Illuminating Tour of Portugal’s Historic & Cultural Roots

We had a wonderful trip to Portugal with an itinerary created by this travel agency based on our preferences. They met us at our first hotel in Porto with a programmed GPS, cell phone and a device to create a WiFi hot spot wherever we traveled. They offered a guide with a car to sites in Porto, Braga and Guimares and again in Lisbon and Sintra. This freed us to relax and enjoy the cities without a car but also learning so much of the history of Portugal provided by our guides. They secured a a rental car for us to continue through the Douro Valley Wine country then south visiting smaller towns with castles and fortifications as far back as the Romans. We chose mid level accommodations that were all unique. A restaurant and dinner reservation they arranged in Evora was intimate, family owned and the best culinary experience of the trip. Transport to and from airports, connections with guides, rental car pickup and drop off was all seamless and stress free.

We had a wonderful 11 nt. trip to Portugal 9/21-10/3, 2023. It was far hotter (95-98) than we thought it would be, but we were okay. First off the hotels our travel agent selected were perfect.

Here are the highs and lows of the trip.

The tasting at Sandeman in Porto was wonderful.

The 9/23 tour of Porto was very good… our guide was very knowledgeable and the driver was excellent. I would skip the Lello's Bookstore---very touristy, crowded, and hot. The Bolsa Palace was fascinating.

There was a mixup or screw-up about our trip to the Douro Valley. Our boat cruise scheduled for 11 AM was canceled 2 weeks before arrival and rescheduled for 5 PM that day. And we couldn't go to the second Quinta. Very disappointing. Our driver on 9/24 was excellent. Lunch at Terracu's at Quinta Nova was okay... a beautiful location. Starters and desserts and wines were very good. The main entrees (cod and lamb shank) were so salty as to be inedible. And the accompanying veggies were served cold. The wait staff felt badly and offered a glass of port at the meal's end as an apology. The wait staff were very nice. I expected better entrees. To kill time until our 5 PM boat trip, we had a wine tasting at Quinta Nova---the identical wines we had just consumed at lunch. Originally our agent had suggested we spend 2-3 hours in Pinhao, but I pushed back on that as all the reviews of Pinhao describe it as "scruffy" and not a lot to do. And the reviews were correct--there is nothing to do there. Luckily we did the wine tasting instead. Our river cruise was very nice---the crew was so friendly and we were the only folks on board.

The 9/25 secret walking tour of Porto was a disaster. The guide was nice but uninteresting sights and the tour included so many steps with no railings that it was very difficult for my husband. We bailed after 1 hour and had a lovely lunch along the river. I would not recommend this tour to anyone.

The tour to Braga was lovely. The guide and driver were good and the tibia pastries are not to be missed. The Cathedral of Braga was magnificent.

9/27 trip from Porto to Lisbon---good driver. First stop, Coimbra---he left us at the university square on our own. We saw the library and students in their capes---I would not do this again...

Next stop Obidos– which we loved, a quaint walled city with shops and restaurants and the local ginja.

9/28 food and wine tour. Hmmm… Our young guide walked us for 2+ hours in 95-degree heat never asking if we wanted water or a rest. The description of the tour is nothing like what we got. We met no locals, we had no petiscos, no codfish cake, no verde vinho, no cheeses. We finally stopped at a wine bar and had a tasting with a charcuterie plate and olive oils. The staff was very knowledgeable about wines but we got the impression that our guide was bored and not engaged with us. We finally told him we were fine and he could leave us.

The trip to Belem was lovely. Our guide was a last-minute replacement for our original guide and I'm not sure he was informed of what we were to see. Contrary to what our agent told us, there were cut-the-line tickets for the Monasterio and our guide got us in. We loved the Monasterio (sadly the church was closed) and also went to see Belem Tower and the Monument to Discovery, wonderful. We never saw the Coaches Museum nor the Maritime Museum which is on the itinerary. Nor did we get to taste the famous Pasteis de Belem pastries.

The trip to Sintra and Cascais was a disaster. Our young guide was nice but not assertive. It was very hot, very crowded, you wait 30 min for the bus to Pena Palace, another 45 min wait to get into the Palace, and then at least a 15 min wait to go from room to room. We bailed after 2 hours--nice view but that's all. He suggested we skip downtown Sintra to make it to Cascais, but I was disappointed. He took us to a nice seafood restaurant for lunch on the water. That took 1.5 hours. The food was delicious but I would have preferred to lunch in downtown Cascais. We had no time to walk around Cascais. So disappointed. We never saw Cabo da Roca.

10/1 The Tuk Tuk tour was a highlight! Our driver was knowledgeable and what was supposed to be a 1 hour tour turned into a 2 hour tour. We loved it and him.

Just so you know, the Lisbon airport on our arrival was confusing and we had to walk long distances to retrieve our international flight luggage, then walk to the intraPortugal flight area with our luggage, check-in, put our luggage in, wait in security and get to our gate. Luckily there were folks there to help with directions.