Late last fall I started looking at trips for...
Portugal
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Jul 31 - Aug 12, 2026
Late last fall I started looking at trips for the family and found a National Geographic trip to Portugal that looked interesting. My daughter-in-law (part of the family going on the trip) found KimKim online, and that is how we started communicating with Pedro Luis. We had a few written conversations then spoke on the phone to work out what itinerary options seemed best. The price was higher than the group tour, but it was also definitely much more flexible and that had a lot of appeal for us. So we signed up for a two-part tour: the first part (Lisbon, Algarve, and Cascais) was for the 3-generation family, and the second part (up to Porto for 3 nights) for the 2 retired folks after the younger ones returned to the US for work and school. It all worked out perfectly.
I'm not sure what is the most memorable part of the trip. So many places were interesting and/or fun. The Pena Palace, Joanine Library in Coimbra, the Douro Valley, the various boat tours--all these and more were great.
A few more detailed comments: (1) The itinerary that Pedro worked out was perfect for the family. Everyone enjoyed the trip immensely. (2) It all worked: the expected tickets were all booked, the hotels were all booked, drivers showed up when and where they were scheduled to show up. Everything was very smooth, with no glitches. This is how it is supposed to happen! (3) All of the drivers, boat captains, and tour guides were competent, polite, very informative, gracious, sufficiently flexible, attentive to our needs, and responsive to our requests. For example, on two occasions, we didn't really want a large fancy lunch; we just wanted a sandwich. In each case, the driver knew of a not-so-touristy place that had exactly what we wanted. And oh my, those sandwiches were simply the best! I'm sure they knew of other fancier restaurants if that is what we had asked for, but we didn't want that. (4) All the drivers, boat captains, and tour guides spoke English at a sufficiently high level for effective communication, which was great. Communication was never a problem and we really enjoyed visiting with them all. (5) The hotels were spectacular. Very lovely choices. The staff at all the hotels were all very professional and helpful and again, all spoke English. (6) We had no issues to resolve, but I felt confident that Pedro or one of his colleagues would have been available to help resolve any problems if they had occurred. Pedro regularly kept in touch with us during the trip and provided us contact information in case of any problem.
In summary, let me say that I am generally reluctant to recommend much of anything because other people have different perspectives and so I usually resist "recommending", but we have already recommended KimKim to one family member who plans to travel to Spain in the near future and to one couple who we chatted with in an elevator ride!
Thanks, Pedro, for a great trip. We really enjoyed our time in Portugal.
Hotel Reviews
The hotel has 2 parts: an older building that was completely redone and a new one. We were in the older part, which has some "outlet" insufficiency issues. Also, the pool was a small, indoor pool, more like a sauna when we were there. I imagine that it would be great in the winter, but other hotels might offer a better pool experience in the summer, esp for kids. But the hotel was otherwise lovely and we enjoyed our stay.
We were just here for 1 night, but it is a fine hotel.
We really enjoyed this hotel visit. The kids in particular loved the pool. The breakfast buffet was over the top.
Activity Reviews
Very interesting walk. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and helpful, so we learned a lot.
Our captain was great, and attentive to the passengers. Because the ride was over lunchtime, our travel agent had arranged some snacks.
The only "bad" part was a bit of fog that happened to roll in at the wrong place at the wrong time, a very unusual occurrence., so it was sort of special that we got to experience it. Our driver had great suggestions on which places to go. He knew a great little out-of-the-way non-touristy place for lunch that was perfect.
We loved the visit--quite a palace and the entire day.
We had a great captain and crew, a learned a lot about Portugal as well as local sights. Since this sail was over dinner time, our travel agent arranged a picnic lunch for us, and it was fabulous. We all had a great time.
We had a wonderful driver, great food at the winery, great wine at the winery, wonderful boat tour...all good.
The food was fabulous and the tour very interesting. My husband really enjoyed all the wine; alas, I just can't drink very much (it goes to my head so very fast--a few sips is all that I can handle), but I sure wanted a lot more of that red port than I could drink.
Our driver gave us a wide-ranging tour of Porto. Very informative, so we learned a lot.
We really enjoyed the trip. Our captain was from the area and very knowledgeable. We learned a lot. The scenery is amazing.
Dear Katherine,
Thank you so much for your wonderful and thoughtful feedback - it really means a lot.
It was truly a pleasure planning your family’s trip, and I am super happy to hear that everything went smoothly and that everyone enjoyed Portugal so much :)
And thank you for recommending us to your family and friends, looking forward to assist them with their trips.
It was lovely working with you and your family, and I hope you take home many wonderful memories from Portugal!
Your friend in Portugal - Pedro