This trip exceeded our expectations
Portugal
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Sep 26 - Oct 12, 2025
This trip exceeded all of our expectations. I will use KimKim anytime I do a trip like this. And I will recommend you to my friends. The locations suggested to us by Anita were amazing. Her responsiveness and complete answers no matter what we asked were so appreciated. We particularly loved shopping, touring and eating in Porto, the challenging but gorgeous Sintra hike and our wonderful guide Felis, the great tour with our guide Telma of the Duro Valley and wineries. Breakfast at our Lisbon hotel, Heritage Avenida Liberdade was outstanding but our favorite hotel of the whole trip was the exquisite Eden Boutique Hotel in Boumaine Dades. The owner of the hotel gave us a personal tour of the property and we hope to come back some day. Alex of Lisbon Walker gave us a great tour of Lisbon-- we really felt like we understood the city, and Portugal, afterwards. Our hotel in Porto was great and Manuel gave us a comprehensive orientation and wide-ranging tour. Obidos wasn't that great a stop -- so crowded and our driver Nuno was a bit negative. Our hotel in the Algarve, the Lagos Avenida was so well located and beautiful, with a great rooftop pool and terrific breakfasts. We really enjoyed our 4x4 Algarve Sunset experience and our terrific guide, Carlos. We loved him. We also really enjoyed our Catamaran Excursion--it was a gorgeous day and very comfortable and fun ride. We hiked by ourselves to many beaches in the Algarve and had lots of fun shopping. We wouldn't have changed anything in Portugal really. We are very glad we got to Morocco and especially liked and appreciated Abdulla our guide for our multi-day trip to the desert. He was so interesting and fun to be with. He gave us a wonderful understanding of Berber culture and we will always be grateful for that. He became our friend. Our driver was also really wonderful --I'm sorry I can't remember his name but he was a great driver and very kind to us. As you know, we had an unfortunate incident on the way into our hotel in Marrakesh. My husband was pushed by a man in the alley lunging for his wallet who also hit my daughter. When we finally made it to the hotel they didn't seem to understand what had happened to us and took a very long time --almost an hour to get us into our rooms because hotel staff was busy with other guests. Also the riad we stayed at the first time didn't have the pool we had seen in the pictures and the breakfast service in the morning was terribly slow and the food not that great. We were never offered eggs but we overheard later that they were available. We probably should not have arrived that late into Marakesh and I wouldn't stay at that location again. They were very nice the second time we stayed there, moving us to better rooms than the first time but in general we wouldn't have stayed that close to the palace and the souk if it meant we had to walk that far down alleys from where the car dropped us to the hotel front door. We really appreciated the hands on support we got from Youssef who came with us on our last night shopping in the souk. He was very friendly and professional, and made us feel very safe. We enjoyed buying rugs from Omar in the rug collective but left thinking we probably didn't get that great a deal there. We're hoping the quality made the price worth buying there rather than from someone else in the souk. Our food tour with Morocccan Food Adventures in Marrakesh was probably the highlight of our time there. I can't remember our guide's name but he took us to such great places--it was delightful and we would recommend it to anyone. Our transfers between places were all great, everyone on time, and sending me texts the night before confirming. All the transfers were very professional and made everything happen so smoothly. I'm happy to say that early on my family wasn't sure it would be worth it to use a whole day in the car driving to the desert. But afterwards they said they couldn't believe they saw everything they saw and are so glad they went. It was stunning. The camel ride was longer than I understood it to be and was a little bit difficult and painful to stay on the saddle for some of the girls. But the ATV ride at sunset was beyond great. Our guides were terrific and the experience and views were spectacular. Thank you Anita, Espiritu, and KimKim for arranging such a memorable trip for the six of us!
Hotel Review
this is one of the best hotels we've ever stayed at, anywhere in the world. Can't recommend it highly enough!
Activity Reviews
Telma was so so great! Loved her and all that we learned at the places we stopped. And the Douro was so gorgeous!
don't miss this -- the view at sunset is spectacular and our guide so fun!
don't miss this! it's the perfect way to see the souk and try Moroccan food--such a good tour!
Beautiful drive and amazing hotel -- the Eden --at the end
camel ride was much appreciated but a bit uncomfortable for the women. The ATV ride at sunset was much much better!
Hi Resa and the Family, thank you so much for this wonderful and detailed review! I’m so glad to hear that your trip exceeded your expectations, and that everything went so smoothly. I’m especially happy that our local guides in Portugal, as well as Youssef and Abdulla in Morocco, made you feel welcome and well cared for throughout your journey. Thank you again for your trust would love to help you plan your next adventure, whether it’s in Italy, Spain, Portugal, or Morocco! Wish you all the best! 🥰