Custom Self-Driving Tours of Portugal

Coraima planned an amazing honeymoon trip for us in Portugal. Our guides Frederico and Alex gave us all the beauty of Sintra and ended each day with great local authentic restaurant recommendations. Sintra Marmòis Camelia is beautiful hotel that also gave us access to free live music and wine tastings at their sister hotel within walking distance.
Our time at Casa de São Domingos in Regua was wonderful. This is a beautiful place with breathtaking views everywhere you look. Vasco gave us a great tour of his family winery Quinta Barqueiros. It felt more like we were hanging out with a friend in their home who was explaining their passion and career to us than paying an overtired guide just trying to get through the day.
Lagos is beautiful and we will hopefully be able to spend more time in Algarve in the future. MN56 has it all and is right in the heart of all the action. We questioned whether we should do both the kayak and boat tour on back to back days. Do them both! Our walking food tour with Sophia was potentially the highlight of the trip. She was friendly, funny, and showed us some of the best food we have ever had.
Our cooking class with Chef Angela at Cooking Lisbon which included a trip to the market together was an unforgettable experience. I only wish we had more time to spend in Lisbon. If you’re visiting Portugal you MUST go see Fado. We had a delicious dinner accompanied by live Fado at a rustic family run restaurant called Senhora do Fado.
My wife and I are very busy and planning a trip like this isn’t something that falls in our wheelhouse. Coraima and KimKim made it so easy to take this trip. Our hotels, transfers, and daily activities were all planned and everything happened seamlessly every step of the way. The KimKim app gave us our itinerary at our fingertips and made contacting any guides, drivers, hotels, etc. foolproof.

I absolutely 10/10 recommend Coraima and KimKim for planning any travel/vacations and can guarantee we will be repeat customers.

Philip was an amazing tour guide. He took us to Sintra and Cascais and was fabulous in imparting his knowledge on history and culture. He made the trip richer with his insights. We looooooved the wine tour in the Algarve. Our hotels were great and the entire trip went off absolutely seamlessly. Our trip planners and guides communicated impeccably. Everything ran like clockwork. We loved Lisbon and Lagos. The food was fantastic and we were able to work some of it off climbing many hills!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Britania Art Deco

Lisbon

Hotel was well located near the Avenida da Liberdade and the Principe Real neighborhoods. The hotel is beautiful and historic. We had to leave too early for the breakfast but they have an afternoon happy hour and the staff is lovely. We were upgraded to a spacious junior suite.

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The MN56 Hotel

Lagos

Hotel is located right in the middle of the historic part of town. It was a great location for exploring the city, accessing the marina on foot and accessing the Ponta da Piedade with a short walk. The pool was nice to have and there is a nice area to sit outside of your room. Room had ample space.

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AlmaLusa Baixa & Chiado

Lisbon

We loved the location of this hotel. The staff were extremely accommodating and left us a lovely gift every day. The only downside is that there is no common space to sit outside of your room. The breakfast was perfect and the room was small but comfortable.

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Activity Reviews

Benagil Cave Visit by RIB

Lagos (Algarve)

The cave was slightly disappointing. It's small and crowded with other boats inside. It was also a 30 minute speedboat ride down the coast each way and it was chilly on the ride. We enjoyed seeing other towns on the return trip as the boat went a little closer to the shore. Pretty coastal views.

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Ponta da Piedade by Boat Excursion

Lagos (Algarve)

This was a nice morning boat trip. The guides were great and it's a lovely cruise at a relaxed pace and the views are gorgeous. Learned a lot about the area.

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Where the Sea Meets the Vines - Winery Hopping

Lagos (Algarve)

This was our favorite day. We went to a small winery in an old convent. The guide was extremely knowledgeable and drove us around the property and amongst the vines to see the grapes and learn about the topography. We went to the production facility and learned about how the wine is made. The tasting room was beautiful and they had great wines and a lovely cheese plate for us. We then went to a second and larger winery with a gorgeous patio where we did the tasting outside. We tasted a number of wines and had tapas with it. The scenery is beautiful and we loved learning about wines we were unfamiliar with.

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🥾 Self-Guided Coastal Hike: Lagos Old Town to Ponta da Piedade

Lagos (Algarve)

Cannot say enough good things about this hike. We LOVED it. We had a lovely lunch at O Camilo - make a reservation as it was crowded and there was a long wait! The path has gorgeous views. It's also great for running and we went another night for a spectacular sunset, which was a very popular time there. The stairs to Praia de Camilo were unfortunately closed, and we read that's the best place to walk down to a beach. There is another set of stairs further down the path but they do not lead to a beach. Highly recommend.

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Traditional Portuguese Food Walk

Lisbon

This was a great food tour. It was less walking than I had expected and didn't include any hills! The tour description said we would have 16 tastes, but we had 12. The tour also lasted 30 minutes longer than noted, but this wasn't a problem for us. Our guide was great and we saw some new areas of the city on the walk. They also accommodated non meat-eaters and non-alcohol drinkers.

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From Palaces to the Edge of Europe – Sintra & Cabo da Roca

Lisbon

This was a great day. Unfortunately, we were not aware of how windy and chilly Sintra can be in May. We were freezing cold at Pena Palace, all of which is either outdoors or in the open. It was very different weather in Sintra than Lisbon. The town of Sintra is adorable and our tour guide, Philip, treated us to amazing pastries. We really enjoyed Quinta da Regaleira. It was warmer there and a beautiful day to walk around. We stopped at Cabo da Roca to take a quick picture, but didn't stay long as it was extremely windy. We had a nice afternoon in Cascais.

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This trip was a 'bucket list' adventure for my mother-in-law, who is in her late 70s and very active and engaged with the world. Adam worked with us to see and experience as much as we could in 9 days, 4 different areas, and a variety of activities. I can say without hesitation that the trip exceeded our expectations, not only because Portugal is a welcoming country with a rich and long history, but because all of our drivers, guides and accommodations were exceptional. There were 2 instances when plans needed to shift or an activity was cancelled due to weather or operator reasons. The KimKim team helped us to pivot easily and refunds for cancelled activities were processed quickly and without hassle. We landed in Lisbon and trained to Porto the first day, which really helped manage jetlag and made a lot of sense for flow of travel. In Porto we had a fabulous driver (Miguel) who arranged for us to go to a fado dinner in Gaia, a little more off the beaten track. It was incredibly memorable and evocative. Our accommodation at Quinta do Vallado in the Duoro Valley was exceptional and the private wine tour with Vasco from Quinta Barquieros D'Ouro felt like the perfect way to see and learn about the wine making in this region. My favourite activity was the 2-hour cycling through vineyards. It was beautiful with stops to pick cherries from the trees. My mother-in-law was in awe of the Joanina Library in Coimbra and that experience was 100% her favourite memory. Also, it was nearing the annual party for the students of the University of Coimbra so we got to experience a small taste of their academic and social traditions. Finally, the bustle of Lisbon was a great finish, as was the day trip to Sintra and Cascais. Thanks to all the folks at KimKim and their excellent choices of guides and drivers, we had the best trip to Portugal we could imagine!

Hotel Review

Quinta do Vallado

Peso da Regua

Stunning hotel. I was expecting something traditional from the outside but it was modern and elegant on the inside. The fountains and the birdsong added to the ambiance on the balcony. The breakfasts were lovely and relaxed. A true escape in a beautiful setting.

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Activity Review

Gaia Port Tasting Walk

Portugal

I didn't think I would really like Port wine, but after learning about it, I came home with 3 bottles. Our guide was enthusiastic and I appreciated the structure of a large, small and micro approach to port making. Definitely a must-do!

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