My Lisbon Holidays

Tiago was super helpful in the planning and then he was our driver. Although some things were a little on the expensive side, the quality was worth the expense. The weather was quite bad, and Tiago improvised well for us. In addition, I ended up with a mobility issue, so Tiago was helpful with that. The best thing Tiago did for us was to suggest visiting the national stud farm. One of my best experiences! He also showed us interesting local sites. The most memorable, was to a country lane in the pouring rain to see a stonehenge-like burial monument. We had no idea what he was going to show us, so it was very mysterious and exciting! Tiago made up for our poor experience with Alvaro and our Peru trip.

Hotel Reviews

Premium Porto Downtown

Porto

Great staff, room was small.

Authenticity & Character

Average

Location

Our next hotel had a better location. Also we got driven to the wrong Premium Hotel from train station. It is confusing when hotels have same name and different locations.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Small room

Quinta do Tedo

Douro Valley

Lovely room, wonderful food, but very expensive

Authenticity & Character

Room and view

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Not really

Hotel República

Tomar

Great location, small room, hot water/shower did not work well

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful room, but small

Location

Staff

Very friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Shower

Activity Reviews

Explore Porto (Half-Day Guided Walking Tour)

Porto

Great guide. Well prepared and interesting

Quality of Experience

The guide

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Well prepared and passionate

Transport

But there was no transport

Port Wine Tasting Tour

Porto

Excellent tour and tastings

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day trip to the Douro Valley - with optional visit to winery and/or Rabelo boat River Cruise

Portugal

Riverboat was pleasant despite pouring rain. Crew pretty much ignored us except to serve us a small cup of Port

Quality of Experience

Weather and crew attention

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rabelo Boat Tour

Portugal

See last review

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had an oustading two week trip In Portugal & Madeira! (Five days in Lisbon with various tours; 3 days to Algarve with a rental car, 1 day in Evora & 3 days to Madeira. This is want we wanted and may be very different from others.) Joao fully customized our long awaited trip to Portugal based on our wishes and particular needs. He did an outstanding job, was very patient, detailed, and provided excellent communication along the way. In addition to several guided tours, Joao provided great material and suggestions for the days on our own. Joel (Joao's partner at My Lisbon Holidays) was a great driver & guide to numerous points around Lisbon!

We think the Kimkim model of working with local tour groups who deeply know the area is great; meaning whether you need a cutomized package for Portugal, Iceland, or xxxx, you will work with the local experts! Also you can do as much or as little on your own as you want; knowing the overall framework of your trip (hotels, airport pickup, guded tours, and rental car) has been assembled by people who have done it many times before. (Our hotel in Madeira was OUTSTANDING!!)

Thank you Joao & Joel!!

Hotel Reviews

HF Fénix Urban

Lisbon

Good room, great breakfast, helpful staff.

Authenticity & Character

Good functional hotel

Location

relatively central area; close to airport

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Porto Mare

Funchal

One of the best hotels we've stayed in around the world! Excellent room with Outstanding views, private patio, endless breakfast buffet. Excellent chpice of onsite restauramts. very helpful staff.

Authenticity & Character

Outstanding!

Location

Right on coast, execellent views, central location for day trips. Palm trees and pools.

Staff

very helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

everything tip top!

Lagos Avenida Hotel

Lagos

Good room and GREAT breakfast. Good central location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

central area

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Vila Gale Evora

Evora

Very good hotel, excelent breakfast; good facilities and grounds. Good central location. Helpful staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Dinner with Live Fado Music

Lisbon

This is a cannot miss activity for Posrtugal! Good food and woderful music!

Quality of Experience

Food

good variety of food and plenty of it!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Cascais & Sintra Guided Visit

Portugal

The highlight of our time in Lisboa. Great full day with wonderful sights, great lunch restaurant, and great guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great guide (Joel)!

Transport

comrtable Mercedes van

Half-Day Guided Tour of Lisbon

Lisbon

Joel is an excellent guide with thorough knowledge of Lisboa. Always helpful

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Execcelny guide (Joel)!

Transport

Mercedes van; very comfortable

Algarve Caves Boat Tour

Portugal

Highlight of our aalgarve trip. This was Outstanding!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had an incredible trip thanks to Tiago! His advice and guidance was invaluable!

Joao's experience and advise were invaluable - guiding my wife and I through the planning process as well as while we were on the trip. All were glitch-free - quite important for us first-timers to Portugal. Traveling in the cities and in the regions we were in - as well as traveling to them/and through the country - was simple and stress-free. Of particular note are the service providers - transport and local guides - Joao used. They were knowledgeable, friendly, and engaging - well done to all. We began our trip in Lisbon, then on to Porto via high-speed rail, then to Lagos via rented car and finished our trip for our flight home back in Lisbon. Doing so allowed us to see a great deal of this beautiful country. Like many others before us - allowing 2 weeks would have been better than our 10 days, but maybe another trip sometime!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Lisboa Plaza

Lisbon

Great location in all respects - sites, restaurants, guides and other supporting providers. Many are easily walked to while others are just a short ride. Staff was very friendly and helpful - well-versed in English! (Thank you!)

Authenticity & Character

Boutique in nature, very much portrays the Portuguese culture.

Location

Great location in all respects - sites, restaurants, guides and other supporting providers.

Staff

With our limited knowledge of Portuguese - their English language skills were welcoming and welcome.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Exe Almada Porto

Porto

Located in the university area - very walkable to many of the sites of Porto. Highly recommend for this alone, but all other aspects of this hotel were excellent.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Located in the university area - very walkable to many of the sites of Porto.

Staff

While all of the places we stayed at had helpful, friendly staff - this one really stood out. Whether questions about laundry service, places to eat, getting around town, etc - staff was fantastic .

Cleanliness & Comfort

Vila Galé Lagos

Lagos

Great location in terms access to the beach. A bit of a walk (not quite 2k) into town, but the walk is beautiful along the beach walkway. A large facility built to accommodate large touring groups and the summer throngs of visitors to the Algarve. The hotel lacks the cozy feel that boutique hotels have - but the pool and beach access are hard to beat. Food was so-so - especially the buffet-style dining built to for the masses. The smaller two non-buffet restaurants were better both for food and ambience.

Authenticity & Character

Large facility built to handle large numbers of guests.

Location

If you want the beach - hard to beat!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Meliá Lisboa Aeroporto

Lisbon

Hard to beat the proximity the airport - very walkable to terminal 1 - though a free shuttle to the airport is provided.

Authenticity & Character

Location

If you want close to the airport this one is for you.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Full-Day Guided Tour of Cascais & Sintra

Portugal

The #1 best thing about this trip was our guide. Thoughtful, informative, flexible to our needs, fluent in English and friendly.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Food Tour

Porto

Eat very lightly for this food tour - plenty of food and beverage along the way. Be prepared to walk a bit, but not excessive as a fair portion of the tour is at one market.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Pedro is a great ambassador for Portugal!

Transport

All walking' of course, but not overly hilly or lengthy, Short distance between stops.

Cave Boat Tour

Portugal

A short excursion that is well worth the trip. The cliffs and caves were gorgeous from a distance and from within!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Funny, engaging and safe!

Transport

Guided day trip to the Douro Valley with visit to wineries and Rabelo boat River Cruise with lunch

Portugal

A must-do for anyone visiting Portugal. Beautiful valley, great port wine and meet/visit wonderful places and people along the way.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Pedro was energetic, engaging and an encyclopedia of all-things Portugal.

Transport

Half-Day Guided Tour of Lisbon

Lisbon

We ended up not doing this excursion, but Jaoa did give us an abbreviated driving tour of Lisbon! Thank you Jaoa!

This trip was an awesome experience. The planning stage was conducted by Thiago with a professional and flexible approach until we ended up with the right plan. His input and suggestions were invaluable. Once on the trip everything went extremely smoothly with every booking arranged perfectly. The 3 hotels Thiago arranged were excellent in every respect. The eat walk tour in Porto was excellent as was our guide Flavi. Our private drivers between Porto and the Douro Valley and then on to Lisbon were great.

I would not hesitate to book and plan another trip using KimKim and would thoroughly recommend them to any of my friends who travel overseas.

Hotel Review

Ozadi Tavira Hotel

Tavira

A very nice hotel located just outside the town of Tavira. They have a shuttle to town but if you have a car it is a 5 minute drive. Rooms and breakfast were excellent.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Algarve Caves Boat Tour

Portugal

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Of all the places we visited in Portugal, Madeira was definitely the highlight—a must-visit destination. The island’s beauty left us in awe, and having such wonderful guides there made the experience even more memorable. They went out of their way to ensure we saw the most breathtaking sights and views.

In Porto, we were fortunate to have Jelena as our guide, and she was truly one of the best I’ve ever had. She was incredibly informative, knowledgeable, and thoroughly prepared, which made exploring the city an absolute pleasure.

We also loved our time in the stunning Douro Valley, where we enjoyed a peaceful boat trip along the river—a perfect way to take in the scenery.

I left all the hotel suggestions up to João and the ones he booked were all well located.

João was wonderful to work with, he was extremely knowledgeable and helped steer us in the right direction in terms of tours and main attractions. He was also very responsive and helpful whenever I had any questions or comments both prior to the trip and during the trip, which was much appreciated! He provided a clear and transparent Road Book that listed all the activities with guide names and contact information, which made it very easy to find the right people (in a foreign country) and helped us plan out our day. Lastly, he personally drove from Lisbon to Lagos to pick us up, which we greatly appreciated and helped us maximize our time in Lagos stress-free. It was a pleasure working with him and I would reach out to him again the next I'm in Portugal.

We worked with very knowledgeable guides in each city, which helped us feel more connected to the people and culture of Portugal. Francisco in Lisbon was a great guide who was very knowledgeable about the history of the city and provided useful tips to help us avoid major tourist lines and optimize our time. He also recommended a wonderful restaurant that turned out to be our favorite meal of the trip. He accompanied us to Sintra and was a huge asset in helping us navigate crowded sites and optimize our day. He provided a ton of interesting background information on Pena Palance and Quinta de Regalaeria, which helped us appreciate the experience much more. He also insisted we try the local pastries in Sintra (which was a highlight of the day) and advised us to tour the National Palace of Sintra, which is a must-see and not too crowded.

In Porto, we worked with Manuel, who was very passionate about Porto and very eager to show us his home city. He gave us great advice on what to see or do in our down time and is very knowledgeable of the history of Porto. We felt very comfortable with and thought he was very patient with us as we took our multiple photos! He even gave me a small token to remember my trip, which I greatly appreciated the thought and gesture. In Porto, we did a Duorro Valley wine tour and had the best driver/guide Andres. He had such great energy, and was funny, lively, and passionate about the port wine industry! He gave us great tips of what to see and overall made our Duorro Valley experience more enjoyable!

Overall, we had a great time booking with Kim Kim, which allowed us to work with local experts on planning a customized action-packed itinerary. Kim Kim also took care of most of our transportation needs to and from the airport, train station, and hotels, which made our vacation much more enjoyable and comfortable. Lastly, all the guides were very knowledgeable, professional, and passionate about their job, which added to our overall experience! We would definitely work with Kim Kim again.

João planned an amazing trip for my group for our first time to Portugal! Originally we were supposed to be 2 people, but then added my mom halfway through the planning process and he was very accommodating in adjusting the reservations. He kept in contact with us the entire time we were there and was very knowledgeable everywhere we went. The excursions were perfect for our group and a great balance between activity/free time enjoying the cities we were in. We can’t wait to go back and thank you again to João for making our first trip to Portugal unforgettable!

Hotel Reviews

Villa Zawaia B&B

Lagos

Beautiful hotel but staff wasn’t consistently there to assist.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Someone being present more often throughout the day

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Lisboa Plaza

Lisbon

Authenticity & Character

Location

No

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Eurostars das Artes

Porto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Cave Boat Tour

Portugal

Nice easy way to see the beautiful caves in Lagos! Not too long of a tour so you still have the rest of your day to explore!

Quality of Experience

No

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had an amazing time visiting Portugal! Our travel Guide, João was the best and helped us plan the perfect trip! He was very knowledgeable and helpful in all our planning and was very accessible via text to answer any questions throughout our trip.
He was also our guide in Lisbon which was wonderful!
We couldn’t have had a better experience!

Hotel Reviews

Casa dos Lóios by Shiadu

Porto

Very nice boutique hotel. The staff was very friendly and helpful, and spoke English which was a plus!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Within walking distance to most everything!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Lisboa Plaza

Lisbon

Located in the center close to shopping, and most of the sights you would want to see in Lisbon. Staff was friendly and helpful. Great breakfast!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Belmar Spa & Beach Resort

Lagos

Great resort with beautiful rooms, 3 pools , a nice gym, and beach access! Breakfast was great! Very friendly and helpful staff. Would definitely stay there again!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Cascais & Sintra Guided Visit

Portugal

Our guide João drive us out to Cascais and Sinatra and even booked a lunch for us at this very quaint restaurant on the beach! It was amazing! The beaches in Cascais are beautiful!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Algarve Caves Boat Tour

Portugal

A must when you are in Lagos! Loved it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Food Tour

Porto

Our guide Andre was great! Very knowledgeable and did a great job explaining the history of Porto and the wine and food we tried! Loved it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Six Bridges Douro Cruise

Porto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Port Wine Tasting Tour

Porto

Visited Ferreira winery and loved it! The Port wine tasting was excellent and brought a bottle home!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half-Day Guided Tour of Lisbon

Lisbon

João our guide was excellent! Got a very nice tour of the city, and a lot of the history of Lisbon.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dinner with Live Fado Music

Lisbon

João planned this for us and it was a great experience! The food was authentic Portuguese food that was delicious! The Fado was amazing!

Quality of Experience

K

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport