Portugal Travel Agents

We have traveled a great deal in our lives, but concerns about handling our own arrangements in light of the ever changing Covid restrictions led us to Kimkim, Espiritu Travel and Karin Exkhard our travel consultant. We were so pleased with every aspect of our trip, the attention to details, response time, selection of tours, guides, and flexibility when changes were either necessary due to inclement weather, or we decided to add a tour mid trip, or change a destination during the final days... read more

We have traveled a great deal in our lives, but concerns about handling our own arrangements in light of the ever changing Covid restrictions led us to Kimkim, Espiritu Travel and Karin Exkhard our travel consultant. We were so pleased with every aspect of our trip, the attention to details, response time, selection of tours, guides, and flexibility when changes were either necessary due to inclement weather, or we decided to add a tour mid trip, or change a destination during the final days of our trip. Karin and her team were exceptional and we will without question return to them again, and use Kimkim in the future for other destinations.

We loved our time in Portugal, the care being taken regarding Covid-19, the warmth, friendliness and knowledge of everyone we encountered. Hotel selections, tours and guides were all spot on, reflecting a genuine understanding of the interests we expressed for our trip.

Our exploration of the walled city of Evora, in the Alentejo region, was enhanced by the knowledge of Martin, our guide. Our visit to a Cork Estate and Vineyard in the Alentejo region with a 4 x 4 Jeep tour, was an excellent way to deepen our understanding of the growth and production of cork, the numerous products made from cork, and the importance put on the preservation of these trees. We really enjoyed learning about the Alentejo region and the exceptional wines produced in this large region of the country.

We also, with Martin, visited several of the impressive megalithic monuments discovered in the Alentejo region. These standing stones, which you can walk among, predate Stonehenge by 3000 years. This day also included an olive oil tasting at a small organic farm, that has been in operation for three generations. They create an extraordinary olive oil, Amore é Cego "Love is Blind" and truly witness the love this family has for the trees, the olives themselves, and the creative process used to protect the olives and create this extremely high quality olive oil through the use of sustainable agricultural processes. The opportunity to sit among the olive trees for our tasting and to share a beautifully prepared lunch with the family, (both teachers) and their beautiful daughters, was a high point of our trip.

From Evora we traveled by private transfer to Lagos, which we used as a base for our exploration of the Algarve. The recommendations on what to do in this area while on our own were also spot on. We explored many of the beaches on foot, even walking from town to Ponta da Piedade shortly after our arrival in Lagos.

Although we'd planned a trip inland to explore the Western Algarve, inclement weather prompted our guide Pedro Marreiros to propose an alternative coastal tour, which turned out to be the perfect decision. Pedro's knowledge of the area, and our opportunity to see some of the smaller and more wild coastal areas and to visit Cape St. Vincent was a perfect day.

The next day as rain was intermittent, our planned Catamaran trip was cancelled. We were informed as soon as this decision was made, and a refund was promptly issued. With proper rain gear, we walked the long beach in Lagos and set off on foot to explore many of the other beautiful beaches, some quite close to town.

Our last day in Portugal we requested a transfer from Porto to Lisbon with a stop off to visit the city of Aveiro, often described as the Venice of Portugal. Our driver Anna was excellent and she took the time to show us around the city, encouraged us to take the canal tour even when rain was threatening (it held off until we finished our boat trip) and then she took us to another nearby community, Praia da Costa Nova, to show us the beach and exceptional tile work on the houses. She was delightful, and offered us a truly memorable last day in Portugal.

A big thank you to everyone who helped to make our first visit to Portugal truly memorable. We look forward to returning!

Every guide we had, and there were several, was prompt, professional, engaging and courteous!
I’d never travel again without going through Kim Kim!

We could not have asked for a better itinerary. We saw so much in such a short amount of time, yet had enough time to ourselves to explore.

Every guide was friendly and professional. It was like meeting a new friend in Portugal everyday.

Thank you so much for the very well thought of tour for us. I will definitely recommend you to my friends and family!

The trip was planned really well. Karin actually took into considerations my preferences and requests and planned it out well in a very short period of time. Karin and Marina were available even during the trip in case I had questions and were very prompt in their responses. They really were experts in the city and provided recommendations on what to do during my trip in a short period of tome with a blend of power packed days and free days for leisure so that it felt like a holiday. The... read more

The trip was planned really well. Karin actually took into considerations my preferences and requests and planned it out well in a very short period of time. Karin and Marina were available even during the trip in case I had questions and were very prompt in their responses. They really were experts in the city and provided recommendations on what to do during my trip in a short period of tome with a blend of power packed days and free days for leisure so that it felt like a holiday. The locals who were responsible for walking tours Pedro, Jose actually customized the tour based on my preferences which is different from the typical tours and also the Nelson and Marta customized the day tours very well. They were experienced, know what they are doing, checked with me what I prefer or would want to make of the day and made the tours fun. This is a rare ask as usually the tours are standardized and there is no flexibility. Karin planned every details with recommendations in each city and was a splendid experience. This was my first experience with Kimkim and I would definitely recommend it. Obrigada<3

The trip was great! Well planned in every respect. It made sense to stay in only 3 places and not move around every day. All 3 hotels were great - we especially loved Casa Balthazar, everything about it. We enjoyed all three cities. The excursions to the port distillery could have been done in an hour at most, they didn't have much to show or explain, it was mostly tasting the 3 different ports. The trip to the fishing village was nice but not much to see - lunch was good, but it didn't... read more

The trip was great! Well planned in every respect. It made sense to stay in only 3 places and not move around every day. All 3 hotels were great - we especially loved Casa Balthazar, everything about it. We enjoyed all three cities. The excursions to the port distillery could have been done in an hour at most, they didn't have much to show or explain, it was mostly tasting the 3 different ports. The trip to the fishing village was nice but not much to see - lunch was good, but it didn't need 1/2 day. I loved the walk around the University at Coimbra, learning about the culture of the place, and we arranged to hear good Fado there and had probably our best meal of the whole trip at No Tacho.
W e loved visiting Alviera and to Costa Nova on the trip between Porto and Coimbra, those were great stops. Between Coimbra and Lisbon we stopped at Tamor on the advice of people we met along the way, but it was closed. We went to Nazare, which was fun - the surfers and the ladies in their 7 skirts, and to Fatima as well. All the guides were good, they have done their homework and are well informed - our favorite was Tiago in Lisbon, took us to see lots of things one wouldn't ordinarily notice and was very personable. We learned a lot of history, ate a lot of great food and drank great wine, did a lot of walking (it seemed to be all up, rarely down), had amazing weather. It also made a big difference that most of the people, the younger ones at least, spoke English. Altogether a wonderful trip! Thank you!
Allyson and Bruce