Personalized trips to Portugal
for independent travelers

We had a 12-night itinerary planned to include visits to Lisbon (5 nights), Evora (2 nights) and Algarve (5 nights). Hector, my travel agent, worked tirelessly with me to select the best itinerary patiently suggesting lodging and excursions that fit with my family interests which included biking, hiking, kayaking and experiencing the local culture.

Lisbon:
-Tuk-Tuk tour to learn about the neighborhoods and history of the city.
-Tile Museum - enjoyable and self-guided. Get timed tickets. We arrived for 10 AM tour (first tour of day) and there was a line of people waiting that had not purchased tickets.
-Restaurant Sancho - walking distance to our hotel. We ate here 3 times. Octopus is fabulous!
-Sintra - Loved this guided walking tour to Pena Castle...yes, walking tour! Honestly, it was not difficult. Paul, our awesome guide, had so much history to share which included history back to the 1100's through current day. He made a lunch of all local foods. At the beginning of the tour, he purchased pastries for us to try which were delicious! He tailored the speed of walking based on our needs. Although we had timed tickets, we opted not to tour the inside the rooms of the castle because we would have still had to wait in lines.
-Nazare - we returned to Lisbon prior to returning home so had a rental car. We went to Nazare the location of the tallest waves in the world. There is a small surfing museum at the Forte De S Miguel Arcanjo viewing site worth the euro to walk through. We also took beginner surf lessons at SURF4YOU school. Anna was our private (group of 3) guide for the 2-hour lesson. She successfully had us all riding the waves by the end of the lesson and has a bright and engaging personality. I highly recommend her.

Evora:
-Cork and Castle Tour - 3 hour private guided tour that I highly recommend. The tour guide, Joao Matos, a PhD student of history, was our guide for this tour. He was a wealth of knowledge including current and long ago history.

Lagos:
-Cascade Wellness Resort - great place to stay with a wonderful breakfast buffet. This was a 2 bedroom apartment living with washer/dryer which was perfect since our son joined us for the last week of the trip. They have several pools and gym and was a relaxing place to unwind in the late afternoons. It is within walking distance (~ 1 mile) to the historic town which we walked to and from for dinner each night.
-Lagos & Ponta da Piedade Bike Tour - We rented e-bikes and biked approximately 25 miles mostly away from traffic. Loved the ride and a nice change up from walking. Highly recommend. John was our guide and not only had fun in mind but safety. He would stop along the way and brief us on what was coming up in the next couple of miles insuring everyone was comfortable at the speed and distance of the trip.
-Algarve Kayaking Trip to Benagil Caves - Equally loved this trip, although more crowded. Once you are on the water you don't feel so overwhelmed with people. There are many tours going on at the same time. Raphael, our guide, was funny and engaging.
-Hiking - 1. Fisherman's Trail hikes above the Benagil Cave and along the coast. Many people do this hike. 2. Route of the Seven Hanging Valleys (All Trails App) was gorgeous and less traveled. The second trail was our favorite if you only have a choice of one.

Tips:
-Driving: Portugal is a right-side of the road driving. You need to get an International Driving License (which is easy to obtain). It would be best to review Portuguese road signs before traveling...while universal...there were many signs not frequently seen in the USA.

-Helpful to have Euros upon arrival: We primarily operated on credit cards but there are times you need small bills (5 euros and 1 and 2 euro coins for tipping). Review tipping guidelines in Portugal...they are very different from USA.

-MPC App - Mobil Passport Control App: this is worth downloading for your return to USA. It is an easily downloadable app that allows you to complete a short 6 question survey to get through customs into the USA. It allows you to add up to 11 people traveling in your party to expedite going through customs. It does not cost anything and there is a separate line when you enter customs area to fast-track you through customs.

-Trip Plans App: This was the first tour I have taken where my entire itinerary was at my finger tips in an app on my cell phone. It was amazing to have including phone numbers to contact the guides directly and a chat function that was invaluable to ask questions or communicate changes in the itinerary. For example: our surf lesson time was changes to coincide with low tide. The travel guides communicated this information in real time and immediately updated the itinerary on my phone to reflect the changes. It was perfect and reassuring to know I had someone to reach out to for guidance.

I highly recommend this company for travel plans to Portugal. They were great to work with. Thank you, Hector, and the team of people that supported us throughout our journey.

Activity Reviews

Surf the Big Waves of Nazaré

Portugal

Never did I think I would be able to stand on a surf board and ride a wave in at age 62 but this surfing outfitter succeeded in insuring the three of us taking a lesson did just that! The outfitter was well-organized moving a group of us to the beach, insuring we were warmed up, and knew the steps to standing on the board before we got on the water. Very organized while keeping it fun.

Quality of Experience

It was a first time attempt at surfing made fun by the instructor.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Anna was an amazing and encouraging guide. She successfully got all of us standing on the board and riding the wave to shore.

Algarve Kayaking Trip to Benagil Caves

Portugal

The tour operator was organized and had us set up for kayaking quickly. The beach launching the kayaks is a choke-point with numerous tour operators all negotiating getting their guests launched. It appears that each group going had a scheduled time of launch because although the operators were competing for clients, they all worked together to provide a good experience for all kayaking and enjoying their time on the water.

Quality of Experience

Raphael, our guide was great! He was funny but very attentive to safety which is important on the water.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Raphael was excellent and funny!

Scenic Algarve E-Bike Experience

Portugal

E-bike operator was organized and timely with getting the trip started. We biked ~25 miles that morning spaced with time for rest (if needed), stop for beverage and visit to beaches.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

John was kind and easy to converse with. We enjoyed riding along the beaches and cresting a hill to see 360 degree views of the area.

Évora Cork and Castle Tour

Évora

This was our second tour with Joao Matos and it was as interesting and engaging as the first. He is local to the area so adds in his personal experience growing up. His passion for the area is clearly felt as he speaks about the best aspects of Evora. It is obvious, Joao has experience with guiding as he seems to have great repoire with all the staff in the buildings we visited.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cannot say enough about Joao Matos. He was knowledgeable and attentive to our questions.

Transport

Our guide and driver had a very good repoire. We ended our trip on a hillside watching the sunset.

Guided Visit of Évora

Portugal

Joao Matos is a PhD student with the local university studying history. He utilizes his educational background to provide details of Portuguese history. He is kind and will tailor his speaking points to your interest. I found him to be open to discussion on topics both current and historical.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Joao Matos is amazing guide!

Sintra Heritage Hike: Hidden Secrets

Portugal

We chose to hike to the Pena Castle through a series of beautiful trails in park-like setting hidden from the crowds. Paul, our guide, was exceptional tailoring conversation and information to our interests. The lunch he prepared for the hike was made from all locally grown and prepared breads and vegetables and he even purchased pastries to sample on the trail.

Quality of Experience

Appropriate length of hike.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Paul was so knowledgeable, approachable and friendly.

Transport

Guided Tuk-Tuk Tour

Portugal

Picked us up at hotel and was a great way to begin our trip to Portugal.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This trip exceeded all of our expectations. I will use KimKim anytime I do a trip like this. And I will recommend you to my friends. The locations suggested to us by Anita were amazing. Her responsiveness and complete answers no matter what we asked were so appreciated. We particularly loved shopping, touring and eating in Porto, the challenging but gorgeous Sintra hike and our wonderful guide Felis, the great tour with our guide Telma of the Duro Valley and wineries. Breakfast at our Lisbon hotel, Heritage Avenida Liberdade was outstanding but our favorite hotel of the whole trip was the exquisite Eden Boutique Hotel in Boumaine Dades. The owner of the hotel gave us a personal tour of the property and we hope to come back some day. Alex of Lisbon Walker gave us a great tour of Lisbon-- we really felt like we understood the city, and Portugal, afterwards. Our hotel in Porto was great and Manuel gave us a comprehensive orientation and wide-ranging tour. Obidos wasn't that great a stop -- so crowded and our driver Nuno was a bit negative. Our hotel in the Algarve, the Lagos Avenida was so well located and beautiful, with a great rooftop pool and terrific breakfasts. We really enjoyed our 4x4 Algarve Sunset experience and our terrific guide, Carlos. We loved him. We also really enjoyed our Catamaran Excursion--it was a gorgeous day and very comfortable and fun ride. We hiked by ourselves to many beaches in the Algarve and had lots of fun shopping. We wouldn't have changed anything in Portugal really. We are very glad we got to Morocco and especially liked and appreciated Abdulla our guide for our multi-day trip to the desert. He was so interesting and fun to be with. He gave us a wonderful understanding of Berber culture and we will always be grateful for that. He became our friend. Our driver was also really wonderful --I'm sorry I can't remember his name but he was a great driver and very kind to us. As you know, we had an unfortunate incident on the way into our hotel in Marrakesh. My husband was pushed by a man in the alley lunging for his wallet who also hit my daughter. When we finally made it to the hotel they didn't seem to understand what had happened to us and took a very long time --almost an hour to get us into our rooms because hotel staff was busy with other guests. Also the riad we stayed at the first time didn't have the pool we had seen in the pictures and the breakfast service in the morning was terribly slow and the food not that great. We were never offered eggs but we overheard later that they were available. We probably should not have arrived that late into Marakesh and I wouldn't stay at that location again. They were very nice the second time we stayed there, moving us to better rooms than the first time but in general we wouldn't have stayed that close to the palace and the souk if it meant we had to walk that far down alleys from where the car dropped us to the hotel front door. We really appreciated the hands on support we got from Youssef who came with us on our last night shopping in the souk. He was very friendly and professional, and made us feel very safe. We enjoyed buying rugs from Omar in the rug collective but left thinking we probably didn't get that great a deal there. We're hoping the quality made the price worth buying there rather than from someone else in the souk. Our food tour with Morocccan Food Adventures in Marrakesh was probably the highlight of our time there. I can't remember our guide's name but he took us to such great places--it was delightful and we would recommend it to anyone. Our transfers between places were all great, everyone on time, and sending me texts the night before confirming. All the transfers were very professional and made everything happen so smoothly. I'm happy to say that early on my family wasn't sure it would be worth it to use a whole day in the car driving to the desert. But afterwards they said they couldn't believe they saw everything they saw and are so glad they went. It was stunning. The camel ride was longer than I understood it to be and was a little bit difficult and painful to stay on the saddle for some of the girls. But the ATV ride at sunset was beyond great. Our guides were terrific and the experience and views were spectacular. Thank you Anita, Espiritu, and KimKim for arranging such a memorable trip for the six of us!

Hotel Review

Eden Boutique Hotel

Boumalne Dades

this is one of the best hotels we've ever stayed at, anywhere in the world. Can't recommend it highly enough!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Boumalne Dades to Merzouga Sunset Camel Ride via Tinerhir & Rissani

Portugal

camel ride was much appreciated but a bit uncomfortable for the women. The ATV ride at sunset was much much better!

Marrakech to Boumalne Dades via Ouarzazate

Portugal

Beautiful drive and amazing hotel -- the Eden --at the end

Marrakech Unseen: A Street Food Adventure

Marrakesh

don't miss this! it's the perfect way to see the souk and try Moroccan food--such a good tour!

4X4 Algarve Sunset Experience

Spain

don't miss this -- the view at sunset is spectacular and our guide so fun!

Douro Valley Excursion with Wine & Olive Oil Tastings & River Cruise

Porto

Telma was so so great! Loved her and all that we learned at the places we stopped. And the Douro was so gorgeous!

Sintra Heritage Hike: Hidden Secrets

Portugal

My moms birthday trip was beyond what we expected. My mom wanted to travels to the Azores to experience where her grandparents had come from and Giorgia played a big role in creating a fabulous trip. She listened to all of the wants and needs for the trip and found the best tour guides on Sao Miguel...EVER!! Natacha and Vauchon were both with us for three days. The made the five of us traveling feel like part of their family and showed us all the amazing parts of Sao Miguel. We also did a walking food tour with a company called Hungry Whales and it was the right amount of sampling food and walking. The guides were very organized. The second island of Terceira we experienced a lovely town and beautiful winery. I can't wait to go back.