Private Hidden Treasures of Portugal Tour

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.

We loved our trip to Spain and Portugal! We enjoyed each of our private tours with our tour guides in the various cities we experienced. They went above and beyond to share their knowledge of the planned sites, plus they added in individual unique sites and information along our walking route.

Zicasso’s tour company took all of our requested activities, venues, and interests to customize a trip that fit us well. They were in communication with us during our trip when a planned site was not available due to construction. Our tour guide provided us with other possible replacement options and let us choose what was of interest to us rather than them making the decision.

We tremendously enjoyed all of the cities, Madrid, Toledo, Granada, and Seville in Spain and Lisbon and Porto in Portugal. Our trip went smoothly and the activities were scheduled at a good pace for us! An extra bonus for us was seeing King Felipe VI by being in the right place at the right time near the opera house in Madrid while we were on our walking tour. We highly recommend Zicasso and the tour company.

This was a fantastic trip to Porto, Lisbon, and the surrounding areas, tailored to our needs and interests. We had an extensive walking tour of Lisbon, vineyards, and historic sites with our tour guide. Zicasso's travel agent provided personalized service consistent with a good small company. There was a rail strike while we were there and they handled it.

We enjoyed the trip. The guides were good, although our guide in Lisbon provided a little bit too much history. But he was very knowledgeable and we enjoyed his tours. The communication with the Zicasso company through WhatsApp was very good and they were very accommodating to upgrading our transport vehicle because our luggage was large. The food tours were good. We enjoyed all the sites that we saw. Barcelona, especially, was great.

We stayed at four hotels. Only the hotel in Porto was a disappointment. The other hotels were good and we were very comfortable. The breakfast that was served at the various accommodations varied in quality, but the breakfast buffet in Lisbon was extremely good. The hotel in Porto was definitely not a four-star facility. The local airline definitely does not have its act together. When we left Barcelona to come home, the line for the airline was about five or six times the length of every other line. I would have definitely been willing to pay a higher amount for a business class seat in order to use the very short line in the Porto airport.

This was a wonderful, perfectly balanced experience, so well planned by Zicasso’s trip coordinator at the tour company! From the arrivals to the departures, every connection went smoothly. From being met by our excellent drivers and superb, knowledgeable guides, everything that we were able to pack in during our short, intense visit was a well-planned and interesting highlight!

To all of our drivers, thank you! To our guides in Lisbon, Sintra and Cascais, Coimbra, Porto, and Barcelona, much appreciation for your expertise and patience. And the hotels were superb too! We only wish we could repeat the very same mother-daughter trip with more time! We particularly enjoyed a rainy afternoon's sailboat ride on the Douro River with our hostess and the excellent captain.

My husband and I were lucky enough to have found Zicasso’s travel specialist and the tour company. She, along with our amazing guides, gave us the most amazing experience in Portugal that I know we would not have had without their guidance. I wanted to make sure we had the typical tourist attractions and some that were not typical.

Our travel specialist planned a perfect trip from Lisbon to Porto for us. She was always a text or call away for any questions and was the most amazing host. Our guides were wonderful and they were very knowledgeable about the country and the places they took us to. It was so nice going into little cafés and special places that they wanted us to see, which we would never have gone to on our own.

We have traveled all over the world and this travel team is top-notch!!