Kimkim Trip Reviews for Portugal

We continued to be pleasantly surprised throughout the trip by all the information and experiences and local guides that Kim Kim sourced and provided for our trip. We felt like we had the most exciting and authentic experience and it felt very much tailored to the style and taste of travel we were looking for.
in the planning stages, Marina was great at adding and altering the trip to our needs as we figured out the days, pacing and activities we wanted to do. Marina was also very accommodating and managed to make changes to the trip while we were in Portugal which was amazing to be able to do this and allowed us to alter our travel stress-free.
Although the pre-planning and documents provided were amazing and easy to understand. I wish that we organized a call to discuss the trip with Marina, that was an oversight on our end. I think it would have been great to go through each day and be able to ask general questions.
It was amazing to have an App available with all travel information in one place. This is time-saving and made the trip easy to navigate while we were on the go!
I have already recommended Kim Kim to friends who are looking for some help booking their next vacation.

Hotel Reviews

Sapientia Boutique Hotel

Coimbra

Very cool hotel in the perfect location for a trip to Coimbra! The chef and staff very friendly and welcoming. I wish that they had a bellboy service to help with the bags to and from reception to the main streets, it is a little tricky coming in and out of the hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Vila Galé Douro Vineyards

Armamar

The exterior of the property and view is outstanding! The staff were very nice, friendly, and informative. The food was only OK, I recommend going out to dinner if possible. The rooms also had a great view but were also more on the basic and smaller side. I think it would help if they put less furniture in the rooms, we found it hard for 2 people to put our bags in the room and get ready to go out.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Porto Cooking Class & Market Visit

Porto

This was a true highlight of the trip! Our guide and chef were personable and knowledgeable. The food was OUTSTANDING! and tailored to our tastes.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Get to Know Lisbon with a Local

Lisbon

Our guide was very knowledgeable and we felt like we learned so much! She had great stories and antidotes of the past and present.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Get to know Porto by E-bike

Porto

Our guide was so cool and sweet! A local that loved his city and showed us some of the most beautiful beaches and parks in the city, it was a treat to see this on bike.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Day Excursion: Sintra, Cascais & Estoril

Portugal

We got a great showing of the area and our guide was very personable and knowledgeable! A wonderful day with lots of great spots and yummy food.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wine Tasting in the Douro Valley

Portugal

Our guide was fantastic! We had the best lunch experience, one of the best of the trip! and we were able to cater the day to our specific needs.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tiago was an excellent planner who really took the time to understand what we were looking for. No detail was too small for him and he even made a personal apperance at the airport and picked us up, which was a nice touch after corresponding for months over email and phone. His responsiveness was fantastic (before, during, and even after the trip), his suggestions spot on, and his guidance was extremely helpful.

Also to be praised are Diogo (our tour guide in Lisbon) and Paula (our guide in Porto). Both were friendly, patient, professional, knowledagble, and fun to be around. We thoroughly enjoyed their company, all of Portugal, and all of its lovely people (almost all of whom speak some English).

We drove over 700 miles in 10 days and it never seemed tedious or boring. Love the Douro Valley and Porto; Nazaré ansd Obidos are small towns not to be missed. Just surprise yourself sometimes; Portugal is cool everywhere. Wasn't too crazy about the Fado dinner in Lisbon, but 1 event of 50 is a negligible and to be expected on any vacation.

Thanks Tiago; you rock!!!

Hotel Reviews

Memmo Príncipe Real

Lisboa

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sintra Boutique Hotel

Sintra

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

MouraSuites Hotel

Largo da Porta de Moura, 7000-647 Évora, Portugal

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Quinta de la Rosa

Pinhão

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pestana Porto - A Brasileira

Porto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Olissippo Oriente

Lisbon

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Lisbon - half day guided visit

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Port Wine Tasting Tour

Porto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Enjoy Dinner with Live Fado Music

Lisbon

The host at the restaurant was pretty rude, claiming that we were late when we weren't/ The food, while authentic, was not too good and not generous. I think for $90 one could do much better.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Porto (Half-Day Guided Walking Tour)

Porto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The guides and drivers were amazing. Patricia was always, and easily, accessible both before and during our trip.

My trip, one of 3, to Azores and Portugal was enchanting. From the ease with which we were able to organize our trip through Kimkim, their web portal and our guide/orchestrator of our itinerary just perfect. Diogo Lino was a good listener as to our desires, a strong and timely communicator and had a stunning sense of history, pride and a story telling. I and we felt he was watching over us throughout our trip until our arrival home . . . a seamless adventure.

Sao Miguel: the town of Furnas, our home base at Terra Nostra, and meanering around the island all magical. Each day brought delights beyond my imagination. Once on the mainland, Coimbra and the Old University and Library brought goose bumps. An amazing octupus lunch in the hills of Nazarene and the intimate Fado experience in Lisbon unique and wonderful.

We were impressed and happy with Pedro's attitude and service.He was faced with surprises which he dealt with efficiently.The whole plan was according to our expectations: a good mixture of walking and driving.I want to especially recommend Jorge who went out of his way in complying with our needs and wishes.
I definitely will recommend Kim Kim

Hotel Review

Vila Galé Cascais

Cascais

Authenticity & Character

Location

The vicinity to the sea

Staff

The guys at the reception were curt.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was clean and the bed spacious

Activity Reviews

8-Hour Private Driver Tour of Braga and Guimarães from Porto

Porto

Quality of Experience

Everything!

Quality of Experience

Everything!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The drive, the view, the giudance.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The drive, the view, the giudance.

Transport

The car was clean and comfortable

Transport

The car was clean and comfortable

Immerse Yourself in the Portuguese Culture by Experiencing a Fado Dinner

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The driver couldn't bring us to the restaurant.Theplace was noisy to the point of disturbing the atmosphere.The acoustic was to intense.The food was not very good.But the music was wonderful and compensated.

Transport

The trip was wonderful and the timing each day went off without a hitch. We had good communications with Marina in planning the trip and when we added another couple to the original 6 travelers very late in the process she was able to change things around to accommodate the drivers and the hotels seamlessly.
The tour guides were knowledgeable and flexible when we wanted to deviate from the planned program. Their language skills made us envious, and we were never at a loss to understand what they were conveying or asking questions to better understand what we were seeing.
The hotels we stayed in were very nice and always located in great areas for restaurants, sightseeing and shopping. All in all, it was a wonderful experience for the four couples, and a memorable experience for four brothers and their wives.

Our trip far surpassed our expectations. Marina listened and executed our 2-week adventure. She did an amazing job. She was there all the way from start to finish . I have never used KimKim before, but they are my go to for all my international travels.

We had a great time in Portugal! The tour was well planned, so we were able to see a lot in a short period of time. Our guide, Diogo, was also fantastic! He was humorous and smart- we learned a lot and felt comfortable with our guide!

We had great guides and drivers, especially Valter, Francisco, Sophia, Ricardo and Daniel.

The trip was just the right combination of structure and spontaneity, and we didn’t get exhausted from doing too much.

Diogo, our guide and trip planner was a joy to work with. He understood our interests and did an outstanding job planning our long and varied itinerary. We had the pleasure of meeting him in Lisbon, as he was our tour guide for our last 4 days. He was patient and open to our requests. His historical and present day knowledge of Lisbon and the surrounding areas is astonishing! Our favorite visits included The Azores- truly a magical place! Nazare and the Pangaea Restaurant for the many octopus dishes and the beach town feel. The Peña Palace and surrounding park will never be forgotten. The kind, caring people we met everywhere we went made our trip very special.

Hotel Reviews

Terra Nostra Garden Hotel

Furnas

NH Collection Porto Batalha

Porto

Thomar Boutique Hotel

Tomar

PortoBay Marquês

Lisbon

Activity Reviews

Port Wine Tasting Tour

Porto

Guided Tour of Lisbon

Lisbon

Enjoy Dinner with Live Fado Music

Lisbon

The location is like being in someone’s kitchen. It is a tiny spot and little space to move around. The food was good. Mostly like small tasting menu. The singers and musicians were excellent.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cascais & Sintra Guided Visit

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Évora Guided Day Trip

Portugal

Charming town with a long history. Loved the drive through this area. Stopping to visit the mystery stones, seeing the cork trees, wineries and unique sites in Evora was an unexpected fabulous day. Diogo, our guide , has so much information about everything ! He answered every single question! We had many..

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My group and I had such an amazing time in Portugal. We visited many places/towns around Lisbon and Porto. We got to see many wonderful local and historical places. The whole experience was memorable including the wine tasting, sunset cruise, and Fado dinner. Diogo very professional, extremely knowledgeable, accommodating, and had a great sense of humor.

I would like to thank Tiago for preparing a amazing road book, there was a lot to see and do but that is exactly what I asked for in my early conversation with Tiago.
Highlights of the trip:
Two fantastic days with Joel guiding us around Lisbon and Sintra and picking incredible lunch restaurants - thank you Joel he was very helpful introducing us to Portugal

Staying at Quinta do Tedo in the Douro Valley, great small hotel and vineyards- amazing views and a great diner

Porto- great Hotel, Mercure Porto Centro, wonderful location and a very informative 1/2 day walking tour with Debora, she did a great job showing us the city

Probably one of the major highlights of the trip was spending the afternoon at Herdade de Coelheiros, near Evora,touring the cork farm, vineyards, olive trees and walnut orchard , this is a amazing 800 hectares of working farm. We toured the entire property by jeep with a wine tasting afterwards. This place is not to be missed!

Lagos - a very good half day catamaran tour along the coastal cliffs and caves- this was another wonderful day with Discovery Tours.

In general the trip was fantastic due Portugal being such a clean beautiful country with very happy and helpful people. In most cases everyone I met were always happy to help, direct, guide, suggest and always willing to make our stay enjoyable- the people are wonderful! The food was always well prepared and delicious either in a fancy restaurant or a small bar. This was the best seafood I have ever eaten. Tiago had some great recommendations for dining- thank you!

Absolutely Perfect! James was spot on with all of our requests and interests in visiting certain spots in Portugal. All of our transfers ran smoothly and the tour guides Frank, Sophia, Daniel, Ricardo, Sonia, Fransisco, Malia and Valter were fantastic! They all were extremely informative, warm, friendly and provided lots of laughs! I would highly recommend Kim Kim's services. Our local contact Chaima, was always available and frequently checked in with us to be sure we were doing well. We would not have been able to cover so much had we done this on our own. We enjoyed every highlight from the history in old Lisbon, bakeries, walking tours, Fados, wineries, magnificent views of the Douro Valley, resort town of Cascais...the list is endless! Deepest thanks to James for organizing such a magical, memorable trip!

Hotel Reviews

Pestana Cidadela Cascais

Cascais

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

PortoBay Liberdade

Lisbon

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pousada Porto - Rua das Flores

Porto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Take a Tuk-Tuk Tour to Spectacular Lookout Points

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Lisbon with a Private Walking Tour

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sunset Fado & Tapas

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Food

more choices for dinner ...we only had 2 choices

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Trip to Sintra & Pena Palace

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Enjoy a Private Walking Tour of Porto

Porto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Transfer from Lisbon to Porto

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Trip to the Douro Valley for a Wine Tour & River Cruise

Porto

Amazing day with Fransisco! The vineyards and the Douro River cruise were just beautiful. The view were breath taking. The day was magical!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

everything!!!! Trip is a must on your visit to Porto

Day Trip from Porto to Coimbra & Nazaré, End in {{end_location}}

Portugal

Spectacular day with Valter! He made the day so much fun with stops in Coimbra, Nazare and then with final stop in Cascais. The views were amazing, the stops were great ...can not say enough !

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Melia who gave us the tour in Coimbra was delightful. She knew so much about the university ...it was all so interesting !

Transport

THE BEST TRIP !! Every aspect was top notch. All of our drivers were wonderful very nice, friendly and leaving us with so much information and history. So many great moments.
Thank you!

I think everyone (Francisco, Ricardo, Andre, Nelson, Diego, another Andre, Joao (and Daniel) and Claudia - all of whom were phenomenal in their treatment of 3 ladies visiting Portugal for the first time. Each and every one of them engaged in thorough and pleasant conversations teaching us about their country and sharing stories of great interest to us all.
History lessons accompanied by a genuine desire to let us learn about Portugal and its peoples were carefully and easily given.
I cannot say enough about the welcomeness felt by all and the easiness to get around with help from our Portuguese guides.
It was a trip we will recommend to many of our friends. Pedro listened to all of our needs and fulfilled them all. His constant check-in of how things were going made us all very cared for! Thank you so much and we look forward to visiting your beautiful country with beautiful people once again.

Hotel Reviews

The Noble House

Evora

Architecturally magnificent with an antiquated feel. Plenty of room to relax in a somewhat small setting. It has a lovely small courtyard in front to sit and breakfast can also be taken outside on the deck. Very quiet!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Madalena by The Beautique Hotels

Lisbon

Small but unique in all its lovely working personnel. We were welcomed with open arms and always being accompanied with directions, our personal needs, restaurant suggestions and information etc. Truly a home away from home......Helpful in every way! Breakfast crews were delightful...... We would recommend Madalena highly....also location was perfect!

Authenticity & Character

Attention to detail.....

Location

Easy to walk everywhere from there!

Staff

All of them.....so very willing to help in any way.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Comfortable rooms and clean!

Pestana Porto - A Brasileira

Porto

Great location and lovely rooms. Dining on the sidewalk or inside had an interesting menu and staff was extremely cordial.

Authenticity & Character

Feeling of old and new.

Location

Easy walk to the river and train station.

Staff

Attentive!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Easy access to amenities and bar...plenty of room for two.

Pestana Cidadela Cascais

Cascais

Magnificent art work in large open lobby with a library to sit and ponder how they made this fortress into lovely rooms with outside sky views. Very interesting and easy walk to the beach and town . Hard not to like Cascais and where it is but the fortress sealed our fondness.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Seamless Discovery - The Ultimate Douro Valley Experience with Private Driver Service

Portugal

The views, the driver, the winery and wine! A relaxing day in the vineyards of Douro cannot be missed.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ability to talk to the driver and hear easily the stories of Duoro Valley.

We could not be more pleased with the trip that Marta arranged for us to visit Portugal. From our time in Lisbon, our spectacular hike along the coast in the Sintra Region and our final days in Porto, we were consistently impressed with the high levels of service, the lovely accommodations and the ease of executing the trip as planned via the travel App. We were able to stay in touch with Marta the entire time and she was always available to connect with us if we had any questions. We found the Tour group for our hike to be exceptionally kind and flexible. We had a possibility of poor weather and every day; the team was willing to reschedule pick up's and or modify our trek so we could avoid any issues. The GPS App for the treks was very easy to use and we were able to follow along the paths with confidence. We want to say a special thanks to Marta as she was EXTREMELY helpful to us as we had to delay our trip slightly. She graciously helped us to reschedule all of our plans and we could not have been more grateful for her patience. We have used KimKim in the past and we will absolutely use them for our next trip.

We were impressed and very pleased with each contact we made ...The trip was planned beautifully. We loved our hotel accomodations. We were so impressed with Portugal as a whole. The country works so well...health care, environmentally sustainable, education...a relaxed friendly affordable country

Hotel Reviews

Madalena by The Beautique Hotels

Lisbon

excellent location...excellent service..delicious breakfast...lovely room

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pestana Porto - A Brasileira

Porto

Great location...excellent breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Noble House

Evora

Pestana Cidadela Cascais

Cascais

Wow..What a beautiful hotel Great location..modern and cool

Location

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Historic Odyssey Walking Tour of Lisbon

Lisbon

We loved it and our guide was excellent

Quality of Experience

Immerse Yourself in the Portuguese Culture by Experiencing a Fado Dinner

Lisbon

It was wonderful...the music was beautiful

Quality of Experience

Food

Unveil the Fairytale Villa of Sintra with a Private Driver Service

Portugal

We loved our driver Nelson..we enjoyed the entire day with him. He was excellent...great smooth ride..relaxed..beautiful playlist of music

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Porto's Historic Odyssey on a Private Walking Tour

Porto

Andre was very nice and informative

Quality of Experience

The Flavors of Port Wine - Sip & Discover

Porto

We were surprised it was private tour...It was wonderful...and tasting was great..served with delicious cheese

Quality of Experience

Seamless Discovery - The Ultimate Douro Valley Experience with Private Driver Service

Portugal

I was concerned at first that Andre had a cold but he explained it was just an allergy. He was a fast driver but drove well. He was very engaging and gave us an excellent all day tour. We enjoyed getting to know him and share stories

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Indulge in Elegance on a Guided Winery Tour Infused with Tastings and a Delicious Lunch

Portugal

We were again surprised it was a private tour...It was excellent. What a beautiful vineyard and winery....so beautiful. We LOVED our lunch

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Scenic Voyage along the Douro River aboard an Exclusive Boat

Portugal

It was beautiful..hot and just beautiful country

Quality of Experience

Step Back in Time with a Private Guided Tour of Évora and the Bones Chapel!

Portugal

It was a beautiful town and our guide was calm and interesting We had a little mix up in the chapel of Bones..too crowded for us...and we lost our guide for a while..waited outside..It was nice

Beatriz found us some great places to stay. A stone house in a small farming village near Portugal's national park; and in Morocco, Riad Fes was one of the nicest hotels I've been in. The drivers and guides in Morocco were all friendly and well informed.

Hotel Reviews

Riad Fès - Relais & Châteaux

Fès

Incredible architectural details, small, personal scale, and probably the best food we had in Morocco.

Authenticity & Character

Fancy because the craftsmanship is so beautiful, not just because things are expensive

Location

Staff

Really polished service

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pousada Porto - Rua das Flores

Porto

Fine -- clean, nice bathrooms, small balcony onto courtyard. But cramped, and on an overwhelmingly touristy crowded street.

Authenticity & Character

It's pretty generic.

Location

It's really not fun to be on the single most crowded touristy street in all of Porto.

Staff

They were somewhat understaffed, and had signs everywhere trying to push breakfast attendance earlier.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Riad Zyo

Rabat

It was fine, and in a convenient location. Not extensive service and no food. Certainly nowhere near as nice as Riad Fes, though I imagine it is a lot cheaper.

Casa das Afonsas

Barral, Portugal

Very basic in some ways -- the stone house has almost no windows and bad flurescent lights -- but this was a surprise hit on the itinerary. It's in a super-cute town that's mostly stone houses and farming, sheep everywhere. The town cafe is a sister of the Casa das Afonsas family, super friendly, with all just locals hanging out. Pretty short drive to a part of the park where nothing is touristy at all -- the hikes are just from one tiny stone village to another, with few people around.

Authenticity & Character

Don't send people here who want luxury every night, but escaping tourisim into a beutiful landscape is its own luxury.

Location

Close to a gorgeous but totally untouristed part of the national park.

Staff

Friendly family hosting.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Oak Nature

Vieira do Minho, Portugal

Extremely half-baked. Amazing sunset views from the pool, which is also really nice. Terrible sewer gas smells in bathrooms. Cheesy construction quality. Inexplicable mistakes like ugly sponsored ice cream brand umbrellas screwed to the deck smack in the middle of the best view. No real dinner, but a major hassle to drive up and down the mountain to get to restaurants.

Authenticity & Character

Cheesy modernism, poorly constructed.

Location

Amazing view from the pool. Really hard to get to and far from food. Rooms are mostly overgrown by trees and do not really have views, though the trees are pleasant. The town is on a pretty lake in a beatiful valley and near some of the park's best hikes like Poco Azul (really bonkers) but the town itself is kind of a junky crowded tourism hub.

Staff

What staff there were were really nice. There's not supposed to be dinner, but they made us snacks off hours anyway.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The place is visually clean, but they never really figured out the sewer gas stench in the bathroom, and other rooms they offered us were musty plus they try to hide the must and sewer smell with aggressive electric air fresheners.

Activity Review

Half-Day Guided Tour of Fes Medina

Fes

Hakim was great -- informative, happy to tailor the walk to what we cared about, knew the medina incredibly well.

Marina was exceptionally helpful and responsive in working with me to plan this 2 week trip. We visited Lisbon, Évora, Funchal (Island of Madeira), Porto & Cascais. All of our daytime tours and intercity transportation came together like clock work. Our hotel properties at each stop were well located and provided comfort with nice amenities. Everything was great but we especially highly recommend a visit to Madeira. We won't hesitate to use KimKim for our future travel planning.

This is the 3rd time we've used Kimkim for our travels and it was a bit disappointing. Our first hotel, the Casual Belle Epoque was supposedly 4 star and it should have been a 3. The room, the breakfast, it just was not a 4 star hotel. The last day we came in and the room smelled of sewage. We contacted Marina and said we would like a different hotel for our last night in Lisbon but it was going to be yet more money and a cancellation fee.
The drivers were another issue. We had a day excusion to Sintra, Cascais & Estoril with a guide/driver named Paulo. We felt we were being hustled the entire time. He had us go to this port wine place for a tasting in Sintra. Obviously he had an interest there as he was pouring samples for people. Somehow we let them talk us into buying a way overpriced bottle of port (we later learned from an actual winery owner in the Douro Valley that we were scammed). Then he wanted us to go to this specific restaurant on the coast, near Cascais. We went in and waited then decided we simply didn't want to wait and left to walk the beach. He wanted to know what happened, why did we leave, clearly he had an interest there too.
We had another driver take us from Lisbon to Porto via Coimbra. The problem here was the driver spoke no english and did not understand we had a 3 hour stop in coimbra. We had to call our Kim kim consultant Marina, she had to call him, then we got it straightened out. Problem two arose because he got lost in Porto trying to find our hotel. Heavy traffic, he had a hotel in his phone with the same name but it was in a different city and he could not get the phone to refresh. We pulled up the address in our phone for him, then changed the language to portuguese, all the while he's trying to drive in rush hour traffic, it was not fun. We called Marina and requested english speaking drivers and she said she couldn't guarantee that as they were just there to get us from point A to point B. Well that's not exactly true when he had no idea about our scheduled side trip to Coimbra and he gets lost trying to find our hotel.
We did a day trip to the Douro Valley which was nice. The driver we had for this was Rui, very nice and did a good job. We had told Marina that we did not want to do this riverboat ride down the Douro River, just not our thing. She insisted and said "everyone does this". We told her in another conversation we didn't want to do this. At that point we assumed we had to because it must be the way to get us from one destination to another, it wasn't. It was simply a riverboat ride up and down the river in a packed boat in the pouring rain. We would not have had to do this at all. It made us wonder, she must get a kick back from putting us on the boat.
Our last day in the Porto we had a fantastic guide, Sandra, she was informative, fun and was the kind of guide we were used to getting when booking with Kimkim.
The only time Marina was in contact with us (not including the many times we had to contact her with problems with drivers, etc) was the night before our departure. This certainly was unlike any other trip we've done with you before. This trip was our most expensive and the least well run, we're very disappointed.