Kimkim Trip Reviews for Portugal

Great location. Very spacious. Kids loved having both indoor and outdoor pools. Buffet breakfast was among the best we had. Decor was felt very over the top and gaudy - but otherwise, enjoyed this hotel.

Hotel was very spacious and comfortably accomodated our family of four. Really liked how it was close to hiking trails and had 2 big pools for our family to choose from. The kids especially appreciated the pool that had sand to mimic the beach. The decor felt a little bit gaudy / overdone. Also, if you're looking to be closer to the beaches or to the main town, may not be the best location as it requires a drive. Least favorite part of this hotel was the food and service at the restaurant. We had a buffet dinner the first night, and the food was not very good and overpriced. Staff also during dinner were not particularly friendly. Buffet breakfast was decent, but again, I would have expected more from such a nice hotel and for the price.

Favorite hotel during our stay! Plenty of space for a family of four. Very nice accomodations. Centrally located, easy to walk to many of the main tourist attractions. Also close to many restaurants. One complaint though around safety. One of the tiles on the wall next to the bathtub fell off the wall during our stay. Fortunately, no one was in the bathtub at the time, however, it could have been a major issue as our kids were often using the bathtub and could have led to a serious injury. Appreciated how they had onsite breakfast

Location is great, especially for first time in Lisbon. Right in the heart of Biaxa. Very walkable to many main attractions. Lots of space for a family of 4. Highly recommend! Just a note, may be challenging for people with limited mobility, as there is only 1 very skinny elevator servicing the building.

Great restaurant to try the Franchesca!

One of my favorite meals in Lisbon! Definitely get the paella - delicious and very large serving (the 1 person order was enough for my wife and I to share) Make a reservation or be prepared to wait in line

Great time to explore on our own. Appreciate the recommendations from the Across Portugal team

Our of our favorite activities! Loved how hands on it was ! Was great to be able to make our own souveniers from Portugal!

Overall was a nice overview of Lisbon. Did feel a bit rushed compared to some of our other tours. Guide was very friendly, but sounds like some of the information she shared was not entirely correct (especially after discussing/meeting with other tour guides on this trip). That said, was a nice way to get around Lisbon and navigate all the steep hills and see the main sights from the outside.

Great activity! Kids really enjoyed being able to drive along the coast and see the caves. They also loved being able to jump off the boat into the ocean!

Transfer was fine. Process of picking up the rental car took a little longer than expected. Pick-up station is small, with only 1 desk. Since there were 2 other people ahead of us, took us a while to get check in and get our car

Great experience with a local guide! Ricardo was really good at taking this at the pace we needed for our family. Very knowledable tour guide. Appreciated the individualized attention. Suggest you confirm which palaces you will be going to. We visited the Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira which were both great. Kids especially liked Auinta da Regaleira since they were able to run around the grounds and do more exploring and it didn't feel as crowded as Pena Palace. Just make note though that we did not get to visit the Moorish Castle, National Palace or Mosserate Palace - we were ok with that, but just need to make sure you're ok with not seeing those as well.

Great all day experience! Ivo, our driver, was an excellent guide! The boat ride was so much fun for the kids. And the private tour/tasting/lunch at Quinta da Pachea was excellent!

This tour was just ok. We had already done a whole day tour in the Douro valley the day before, and so this tour did not seem as impressive after the Douro valley. The Port here also was not as good as what we had in the Douro valley. If you're not going to the Duoro valley, then I would recommend. If you are going to Duoro valley, you can skip this.

This was a really nice tour. Our guide Sara was very friendly and knowledable. Loved that she was a local and able to give us her personal stories/insights. Also enjoyed that she was able to tailor the tour to what our family/kids were able to do. Really nice overview of Porto

Great activity! Very hands on! Easy to follow and understand. Great opportunity for the kids to do a cooking class.

Great location and great breakfast included

We were upgraded and really enjoyed our accommodations and the breakfast included.

We thought this was supposed to be small group but there were 15-16 people on the tour. Would have liked a smaller group experience as we had discussed, but we enjoyed the 3 wineries selected.

The restaurant we went to was wonderful - it wasn't the one that you had planned for us as that one was closed and the guide had to find somewhere else.

We did this in about 30 min during our walking tour. Didn't need separate time for this

We enjoyed this tour the most of any of the days on the trip. The Pena Palace tour was wonderful and not busy when we attended The full day was 3 hours longer than was planned due to travel times, parking locations being far away and requiring a lot of walking to get to and from starting locations.

Great location, comfortable beds, great breakfast

Overall this was a good experience. Our guide was kind and knowledgeable, but I felt like she just was reading a script and it wasn’t very personal (as compared to our other tours). The scenery was beautiful of course

It gave a great overview of the city and we saw things we never would have otherwise

Our guide was amazing and the food and drinks were delicious!

Our driver was fantastic! Very friendly, professional, and gave us some good tips

I'm a musician, so I truly enjoyed and appreciated the performance from that aspect, but even if you are not, it was fun and intimate and the songs and stories were great.

Absolutely lovely

Stunning

Excellent staff, location and facility

Beautiful beach Small tip. Tell future guests to reserve a beach cabana / chairs/ umbrella in advance of beach day They were all pre reserved But we still had a great day. Did half beach day half at resort pool overlooking the ocean

This was more a leisure boat ride. Only did the hysterical area and not much of the inland/ vineyards. But great staff. Made every minute enjoyable

Very nice. And very well planned and executed Enjoyed it tremendously

EXCELLENT

We did the walk ourselves. The guide had to cancel due to family emergency. Which was totally fine for us we still had a great time in Belem. Got great information from a highly recommended TukTuk driver that was recommended by a friend. He helped us with Belem details too

Tivoli Lagos is a lovely resort with lots of amenities. The room was spacious and clean and the staff friendly.

We loved staying at Hotel Albergaria do Calvario. It is located on a quiet alley within the walls of Evora and close enough to walk anywhere in the city (because you certainly wouldn't want to drive). The room was spacious and clean. And the staff was super friendly. We especially enjoyed the courtyard for breakfast - which was lovely.

The room was small but clean and the people were very friendly!

It's a must do if just for the cultural experience.

Our first afternoon in Évora was spent with João as he showed us around the walled city and gave us samples of food and wine. What a great way to begin our experience in the area. João was very informative about the city and things to see and do in the following days of our stay. We would highly recommend.

If you want an "adventure" then hop into this 4x4 - just don't be much over 5 ft. tall, it was a bit small. The evening was fun, the sunset lovely, and the guide, João Petra, was the best part of the experience.

What a lovely, informative and fun evening in Porto. João walked us around Porto giving us samples of food, wine, and beer. We shared the evening with a small group of 8 people and had a good time. João loved his city and was happy to share it with us. He gave us lots of information throughout the evening, and advice for the coming days of activities.

Our first afternoon in Lisbon we had a private tour with Philipa. She was very informative and helpful.

This turned out to be one of our favorite excursions, mostly because of our guide, Rui, and the fact that we had him all to ourselves - a small group tour for just my husband and I. Even though the clouds were in the mountains and we couldn't see far. We roamed around the countryside stopping at different farms and villages. We especially enjoyed our Melosa (honey liquor) tasting and authentic Portuguese lunch.

What was supposed to be a small group tour ended up being a private tour. It was great fun. Beautiful scenery.

After a couple days delay (which Anita from KimKim handled) we were able to experience the beautiful shoreline from the water. Lovely boat, nice staff.

We were expecting a "small group" tour, but ended up being a private tour! Miguel was great! He was knowledgable and friendly, and enjoyed share the beauty of his country.

Thelma was a great guide. She was informative and friendly. We went in a small group and it was surprisingly fun. I attribute this to Thelma's enthusiasm.

Paulo was a great guide. He was informative and friendly.

Nuno was an excellent guide. He loves his country and is excited to share all it has to offer. He got to know us so that he could cater the tour around our likes and dislikes, allowing us to spend more time in beautiful gardens and castles that were not busy and less time in popular, but must see sites with big crowds. We truly enjoyed our time with Nuno.

Very comfortable, close to many restaurants and shops. Walkable to the river. We had a nice view out our window.

The hotel was well placed and the room comfortable. There is really good breakfast and all day coffee/tea. The AC in the room was not working properly so it was quite warm. Aside from that it was a good choice.

This was our last activity on our trip and it could not have been better! Joao was a fabulous guide. Knew all kinds of history and information about the area and Portugal. It was just the two of us so he really gave us a personalized experience. Also took us to the farthest most west point of Europe and through Cascais.

This was one of our favorite trips. The guide was so knowledgeable about wine, the area and the history. There was one other couple and they were delightful. The boat ride up the river was a nice break from driving and the operator was a hoot! One place we stopped at the young lady touring us had just bottled her own wine. While we did not get to taste it, it was fun to see her excitement.

It's an airport hotel. We were coming off staying at an amazing resort hotel so this was a big shift. But, it was clean. Good breakfast. And super close to airport. The shower head was broken in both our rooms but we weren't there long enough to be super bothered by it. It is what it is supposed to be - an airport hotel...somewhere to stay before a flight, not a destination.

Can I give this 6 stars?! Because I would. OMG. What a hotel. We had the family suite and it was perfect. I usually don't love huge hotels but this one was so amazing. Rooftop pool and family pool were great. Workout room and spa were also amazing. Food was great. Included breakfast might be the best "free" breakfast we've had. Outside the included breakfast, the restaurant menus were on the pricey side but that's expected from restaurants on the premise. We ate outside the hotel for the other meals and explored the local restaurants and had some of our best meals ever. We loved Madeira and will definitely be returning.

We also loved this hotel. We had a cute apartment and it was nice and spacious. The included breakfast was decent, not as good as our Lisbon hotel but it was still good. Location was excellent.

We loved this hotel. Very close to everything and clean and spacious. We had the family apartment and it was great for our family of 5. The breakfast was delicious as well and the hotel staff was very friendly.

Great food and restaurant!

It was fun, glad we did it. Shorter than we thought - you literally just climb up for 10 minutes, take some photos and climb back down. But, I am glad we did it. Just a little underwhelmed on the length of time. We had budgeted 4 hours with our driver and really only needed an hour. We had just done a walking tour in the morning so we didn't need the driver to also give us a tour as well.

We loved this tour too! Saw bottlenose dolphins and pilot whales. Tour guide was great.

Sarah was great! Informative and knowledgeable. She is passionate about Porto and it shows. Rainy and cold for the tour so not the best conditions but Sarah made it fun!

Ah, Pena Palace. Loved it. We had an amazing driver, Eduardo, who gave us a ton of history on the way there and back. He was easily the best driver we've ever had on these trips (and we've done quite a few). Pena Palace skip the line was perfect because the line was quite long and we got to skip it so it saved us time. I loved seeing this beautiful palace. Definitely recommend. Eduardo took us to this wonderful restaurant too and it was such a good meal. He added on some other stops so we could see more of the coastline. It was a great day.

Ricardo was AMAZING. So knowledgeable and we loved our tour. We have three teenagers who can be hard to keep entertained during tours and Ricardo had them all interested and engaged the entire time. It was hotter than normal in Lisbon and Ricardo found the shade, took breaks and gave us time to buy waters/snacks. He was great.

Brief stay - not close to amenities or restaurants

Good hotel - helpful staff, clean rooms, good breakfast, walking distance to old town and shopping

Perfect location to the beach and short walk from town, this hotel offered a lot of charm. We also enjoyed the pool and a wonderful morning breakfast.

A really nice and authentic experience with music and dinner. Food and atmosphere were great!

An amazing experience - exceeded our expectations. Good food, great facility and the instructor was very knowledgeable and led a great class!

Great location. Not near the noise but close and walkable to the sites. Very uniquely decorated and very tastful.

Really enjoyed our stay here. Really close to hiking the Algarve cliffs which we took full advantage of. Also, fairly close to the old town which we did walk over for dinner one night. The property is clean and the water views are excellent. The pool was expansive and the breakfast was superb.

Loved this hotel. It was right in the heart of town. We actually were close to the Portugal football viewing center for the World Cup just steps from our hotel. The beds were comfortable and the breakfast offered many healthy options.

The best way to see the Algarve is right from the water. We had terrific guides and we kayaked in all the nooks are crannies.

Stunning views along the algarve coast. Took lots of photos of the sunset along the hike. Easy path to view

Enjoyed the boat ride and going in and out of the caves and watching the dolphins swim along the boat. Took lots of videos

A guide Rodrigo was great. He knows Lisbon really well. What a great way to see the sites too!

A must see. Really enjoyed the Palace and Sintra. Enjoyed the personal guide and all the history that was shared.

Excellent day driving through the Duoro valley tasting local wines and viewing the site. Our guide Andrea was fantastic and really clicked with the group.

We truly enjoyed this boutique hotel. The staff was exceptionally nice and friendly. The room was comfortable it would have been nicer to be a bit larger space for our suitcases but we managed. The cleaning staff amazed us by cleaning our room everyday while we were at breakfast❣️

Our stay at the Belmar was exceptional. The room was very nice. It was clean and roomy. The bed was very comfortable. We enjoyed sitting on the patio and enjoying the view of the pool and the access to the bar near by as well as an easy walk to the beach.

When we arrived, we were greeted very cordially with the hotel employees. The room was exceptionally clean and comfortable. We really enjoyed coming back to the hotel after touring the city and able to relax by the pool and enjoy a drink at the patio bar. The breakfast was exceptional as well!

Our stay at the MouraSuites Hotel in Évora was comfortable despite the small room size. The king-size bed was a positive surprise, and the room was cozy even though we didn't have much space to move around. Having a pool right outside our door added to the convenience, and the staff treated us wonderfully. While the room was a bit snug, it was typical for Europe, and the overall experience was pleasant.

Quinta do Pego was, without a doubt, one of the highlights of our trip. With only ten rooms, the hotel has an intimate, peaceful atmosphere that makes it feel like a private retreat in the heart of the Douro Valley. Our room was spacious, beautifully appointed, and exceptionally comfortable. The bed was one of the most comfortable we slept in during our travels, and the bathroom was equally roomy and well designed. Both breakfast and dinner were outstanding, but dinner was especially memorable. Enjoying an exceptional meal while overlooking the breathtaking Douro Valley, the vineyards, and the Douro River made for an unforgettable evening. The views from the dining room are simply spectacular. The large swimming pool was another favorite. Poolside service was effortless—just ring a bell, and within minutes a staff member would arrive to take your order and return promptly with drinks. It was a wonderful touch that made relaxing by the pool even more enjoyable. The combination of outstanding hospitality, exceptional food, luxurious accommodations, and breathtaking scenery made Quinta do Pego one of our favorite hotels in Portugal. We would gladly stay here again and highly recommend it to anyone visiting the Douro Valley.

The Portuguese Cooking Lesson in Lisbon was a fantastic experience! The chef was incredibly friendly and organized. We participated in preparing a full meal and dessert, including a potato mix soup, roasted chicken, carrot salad, and a delightful meringue dessert. Although I wished we could have tried making the pastel de nata for dessert, the entire experience was enriching. We sat together around a big table, enjoying the delicious meal and getting to know the other participants. Adding wine and cheese tasting to the activity elevated the entire experience. It was fun, educational, and absolutely delicious.

Our visit to the medieval town of Óbidos was one of the highlights of our trip. Walking through this beautifully preserved walled town felt like stepping back in time. The panoramic views of the town and the surrounding countryside were well worth the climb. We enjoyed strolling the charming cobblestone streets, browsing the many unique shops, visiting beautiful churches.. Our favorite was Livraria de São Tiago, a remarkable 12th-century church that has been transformed into a bookstore. A must do when visiting Óbidos is sampling the town's famous Ginjinha drink. Ginjinha a delicious cherry liqueur they serve in a traditional small chocolate cup. It was a fun and uniquely Portuguese experience. Before leaving, we also admired the impressive 16th-century Aqueduto da Usseira, another reminder of Óbidos' rich history.