OUR DRIVERS IN LISBON WERE INCREDIBLE. THEY W...
Portugal
|
Sep 26 - Oct 4, 2026
OUR DRIVERS IN LISBON WERE INCREDIBLE. THEY WERE ALL FRIENDLY AND EXTREMELY HELPFUL. WE HAD THE OWNER FOR 2 OF OUR TOURS AND FELT LIKE HE WAS A GOOD FRIEND!!!! All the tours wee great and the one to Sintra was extraordinary. Our guide again was exceptional. The accommodations were also wonderful, and the hosts were extremely helpful, especially with restaurant recommendations. The travel to the Douro valley was very long and we were happy we had the long hike once we arrived. Our guide was very friendly during our hike. The accommodations were again excellent, and our host was helpful and friendly. He even had a friend who was a taxi driver who took us wherever we needed to go and gave restaurant recommendations. The first night he just ran a tab instead of having us pay per trip. At the end of the second night we paid him for all trips. We could not believe he was that trusting. We, of course, offered to pay each time but he said we would settle up at the end. Our wine tour was incredible. Our guide who was the son of the owner of the family winery was also incredible. We learned so much about running a winery and it was on the river. We bought some of his wines!!!! While one cannot buy his wines retail, once you have purchased on sight you are now able to order direct from him.
Then we come to a part of the trip that was not good. We had a driver from the valley to Porto who spoke no English and did not even tell us until we reached Porto. His driving was erratic and made us very nervous. Obviously as he had not even spoken to us, we did not know he had no English. We would advise you not to use them again.
Our Porto walk and wine tasting walk were informative and fun. The guide for the wine tasting was great and of course we found a port that you cannot buy here. We are looking forwarding to enjoying the bottle we purchased. Our accommodations were incredible, the garden house, and our hosts were also quite helpful, especially when we had to leave so early. The only tour we did not enjoy was our final day. The day trip to Braga and Guimaraes was not enjoyable. The driver was not on time and the service kept sending different messages, first that he would be 30-45 minutes late, (which meant we could have had breakfast) then that he would be there in 5 minutes, then after I asked that they explain, the response was that one of the responses was not intended for us, and I finally messaged that we would now wait inside until he arrived. They told us to expect one vehicle and later changed to a different one. When the driver finally arrived, he said he had locked his keys in his vehicle and that was the issue. He then spent considerable time picking up 2 other couples. During the long drive, he talked and talked but it was uninteresting. He was hyper. He did finally calm down and we enjoyed him. We had a good lunch. Luckily the guide was good friends with the owner. However, we then had to be in the car while he dropped everyone else off and finally arrived near our hotel, within
a couple blocks, and an hour after the tour was supposed to end. Our driver to the airport at 3:30 am was great. He arrived on time and was quite friendly. KimKim was helpful in assuring me he would be on time so thank you. After the day before I need that assurance.
Hotel Reviews
Excellent and the hosts were very helpful in restaurant choices.
The owner was friendly and helpful.
The garden house was incredible, and the staff was very helpful including the manager of the restaurant.
Activity Reviews
See narrative
The guide made it special
Loved it
stated in my narrative
See my narrative.
See narrative
It was interesting