Batalha, wine tastings in Santar (Dao Valley), a boat ride on the Douro, wine tastings and hiking in the Douro Valley, the Bom Jesus shrine in Braga, the Port tasting and dinner in Porto, and multiple pastry tastings along the way. 

Our guides were fantastic. They were attentive, on time, and very knowledgeable about the history and culture of each place we visited. 

There were very few issues on our 17-day tour, which was literally one of the smoothest and best-curated trips we have ever had. We will use our travel company and agent again as we intend to go back to Porto and the Douro Valley.