Kimkim Trip Reviews for Portugal

Excellent location. Authentic facade/building (late 1880s) with very modern and super comfortable updates.

Quick efficient check in and out. Very nice staff. A veritable feast for breakfast. Breakfast service started at 4:00 AM for early flights but refreshed regularly (we ate at 8:00 AM and it was delish) Convenient shuttle to the airport departure location.

Elegant! Breakfast beyond compare. Really good location. Easy walk to restaurants and various sights. Super helpful and knowledgeable and patient staff. Very classy and the best in every way!

The hotels were exactly as we wanted. They were comfortable, spotless, staff was very knowledgeable and helpful and the locations excellent (all in historic areas which allowed for easy access to everything). My Suite Lisbon, Pestana Pousadas Porto (!!!), Hotel Mondego and Melia Lisboa Aeroporto all very good/excellent. Locations were ideal for touring important sites, staff were exceptional and I'm missing my breakfasts in Portugal. The only small bump was pick up at Lisbon Airport upon arrival. It was somewhat problematic. We've been back home two days and we're missing Portugal. It's a lovely country and the people are genuine and warm.

Anna did a marvelous job driving and as informative guide. She took us to Obidos and Nazare. We learned about big wave surfing sport in Nazare and we're eager to find the documentary on YouTube. We were offered the option to visit Fatima and we very pleased to have made to visit. It was an excellent option that was mentioned and it fit nicely into our travels for the day.

Pedro did a superb job showing us the splendors of Porto. We enjoyed his guided tour and the fun facts he expanded on related to some of the sights. ex. Dom Luis bridge, a double decker crossing the Douro River between Porto and Gaia completed 1885 (vs. Dom Luis I bridge). Dom Luis I was king of Portugal at the time but he didn't come for the opening of the bridge so its simply called the Dom Luis by the locals. We found the time spent with Pedro to fly by quickly and his tour so interesting that we wished we had more time together.

Sylvia knew her way around the city and did a great job explaining the sights and historical importance.

Our tour with David was very good. We hit all of the highlights in the three cities but also included some great stops, Boca do Inferno and Cabo da Roca. Really impressive and so glad they were included. The natural wonders were a nice compliment to the city splendors.

The tour guide, Dani, was delightful. She was knowledgeable about the foods and their ethnic origins as she took us around to the various neighborhoods in historic Lisbon. Food/ginjinha/wine tasting was top shelf in each location and she was highly entertaining and fun - great sense of humor. As a small group tour, we all enjoyed the food very much as well as enjoying each other over some delicious foods. It was a very special afternoon. We would highly recommend this tour with Dani.

Mauricio was our driver/guide in Duro Valley and the Duro Valley was awesome. We spent the day together and we didn't want the day to end. Mauricio was wonderful in every way and we learned so much about the wine region. We had a private luncheon and wine tasting in Cambres/Douro Valley with Manuela - owner/hostess and her son Antonio at their vineyard. - Quinta de Tourais. winery. She served the meal in her dining room and it was charming and delicious (five star meal) . It was the highlight of our trip! We've been back home several days and we're missing Portugal. It's a lovely country and the people are genuine and warm.

Nice hotel but rooms were small

It was a nice experience for our first night exposure to Porto

Not really a vintage car that we expected to have

This was not available on our trip

Unfortunately this was cancelled due to rain

Vitor was a great host. We had lots of laughs and cooked a delicious meal. Very hands on. Maybe the highlight of our 11 day Portugal adventure

The most important for us, in choosing a hotel in the city is the location. With Dom Carlos, we were not disappointed. It is close enough to the inner city to walk in 10 minutes, but quiet enough that one does not experience the traffic. The neighborhood had a variety of well priced local restaurants, with local cuisine, as oposed to expensive and low quality tourst food. The room was quiet, elegant and clean. The staff was very accomadating and hospitable. The buffet had anything one could wish for, and was hygenic and well organized.

See section 1. What we most enjoyed about the dinner was that it authentic Porteguese, rather something touristic. Our server made us feel at home. The music was captivating and we had never heard anything like it again. The history behind it was also interesting. We are glad that they still keep their traditions in Portuagal, for it was done by young people. The food was dellicious and it was wonderfully organized, with the dimming of the light, while the music played between courses.

Victor is wonderful and we learned a few tricks in cooking that we definitely used in cooking at home. Excellent activity.

The farm to table lunch at the winery is excellent. We really had the best food wine experience. The host is amazing and the food is so delicious.

What can I say about Paulo? He make our trip to Sinatra exceptional. He thinks of everything and let us throughly enjoy our day with visiting the most beautiful places and recommend exceptional food. We are very thankful to have Paulo as our guide and highly recommended him to our friends and family.

Excellent service! The room was beautiful and the breakfast was amazing. The only thing I did not like was having to leave key at the front desk and that I had to go to front desk to get lock for the safe in the room. Other that than, it is in an excellent location in Lisbon and wonderful boutiquey hotel.

We were only there for a short stay but it is a gorgeous hotel!! The breakfast buffet is incredible. The staff was so attentive and friendly. I would highly recommend!

This is a must do in order to get the lay of the land in downtown Lisbon. Such a great way to see a city in a short amount of time . Our guide Alicia was fabulous. She was so informative with the history of the country and helpful with tip and restaurant suggestions.

Gorgeous palace! I would probably skip the house tour unless you are there first thing in the morning. Go on the very 1st tour. Touristy place

If you like riding on a boat for hours this fun but I didn't feel it was worth that trip. The dolphins were absolutely amazing but we drove another hour or more and saw a whale in distance and then drove over 2 hours back. I think swimming with the dolphins would be on my next itinerary!

Fantastic food and staff!! Loved this place!

This was fantastic personalized tour. We learned so much and the wine was delicious as well and the assortment of breads, cheeses and meats that they served with the wines. Excellent!

Wonderful breakfast and views.

It was OK.

Very nice tour. However, we’re now in Florence on our own and booked a similar food tour here which was phenomenal compared to the one in Lisbon.

Great guide! And great that it was a private tour.

Just fantastic as a remote small hotel in a Portugal village

This was fantastic and a terrific location in a quaint village

Starting to look a bit dated. Full of tourists and not easy to find

This was first class. A great location and we loved the stay.

Pedro was excellent and gave us good background to Portugal. We very much enjoyed his company

An excellent night out with good food. Very enjoyable

Pedro was a great host for the day. We learnt a lot.

Loved rooms, breakfast, and most of all the friendly staff. Good location as it was central to what we saw

Wished we had spent more time in Porto and hotel to give more input but staff was great, location good and area safe

Loved the views , sitting areas, cozy bar area, and dining room. Rooms were well appointed having closets etc and bathrooms were well sized and designed to handle two people. Loved coffee in the room and view over vineyards

Daniel was so much fun and so was the group- good size, food amounts were perfect and variety of dishes was interesting- loved covering different parts of city and ethnic groups

Liked all the facts that didn’t kind like they came from travel brochure- made me appreciate the city and helped us navigate the area and entice us into coming back on our own

Paolo had a nice way of involving everyone and we really learned some techniques as well as dishes. Drinking while cooking made the class lively and had a great feel for those who might not be serious cooks- I’d do this again and again

Was my least favorite- nothing special

Didn’t know what to expect which may have good and bad. Hiking was the right amount and the added swimming holes were amazing and I should have better prepared for them. Lunch with the group was memorable and I got more out of this than just hiking. I’d always recommend- the group we had really made it better than a private tour

Loved the ride out and views of different areas we didn’t expect to see- cork farm/factory was interesting and the winery was beautiful. Lunch in Evora was well timed and loved the simplicity of the place chosen- authentic

Loved seeing the market ( personal interest in those places) the area below/by the Luis the 1st bridge- wish we had seen more and added time to this but honestly my feet hurt at that point

Staff was very kind and helpful

Our guide was so knowledgeable about the history and neighborhoods of Lisbon. We came away with a much greater understanding of Lisbon

Great guide, great food.

Clara, our guide, was outstanding. Fun, friendly and high- energy which was infectious. Her pride of Porto was clear and really engaging

Roi, our guide, was very knowledgeable and engaging. Really helped us understand the area well

Our guide, Paola, was outstanding. Fun, friendly, engaging and very knowledgeable. He showed us the highlights of course but it was all the out of the way authentic places he took us to and his personality that made this day so special for us. Hands down the best guide we had in Portugal.

Best breakfast and friendly staff. Good location for finding interesting restaurants, but located on a rather mixed ( some run down/empty buildings). Also room is worn down.. carpet was very stained, headboard fabric had several tears and the glass side tables had large chips in them.

First, keep in mind this is an apartment with daily room service. The front desk is only staffed from 9-6 and there are no elevators. Our room was on the third floor.. four flights of stairs. We didn’t mind the stairs except when lugging our suitcases up to the top floor. The aparthotel was very clean, located right on the central square and very spacious. We stayed in a one bedroom with small balcony views. The pictures on Casa Margot’s website are very accurate. Only downside is parking. You can park in a free lot. It is about 1/3 mile away, which is not bad. However, finding the lot is challenging. We got lost and had to drive though the insanely narrow, hilly one way streets, had to back up one time down a street and realized Apple Maps is useless within old towns. There are not street signs, just plaques on walls you can’t read. Anyway, very specific directions with pictures would have been helpful to find the lot. You can drive to the lot and circumnavigate the city, thus avoiding all the internal one way streets. Also, the lot is not paved , consisting of two connected areas on a slope. We found the lot one time, but my husband insisted that couldn’t be right. So off we went again looking for it. A picture of the lot would have helped too.

Keep in mind, my husband and I were running on fumes when we started this tour. Due to flight delays, we arrived a day late in Lisbon. We knew we’d miss an entire night of sleep traveling to Lisbon, but we also missed the night before starting to travel due to the cancellations, rebooking and a 6 am flight to start the journey. The guide brought several maps to show how Lisbon transformed over time. Interesting, but we spent about the first 15 minutes looking at maps. I’d also say I would never pair this guide with anyone making the pilgrimage to Fatima. She often commented negatively about the Catholic Church. Everyone has the right to his/her opinion, but please keep it to yourself ( or make comments about how expensive universities are in the USA). We worked very hard to save for this trip and yes pay for our children’s college education and their future careers engineering and marketing/Spanish . I had to hold my tongue at times .

Fabulous!!! FYI Nuno arrived at our hotel at 8 am, while Greg and I were enjoying a quick breakfast. At 8:30 someone knocked on my door to let me know Nuno was waiting .. I reread my notes which said 9 am pick up. Anyway, we hurried, Nuno hurried and we made on 9:45 ticket time for the tour of Peña palace. Next, we hiked through the neighboring woods about 3 miles, went to Cruz Alta then drove to Cabo da orca for an outstanding picnic lunch. Incredible. He then took us back the scenic route though cascais

Great lunch, scenic location, interesting concept. It’s more of a lunch and wine tasting.. with a very brief tour of the vines. Biggest negative, wasps were so bad at the end of the meal we couldn’t finish. We asked of there was something they could do, but they said no.

The rooms are spectacular - very spacious and light. The hospitality was wonderful and the location was perfect!

Nice people in the heart of Sintra. Wonderful views.

They made us feel like family visiting! I was very comfortable, clean, and in a good location. The dining room has the best pizza ever!!

The hotel was nice comfortable and clean.

This was a nice start to our visit - a quick tour of the local highlights

Sofia and Carlos were absolutely lovely - very hospitable and they shared their wonderful stories of their life in Portugal. It all sounded amazing. Sofia made a home-cooked meal that was the best meal of our entire trip! We won't forget this visit ever!

This was an amazing eco-friendly experience starting with the Jeep ride through the vineyards and then to their nature preserve. It was wonderful to hear how they were training the vineyards to grow deeper roots to access water so that no external watering would be needed. Then on the wonderful Olive Oil farm, where they produce the "Amor e' Cego" olive oil the traditional way eschewing modern mass farming techniques. João's message was inspirational and the tasting was intense. Finally, we went on a Cork tour where we all learned something about Cork and the multitude of products it can be made into. Did you know that the Cork tree is harvestable in 9 to 12 years? It is also sustainable without harming the tree.

Sintra was a magical experience made even more so by our fabulous guide, Paulo. He took us on the hidden route up to the castle while many others waited in cars. It was fantastic walking amongst there's ancient walls and then the castle was incredible. After the strenuous ascent, Palo made us a satisfying lunch of Iberian meats, cheeses, and wine. After we descended fully we had a small taste of the local liquor, ginjinha, and of course an espresso. It was incredible.

This was our first time on an e-bike and it was great. Our guide knew his stuff and we rode the entire way along the river. We stopped along the way for photos and some history lessons. Then we went through the park seeing the famous Rooster/ chickens roaming about in the verdant flora.

Peneda-Gerês National Park is an amazing nature preserve with a tranquil water pool, secluded and welcoming for a quick soak. We learned about the wolf trap and reviewed the ruins of the trap. Then it was time for a hand-prepared lunch with an assortment of Portuguese foods, soup, and desserts. Finally, on the way back we hiked down to a few more pools and all took a good long peaceful soak. We also saw a working water-powered Olive press that was still revitalized each season by the locals for use. A great memory that we will never forget.