Kimkim Trip Reviews for Portugal

The music was wonderful, the food was not as good as other restaurants we ate at in Lisbon.

Our guide, Guilherme was marvelous, he took us through Lisbon and showed us short cuts for getting up to either side of the city, ie Chiado. As we walked he gave us the history of Lisbon, pointing out events that left its mark on the city, for example the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, which destroyed the city and who was responsible for it being rebuilt. We stopped along the way to sample cod cakes and beer, he showed us where to get the best bifana as we walked over to the Alfama section with its quiet narrow streets. We ended our tour in commerce square and under the archway to the city. By taking us up one side of the city and then across to the other side we enjoyed amazing vistas of the city. I was a bit sad when our tour was done, it was an amazing morning.

This was a marvelous day. We visited Fatima and Batalha in the morning, had lunch in Nazare and drove up above to some amazing vistas, wandering through fun street vendors (The ladies with all the skirts!). On our way back to Lisbon we stopped for a brief stroll through Obidos. The religious art and architecture of both Fatima and Batalha were stunning. Fatima was populated by the faithful, as a mass was about to start in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and we watched the procession bringing a statue of Mary from her chapel to the modern cathedral. In contrast was Batalha, which was quiet and frozen in time, home to the faithful of Monarchs of the past, the architecture was impressive even with the unfinished section being weathered by time and the elements. Nazare is not a large beach community and the day we were there the surf was very calm, but the restaurant we ate at played the surfing competitions on large screens showing a very different surf at Nazare. I can honestly say I ate the best seared tuna there I have ever eaten in my life. It was served with sautéed turnip greens and new potatoes. Absolutely delicious! After lunch we drove up to the part of the beach community on the top of the cliffs, the view was spectacular as it was a perfectly clear day. Our guide led us thru the street vendors to a small chapel that was completely done in tile and told us the story of how this chapel came to be on the cliff. Finally on our way back we stopped in the little historic town of Obidos and slowly wandered as our guide told of the history.

This day we explored Pena Palace and Regaleira. Both of these places are not like anything I have ever seen before, both uniquely stunning and beautiful, rich in history. We both appreciated having sufficient time to take everything in. The tour of Pena had time slots, which was a brilliant way to ensure that the palace was not just swamped with visitors. The palace is meticulously maintained and just a marvel to see as well as the vistas it affords. Regaleira is an architectural masterpiece in both the structures and gardens and while there were plenty of visitors, the grounds have a quality of peaceful solitude.

Walking up to and through the Moorish Castle there was fog rolling up the mountain, which just cleared as we hit the highest parts. It was very breezy making the flags on the battlements flutter. Mother nature was helping us appreciate the ruins with dramatic mystery! From the top you can see Pena Palace which is a stark contrast in time and history. Afterwards we explored Monserrate Palace whose gardens were a tremendous achievement, aside from being beautiful. There was the fern forest, the desert garden filled with cactus, a small lake right in front of the house and a few perfect specimens of immense trees from different continents. Out through the back of the palace were patio areas with pergolas dripping with wisterias all in bloom. The palace itself has no more furnishings, but the architecture is uniquely awe inspiring.

There was some overlap between food we tasted in the morning on our walking tour and the Delicious TukTuk tour. We did visit a small restaurant that was thru a very Moorish patio garden which was very beautiful, there we sample three different dishes all of which were tasty. The best thing about the tour was the little restaurant and sitting still for a bit. I am glad we took the TukTuk tour because it was a memorable experience bouncing along the tram tracks , an unusual way to see the city.

The hotel is located within the walls of an old fortress. Within the wall it is surrounded by a restaurant and art galleries. The area is particularly attractive. The hotel itself is a modern design with carefully appointed rooms with patios/lawns outside your door. Breakfast is quite good with an abundance of choices for guests. There is also an airy bar on the premises with friendly staff. A very nice restaurant is just across the entry courtyard. The central location of the hotel allows guests to walk to most of the sights, shops and restaurants.

Despite the fantastic rooftop bar, the attentive staff, and the convenient location, we found the rooms to be a bit worn out, and it felt like the hotel caters primarily to large bus tours.

Wonderful history tour with Alexandra (guide) and João (driver) with a Jerónimos Monastery visit, Belem tower, Pastel de nata tasting and more

a tuktuk with Hugo! All over the city with a focus in old town and view points and stops to try more food and drinks

we were picked up by Vanessa (guide) and Samir (driver) and taken to the eclectic Pena Palace, where every texture and design and style and culture meet. Then a dive into the winding streets of Sintra for shopping and lunch where Vanessa also surprised us with a birthday treat for mom! Followed up with a trip to the beach. Then a private tour of the family owned Quinta De San Michel winery

Manuel picked us up and drove us to Porto with long stops at the medieval Óbidos and coastal Nazaré. Phenomenal Seafood lunch with wine in Nazaré.

we met back up with Manuel again and met Tania (our guide for the morning). We had a whirlwind drive to see the coast and city center of Porto before crossing the Douro river to Gaia for a visit at Ferreira Port Caves for a tour and tasting. Then up to Miradouro da Serra do Pilar for a view of Porto and the wall. Back over the river for some additional driving views around the city

What an amazing experience- getting to learn to make a delicious seafood dish in this delightful kitchen. Highly recommended for local and visiting friends!

Manuel picked us up for a drive to Douro valley to Quinta do Val Moreira. Wine tour and tasting followed by some amazing valley view finding then back to the winery for lunch. After that we had a boat tour before heading back to Porto via scenic valleys and hills.

Very comfortable, great staff and good location.

A remarkable evening with a very authentic feel. Highly recommend!

This was a FANTASTIC food tour--possibly the best ever! It was great to visit a less touristy area and nibble the day away.

Very crowded. Had to leave to meet our guide before we got inside.

Beautiful hotel and wonderfully located! We were close to a shopping area and had a lovely walk along the water. We had a spectacular balcony view from our room on the 6th floor. The restaurant was excellent and the staff very friendly and helpful. Definitely a great place to stay.

Beautiful hotel with an amazing amount of marble. Great underground parking. Staff were very helpful with excellent suggestions for places to visit and to eat. We had great service in the bar/snack area one evening when we decided to stay in for something light. The buffet breakfast was excellent.

What a lovely place to stay! Close to shopping and historical areas. A great place to stay and go on a walking tour.

We enjoyed our stay at Tivoli Avenida Liberdade. It was very nice and we experienced a great customer service. The only downside was having to wait for the check-in, but they let us use the spa before the check-in to compensate the waiting time.

A Great Retreat with Breathtaking Views of the Southern Coast and Atlantic Ocean!

This hotel was the last one of our trip and it was very unique being right on the coast, the view was amazing. I highly recommend staying at least two nights to have time to recharge.

The boat tour on the coast of the Algarve was a pleasant activity to do to enjoy the views of the coasts. However, we couldn't enter the cave for safety due to weather conditions, which made the activity be shorter and less interesting.

Amazing! Great port and amazing lunch. Also appreciated the tour, as our first introduction to porto.

Great experience to see the valley via car and the short boat ride. Port and the tour were best at the first winery. Tour guide, wine and port were not great at the second.

Highly recommend this day trip - amazing houses and castles, and a lovely little town

Batalha Monastery was amazing, probably my favorite monastery we visited Nazare was warm and lovely, a fun little beach town And Obidos was really interesting. It was very crowded on the day we went, so avoid the Chocolate festival!

This hotel is so unique. Beautiful with interesting architecture. Room was large with a unique floor plan. The staff was lovely and so helpful. Perfect location within the walls of Evora.

We loved this hotel. Wonderful staff and delicious food. The rooms were large and beautifully decorated. Great central location for Lagos.

We liked this hotel. The room was small but clean and comfortable. The staff was great and helpful. The location is central but a bit of a walk to old town Lisbon.

This hotel is in a great location for Porto. Parking is a bit of hike from the hotel. The staff was great and the breakfasts were delicious. Rooms were just OK.

We loved our evening sail in Lisdon. Mary and Hele were so sweet and gave us lots of history of Lisdon. Really enjoyable way to see the sunset.

Almost sumptuous rooms and a very friendly and competent staff. Very well located for tourist purposes.

Well located, very professional staff, and a great location. This hotel provided a great start to our visit.

We had a room and a half at the hotel. That is, we had a very nice regular room, with a loft above containing another bed and another bathroom. We had a great view of the street. Excellent breakfast.

Our room was extremely compact, and arranged in an unusual manner. For example, after using the toilet, one had two walk around the shower a few feet more to find the sink. However, the accommodations themselves- for example, the bed- were fine. The breakfast was excellent, and the staff were very friendly.

We regret only that we had only one night here. The hotel is a pleasure to the eyes as well as providing excellent accommodations. The staff are friendly and competent.

Fado music is unique. Hearing it performed in a neighborhood Cafe/ restaurant, by local singers and musicians (plus a proprietress who took a personal interest in our being served and enjoying the multi-course meal.)

The leader of the tour was knowledgeable, very friendly, and quite humorous. We had a wide range of food and wines. I recommend the experience.

Great location and extremely helpful staff.

Excellent location and very helpful staff. Good breakfast.

Nice hotel and excellent restaurant. Very helpful staff, We would have preferred to be in the city of Evora.

Beautiful hotel with great views. Excellent restaurant. Very helpful staff and great location. Clean, comfortable and outstanding!

Good location, helpful staff. Hotel is just okay, food marginal.

Mannu did a great job. He was very knowledgeable about Portugal’s past and present. Very good local lunch.

Good tour, bad weather.

Outstanding experience. Dani was a great guide, who was passionate about her city and its culture. Food and drink samplings were very good. Highly recommend.

We special experience with Pepito as our guide. He was very informative and took us to interesting locales.

One of the highlights of our trip! The boat ride was great. The wineries and food were excellent! Very good guide. Lots of fun.

While the Octant is not charming on the outside, the people and the experience on the inside were outstanding, and the modern, green, design elements were original, attractive, and soothing. The team at reception (especially Luisa) and at the spa were so incredibly welcoming and eager to help in any way -- essentially, they conveyed a warm sense that "anything you would like to do, we can find a way to make happen," from booking us a slot to enjoy the thermal bath experience as a family to recommending and giving directions to their favorite hikes on the island. I only regret that the weather was not warm enough for us to enjoy the spectacular rooftop pool and bar area (though we might have hunkered down into the wind and done so anyway, if the pool had appeared to be heated, since the views and design were so amazing) The breakfast buffet (included) was a true feast and allowed us to savor local products as well as more familiar ones. In particular, the staff came to our rescue in the middle of the night when my daughter got terribly sick with food poisoning -- although they were down to a tiny overnight crew without anyone from housekeeping, the two men manning the fort rallied with whatever resources and creativity they had to help us clean up and set up an extra cot in our room when she could not stay in hers.

Tremendously welcoming and helpful front desk staff -- they greeted us with a local pineapple liqueur, communicated with a local restaurant for us, and put out breakfast for us to grab when we had to depart for the airport at 4 a.m. (!). The spa treatments were phenomenal, and the thermal bath suite - both indoor and outdoor -- was open around the clock and, while actively used by many guests, never felt crowded (though it would be extra nice if some of their lovely herbal water or cold tea brews were available poolside). Although the bedrooms are small and have unimpressive views, the hotel overall provides an indulgent experience -- great food, beautiful greenery everywhere - - but with a laid-back tone: guests wander around in their spa robes, the fun cocktail bar has a wealth of games, the dining room combines chic, grown-up eco-design with a foosball table. Perfect for a refuge for adventuring in the region!

Loved this place! It was like having an AirBNB with the services of a hotel. The location was great, it’s an easy walk to most things in Porto and yet perfectly quiet at night. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with all of the staff, particularly Diogo. The place itself had a full kitchen with a washer, living room, and 2 floors - 2 bedrooms upstairs. This would be a great place for anyone who needs to stay for a long period of time. The breakfast offered was always good and a little different each day. Note: This might be a challenge for someone with mobility issues as there are steps to enter the hotel and several steps to get up to the bedrooms. Traveler tip: If you are relying on wi-fi during your travels, ask the hotel for their travel phone device that has maps and recommendations loaded - nice feature but we didn’t know about it until last night there.

It was clean, quiet and safe with all the normal amenities. Staff was friendly. We loved our little “suite” set-up. Had one main shared door and then each room had its own locking door - perfect for families or friends traveling together.

We were given a great overview of Porto. Sara was a lovely guide and knew her history. She told us tips along the way that helped us navigate on our own afterwards.

We loved our ride to Douro Valley. Ivo was our driver but he’s also a guide and knows both Porto & Douro Valley. We learned so much from him. He’s the BEST!! One of our favorite moments was going off the beaten path and seeing an area that we would have never seen on our own.

The boat was perfectly fine, the Captain was pleasant and the ride on the river was relaxing. We only did an hour and that was plenty of time. We got lucky with nice weather but there is an enclosed cabin if it were to rain and they have blankets on board too. The reason for the 3 stars is it was a private boat trip and nothing special l. We had to download an app which made it feel impersonal. I could understand having to use an app with a public boat trip where everyone speaks a different language but this trip was just for us. It just wasn’t special.

First we had lunch and then did a winery tour with a tasting. The restaurant within the hotel, was fine dining with beautiful views. Wine pairing with delicious food. I traveled with college aged daughters who had not tried wine before, this added to the fun of the experience. The wine was great! Many options to pick from for the tasting and can also make purchases. The grounds were simply beautiful even in the off season.

We had Pedro as our guide, he was great! Even though he's originally from Porto, he was very knowledgeable about Lisbon and its history. He was up for adapting the tour in any way that we wanted, our preference was for him to show us the highlights and give us a lay of the land so that we could navigate on our own afterwards. We enjoyed our personal conversations with him, he was very natural and adaptable. He gave us some great recommendations along the way and shared many good tips too. I should have taken notes as he referenced things because later on I realized we wanted to go to a restaurant that he recommended and had to reach back out - got our answer though which we appreciated. The tour ends on a very special note with wine tasting and pairings. It was the perfect way to relax and end the tour.

This was such a unique experience to Portugal. We typically are not night owls and tend to eat dinner on the early side. We were given the option of the earlier Fado or later and chose the later because it's the one that the Portuguese people tend to join and enjoy. We wanted a local's perspective and we got it!

This is a beautiful and charming town and we were happy to see it. The palace was nice but there were lines although they moved quickly. The grounds (gardens and lakes) are pretty, be sure to walk around. We didn't need a full day in Sintra, but it was nice to see.

This was a little more touristy and scripted. That said, our driver was personable and tried to make it enjoyable for us. To discover Belem you need to drive to get out there if you are staying in the heart of Lisbon. We weren't fans of being driven in a TukTuk on the busy streets. Our driver was fine and there weren't any problems, but having done it, I think I would have chosen another option to get out to Belem.

Very well located hotel, our room has river view and balcony . Staff is so kind , do all their best to make our stay the most pleasant .

Very nice boutique hotel , well situated

Such a nice hotel and staff

Very modern reception area, room average size a bit stuffy

The Douro Valley excursion was a lovely experience, but nothing too remarkable. We enjoyed the wine and olive oil tastings, as well as the relaxing river cruise. The scenery was beautiful, and it was a nice break from the city. Overall, it was a delightful day out.

Everything was good, but we wish we had more time and someone with us to show us the oldest university. Unfortunately, we skipped that visit because we didn't know where to start from.

This was the highlight of our trip. It was so interesting to taste the local cuisine from a lovely couple home. The food was delicious and something you wouldn't normally find in a restaurant.

We spent three days in Lagos, and everything was lovely. I would do it again.

All guides were high-quality and were very accommodating towards my husband. But Braga's guide was exceptionally awesome!