Rita Pagano

I had an amazing trip! Rita did a good job of booking exactly what I wanted, and it all worked out in the end. I specifically stated that I wanted Hilton hotels to take advantage of my Diamond status. She did what I asked and all of my Hilton hotels gave me free upgrades to incredible rooms. It only elevated the luxury that I requested.

Starting from my pickup from the Lisbon airport. Marcus arrived to take me to my hotel. He was very nice (5-stars!) and got me to the hotel on time. He and I had a wonderful chat; he was new to Portugal (from Brazil) and so he had a lot of insight as newer person living in Portugal. I was able to meet up that night with a local for a homemade dinner. This is a highlight of the trip. Sofia and Carlos were so nice and welcoming and I had a great night with them. I almost wish that could be done in other cities like Porto. The meal was bacalhau a Bras and it was so good! I thought about it days later.

My tour guide Filipa took me around lisbon, gave me my first taste of Ginjinha and Eduardino. It was a nice walk around the city. I also got an escorted tour to Sintra, Cascais and Estoril. Paulo Pires was my driver. We stopped at his wife's cafe for a little breakfast that was delicious, and from there the tour went well. I sat in the front seat with him and we just had a ball. He is a must use in the future for others. It was great to have a one-on-one guide so that things were at my own pace, including lunch.

Porto was great. My tour guide walked me around to all the great places I shouldn't miss. I walked that route she showed me two more days. I had the delicious francesinha with my friends I met up with who live in Porto. The Se Catedral Hilton was a lovely hotel. The room was great. I would like a screen on the window so I can open it without worry about bugs coming in. Otherwise everything was good. The staff remember me instantly, and the room service was great.

Driving was a panic for me initially, but it went well. Gave me a chance to see myself driving around the country. I want to do that again. I visited the Duoro Valley, and stayed in a winery with the food. Qunita do Tedo has a great restaurant. The serveres are very nice. The steak was so delicious I had to eat it twice.

I also visited Evora and had a great tour of a vineyard. I returned home with over 1,000 euros worth of wine.

This adventure was just what I wanted. Rita did such a good job. I recommended this to other, and I will likely be back to plan another trip. Please make sure I am made aware of the countries you support.

Hotel Reviews

Sé Catedral Hotel Porto, Tapestry Collection By Hilton

Porto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Évora Olive Hotel

Evora

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Meliá Lisboa Aeroporto

Lisbon

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

DoubleTree by Hilton Lisbon - Fontana Park

Lisboa

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Quinta do Tedo

Douro Valley

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Dinner With a Local

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Get to Know Lisbon with a Local

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Evening of Fado

Lisbon

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour and Tasting at Taylor’s Port Cellar

Porto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Day Excursion to Sintra, Cascais & Estoril

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Privately Guided Visit of Porto

Porto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Évora Food of the Gods Experience

Évora

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

From Porto to Douro Valley stopping in Amarante

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wine Experience in the Douro Valley & River Cruise

Douro Valley

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This was our third vacation in Europe using KimKim, and like the previous trips, they delivered! Our multi-city self-drive adventure in Andalucia was well coordinated. Our KimKim agent, Rita, arranged our rail and car transportation, secured professional walking guides, and made excellent recommendations for hotels, restaurants, and day excursions. Rita was a supportive partner in respecting our travel expectations and budget. Her thoughtful planning included unique experiences in Andalucia such as a tapas bar sampling, authentic flamenco, a Spanish guitar concert and a most memorable cooking experience. We look forward our next travel adventure with KimKim.

Hotel Reviews

Petit Palace Puerta de Triana

Seville

This hotel was in a great location, right in the heart of everything. The parking situation was a bit confusing, as they had a garage that we didn't know about in advance. Some advance notice about the parking would have been helpful, but the staff was able to direct us to a public parking lot nearby

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Petit Palace Plaza Malaga Hotel

Malaga

The GPS had us going in circles trying to locate this hotel, as it was in a pedestrian-only zone. We ended up having to call the hotel for directions to a nearby public. Otherwise, it was a lovely hotel in a wonderful location. No complaints!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Catalonia Ronda

Ronda

This was by far the best hotel of the trip. It felt luxurious and was in a fantastic location. I felt like I was living the high life staying here. Would highly recommend it to anyone.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Spanish Cooking Experience

Granada

This was an unexpectedly delightful experience. Meeting the chef at a market and getting to shop for our ingredients was a fun twist. We ended up spending about six hours with her at her farm, which was more than we anticipated but didn't interfere with our plans. It was a great day, and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves cooking and doesn't mind spending a bit of extra time on it.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rita made our last-minute trip planning very easy and I'm so grateful for her help! We had to cancel a trip to Morroco and decided on Portugal with very little time to plan. This is what she planned for us:

Porto food tour- fabulous guide Gabriel and great food- 100% enjoyed.

Douro Valley winery visit and river cruise. Overall a lovely experience but I think they were some issues with our guide. He was friendly and on-time but I think a bit confused about where and when we were supposed to be. He was actually a driver and not a guide. Communication was difficult. We were supposed to do a winery tour and then a river cruise but he went to the cruise first and arrived early and we had to wait an hour. Then we went to the winery, but we were late and missed the tour and the beginning of lunch. The winery (host, food, wine) was lovely and very enjoyable but I wish we would have had the whole experience.

Private day excursion to Braga & Guimaraes. Wonderful experience. Marlene was so kind and informative. She made sure we had a lovely day with great sites and great food.

Private morning tour of historic Coimbra- Bruno was fabulous. We enjoyed the education and the company.

Private bike tour of the Rio Formosa. Everything on this trip was so good but this was actually the low point. The first disappointment was that this tour began an hour-drive away from where we were staying- and I didn't realize that until maybe the day before. I wish Rita would have pointed this out and asked if that was an acceptable amount of travel (we had been doing a lot of driving). In planning, I was unsure that this was an activity that we would enjoy but Rita assured me that the area was beautiful and should not be missed, so I went with her advice. And again, our guide was very frienddly and warm and I think trying to do his best. What we did though was a very slow, three-hour bike ride through a marsh (kind of stinky and not scenic) with a guide who seemed to not know much about the area. He really was trying to be informative about the wild life but he had picked up a park brochure and would stop the ride to tell us the names of various birds we should look for- but nothing more. He didn't seem to know where the birds should be or really anything about them. And we rode soooo slow that I really think it was an effort to make the tour last three hours. It was uncomfortable.

Private walking tour of Lisbon. Hugo was AMAZING. So knowlegable and friendly. We saw so much with him that we would have otherwise missed.

Day excursion to Sintra, Cascais, and Estoril. So this is hard to evaluate because it was a super rainy day and I think that impacted what we did. Rui was lovely- informative and friendly and he really made the best of things. We only had entrance tickets to one palace- and that was on us because we booked so late. I think a lot of the tramping about that we would have otherwise done was just not possible on a day when it was raining buckets. Nice lunch and beautiful drive.

Rita also arranged airport transfers and a rental car- we booked our own accomodations. She was very responsive throuout the entire holiday via the trip plan s app.

We saw so much of the country and it was really a great trip. We flew into Porto for 4 nights, Coimbra for 2 nights, Nazare for 1 night, Evora for 1 night, Salema for 3 nights and then Lisbon for 4 nights. In hindsight, I would had skipped either Nazare or Evora and extended the one chose for 2 nights minimum. I would have skipped Evora I guess because the primary sight that I wanted to see there (Almendres Cromlech) was closed for renovations- which I didn't know until we arrived. It was a great town though- so maybe I would have just done two nights in each place? Hard to choose. It was a lot of driving for just a one-night stay in each.

Thank you Rita, for all of your help in making our time in Portugal so memorable!

Rita put the trip together quickly and was very patient with us when we made changes during our time in Portugal. We were exhausted and had to eliminate some of the activities.

Guides Rui Queiroz of RPQ and Gonsailo or Eco Tuk Tours were exceptional! Just the right amount of information so we could digest what we heard and saw. Douro boat ride and trip to the winery was incredible! Sandra from Simplyb was so knowledgeable and fun. Felt a little overwhelmed by all the information but would recommend her to anyone. Porto food tour was great, maybe a tad too long as it took nearly four hours. Our guide was fabulous. Private car transfers were wonderful - drivers were on time, and professional.

The best outing was having dinner in a private home in Lisbon. Everyone should try it.

The total package created by Rita was the best it could be. She provided the best experiences that gave us culture, history, food and wine and fun. Thank you Rita!

Hotel Reviews

Porto Charming Hotel

Porto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tivoli Lagos

Lagos

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Borges Chiado

Lisbon

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tiny room with musty smell.

Activity Reviews

Foodie Experience in Porto

Porto

Vintage Car Tour of Porto

Porto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Excursion to Douro Valley, Wine Tasting & River Cruise

Porto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover Rural Algarve

Portugal

Jeep was old and uncomfortable. Not good for older people.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Wine Tasting & Lunch at a Portuguese Quinta

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Food

Chintzy on the wine. Food was very good.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Tuk-Tuk Tour

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Dinner with Locals at a Local Home

Lisbon

Best experience in Portugal. What a treat!

Quality of Experience

Food

Everything.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport