João Branco

Joao and team provided an exceptional service for our family trip to Portugal. Having someone with local knowledge helped us find great hotels and tours. We were pampered with airport transfers, private walking tours in Lisbon and Porto, wine tasting in Duoro region, hiking in the mountains with a guide who shared with us pumpkin jam made by his Mom with local bread and cheese. While using drivers for Lisbon, Porto and Duoro we rented a car to travel to the mountains and Algarve and Portugal roadways are easy to drive. Our time in the Algarve was our highlight, kayaking, hiking and swimming. We finished off with two relaxing days in Cascais where pool time was a perfect end. Joao and team checked in daily to let us know timing for our next day which was lovely as I didn’t need to think about these details. Their support in planning our trip as we tweaked and changed activities, dates etc was fantastic and took away tons of hours of internet research and gave us the confidence in what we were booking. And they did all the booking. Truly exceptional service and local knowledge. I would recommend Across Portugal to anyone planning to visit Portugal.

Hotel Reviews

Condes de Azevedo Palace

Porto

Wow. We walked into our two bedroom suite and we couldn’t believe how nice. Great location for sightseeing.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Great access to sightseeing historic sights and river front.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Vila Galé Cascais

Cascais

A little dated. Very family friendly.

Authenticity & Character

While situated adjacent to historic buildings, this is more of a standard hotel and is dated.

Location

Close to the coast, and the Inferno. About 15 mins walk to town.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Montebelo Lisbon Downtown Apartments

Lisboa

Great location to central historic district of Lisbon. Nice 2 bedroom unit. Self check in.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Self check in, so only connection with staff was through What’s App.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pousada da Serra da Estrela - Historic Hotel

Covilha

Cool location up the mountain. Restaurant was ok, but not great. We found a pub 5 mins up the hill further that had more atmosphere and good food for our second night.

Authenticity & Character

Interesting history.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Unveil the Fairytale Villa of Sintra with a Private Driver Service

Portugal

Due to wild fire risk Sintra palace was closed and our driver was hesitant due to traffic to travel into the village. We were a bit disappointed in hindsight. Lovely lunch restaurant recomendation.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Lots of personal recommendations and history to share.

Transport

Immerse Yourself in the Portuguese Culture by Experiencing a Fado Dinner

Portugal

Very neat experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Historic Odyssey Walking Tour of Lisbon

Lisbon

Be ready to walk with Claudia. We did almost 20,000 steps thru short cuts that only a local would know. Lots of historical knowledge and a wonderful private wine tasting and charcuterie at the end.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Porto's Historic Odyssey on a Private Walking Tour

Porto

Great way to see the highlights of the city and go back to spend more time inside. Incredible knowledge of the city and history. The train station is beautiful and tells such a story.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Douro River Escape: 1-Hour Exclusive Cruise

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hike & Bite with Peaks & Paths

Serra da Estrela Nature Park

Local guide shared with us locally made products including his Mom’s pumpkin jam. Our hike was adjusted due to wild fire risk that closed the National Park. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna and trails we did at the peak.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

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

Portugal

Driver was knowledgeable. We learned about cork trees!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ponta da Piedade Small Group Kayak Adventure

Portugal

Great trip….small kayak tour…it was just the four of us. Lovely coastline to explore and helpful guides.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I was truly impressed by the level of constant communication and attention to detail that Joao provided to our family for our trip. This was our first trip to Portugal. Beginning with the early planning and itinerary, I could tell this was going to be a professional and customized adventure. The excursions we went on, the wine tastings, the top notch hotels, the restaurant recommendations — all were excellent. We felt our family mattered again from the regular check-ins each day and availability. I would highly recommend this team. As long as other teams in different parts of the world would be as good as Joao, Diana, drivers Ricardo and Carlos…I would gladly return to Kim Kim and Across Portugal.

Hotel Reviews

Eurostars Porto Douro

Porto

Nice hotel, great buffet. Staff was friendly although one was a bit serious.

Authenticity & Character

Like more boutique hotels

Location

Close enough to the city center while remaining just far away enough for a nice quiet stay.

Staff

Can’t remember names. Most very nice

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bathroom very nice. Views of river pwere great

Belmar Spa & Beach Resort

Lagos

Really loved this hotel. Had I known how great it would be I would probably have preferred to stay longer here than in Lisbon.

Authenticity & Character

Loved the resort feel

Location

Great access to beach

Staff

Everyone accommodating and friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

The bed was the only thing that wasn’t that comfortable but loved the apartment

Hotel Lisboa Plaza

Lisbon

Very nice classic hotel. I wasn’t as impressed as other hotels though and maybe it was because it was an older hotel. Would have preferred a hotel with a pool even if a small one.

Authenticity & Character

Felt like I was in downtown Lisbon, classic

Location

Close walking distance to downtown

Staff

Very accommodating, professional and friendly

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very nice although our room had a slight musty smell

Activity Reviews

Porto's Historic Odyssey on a Private Walking Tour

Porto

Our guide Sara was super knowledgeable and took us to so many great places on the walking tour. Had we not done this, probably would not have ventured to all these parts.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Knowledgeable, nice, punctual

Transport

We just walked.

The Flavors of Port Wine - Sip & Discover

Porto

Learned a lot about the making of port wine. We were with many people though and when checking in they said we would have a cheese and maybe chocolate pairings but since we’re lumped with many others we were waiting for this. I had to ask and they finally brought us some cheeses.

Quality of Experience

Nice tour

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Didn’t seem to know/remember we had tastings.

Transport

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

Portugal

We loved this trip - the scenery, river boat trip and visit to Pacheca. Highly recommend.

Quality of Experience

Excellent overall

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our driver Ricardo was always amazing from the start. He was patient, stopped at places etc. all excursion staff excellent as well.

Transport

Pick up from hotel and dropped us off same place. Always reliable.

Private Douro River Escape: 1-Hour Exclusive Cruise

Portugal

Really fun boat tour with amazing views!

Quality of Experience

Private with wine to sip

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Friendly and knowledgeable

Transport

Ricardo always was great

Across Portugal curated an absolutely perfect first trip to Portugal for our family of five, including three young kids, ages ten, eight, and four.

Joao and the team could not have done a better job finding us the perfect resorts in each of our three stays (Lisbon, the Algarve, Cascais) — exactly what we needed in terms of space and accommodations to make traveling with kids stress free and incredibly enjoyable.

The experiences booked for us in each place were perfect — magical, high quality experiences that were clearly the best of the best in each spot, allowing us to feel like we saw and experienced so much in the relatively short time we had. My expectations were exceeded in every way: our accommodations, our driver, our activities, and the level of professionalism and ease of communication throughout.

We are not easy people to please, and we were blown away. We hope to return to Portugal again soon to see even more of the country and will certainly use Across Portugal again.

Joao and team did an excellent job to customize our experience. Excellent time all around. Thanks to the team!

Our local specialist Joao was amazing. He was so helpful planning day trips and restaurant reservations. We had the best time!

All of the guides and drivers were outstanding. The hotels were very nice and comfortable and the hotel staff in all three hotels were friendly and helpful. The trip planning and communication were excellent and you were terrific at meeting the individual needs and interests of various group members - such as my wife and I staying for an additional day in Lisbon. Well done - would use your services again without hesitation.

I think overall the trip was really well planned. Joao was very available and even helped arrange a gift for my son for his birthday. I would have preferred to stay in Cascais rather then Lisbon and just take trips day to Lisbon sites from Cascais as one night in Cascais felt too short-was a very lovely place. Evo and Carlos were both excellent drivers, super friendly, and great with my kids! They both went above and beyond. Carlos even parked at the airport to help us with our luggage and was patient with us when we overslept! Everyone was very nice. The only issue I had was at Cascade wellness resort with the showers not draining properly. My main feedback would be I wish there was more transparancy in the individual cost of each items rather then being bundled together. The cooking class, boat tours, winery were all wonderful. Sara did a fantastic job with the walking tour of Porto. Joao and his team were always very available on what's app whenever we had a question. Overall, I really appreciated the seamlessness of the trip!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Cascais Miragem

Cascais

Very very nice hotel! Wish we could have spent more time here.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Front desk staff seemed a bit confused.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Britania Art Deco

Lisbon

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Condes de Azevedo Palace

Porto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cascade Wellness Resort

Lagos

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

rooms were a bit run down

Activity Reviews

Two-Hour Private River Cruise in the Picturesque city of Porto

Porto

Stunning views. Wish we had known there would be little food on this as by the time we ended and got back was almost 10 pm and we were starving.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Unveil the Fairytale Villa of Sintra with a Private Driver Service

Portugal

Carlos did an amazing job with this tour and catered to our preferences.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

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

Portugal

This winery was absolutely beautiful!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Farewell

Lisbon Int. Airport (LIS)

Carlos did a wonderful job picking us up on time and giving us tricks for getting through the crazy Lisbon airport.

Embark on a Flavorful Cooking Class with a Meal at the Farm

Portugal

It was really nice how they catered to our vegetarian preferences. Food was yummy and was a fun experience!

Quality of Experience

Food

João · Jun 4
I was very happy with the way the trip turned out especially since we started planning it very late. I don't remember when in April we actually got paired with Joao but we wanted to travel in late May so he didnt have much time to put something together and we changed our minds a few times! He did a great job with lodging, especially the Grand Real Villa Italia in Cascais and the Britania Art Deco in Lisbon. Both were in great locations so that we could walk around both cities!
He hired very good drivers - they were on time , knowledgeable and very friendly. They also could recommend places to eat and things to see in each location.
In Lisbon we did the side car tour of the city, which my entire family agrees was the best way to see Lisbon! The company was Bike By My Side and they were excellent! They were very passionate about Lisbon and Portugal and spoke English very well!
In Porto, we a gastronomic tour. That tour was ok. The guide Sara was very good, but the choices of food were not. We were expecting more items that were truly Portugese - we had a charcuterie board, bifana sandwich(which is Portugese) and then olive oil tasting and chocolate.
In Cascais we visited the village Sintra and did the Pena Palace hotel. The grounds of the Palace are extraordinary and worth touring. The palace was very crowded and if you have seen one palace in Europe you have seen them all. I would do the grounds skip the palace.
Joao had many other suggestions for us but we wanted to do our own exploring, so those were the onlyntours we did.
Joao and his team were always available via Whatsapp. They would respond right away!
I would definitely use him again!
Monica

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Britania Art Deco

Lisbon

Good location, helpful staff, great breakfast and a decanter of port in your room

Authenticity & Character

Location

could walk anywhere and great shoppping close by

Staff

Helpful in heading us in the right direction when we first got to Lisbon. Always had a smile

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grande Real Villa Italia

Cascais

beautiful ocean view, large rooms, pool is beautiful large breakfast

Activity Reviews

Unveil the Fairytale Villa of Sintra with a Private Driver Service

Portugal

grounds are gorgeous but the castle is overbooked and if you have been in one european castle you have been in allof them

Transport

Driver drove us around the mountain and to Cape Roca in Colares which is most western point of the European continent

Ride Through Time: Lisbon & Belém by Sidecar on a 3h tour

Lisbon

Only way to do a city tour in Lisbon! Very safe! Guides were very knowledgeable and fun! They were all Portugese natives and were passionate about their country1

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Exploring Porto's Rich History on an Exclusive Gastronomic Tour Through Time

Porto

Guide was good but the food was not very good. Charcuterie board, bifina sandwich, cod cakes and olive oil tasting and chocolate tasting

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff