Kimkim Trip Reviews for Portugal

Our 14 day vacation to Portugal was absolutely fantastic and exceeded our expectations!! All of the tour guides were excellent in their knowledge of the most notable sites as well as the history and culture of the area. Their vast amount of knowledge together with their friendliness made each and every tour a very informative, enjoyable and memorable experience. In addition, each tour guide was very accommodating to our requests to see specific monuments and attractions.

The drivers were punctual and polite. Whenever there was a slight language barrier it was never a problem as they used Google Translate. They were very forgiving of us with our lack of understanding of the Portuguese language.

Our travel specialist Beatriz (Bea) was incredibly dedicated and ensured that we visited the cities in Portugal that were most appealing to us. Her responsiveness was exceptional throughout the planning and booking of our customized itinerary. In addition, her colleagues were also very responsive and replied quickly to our questions during our time in Portugal.

Being able to customize the itinerary is very important to us. Our experience with kimkim has been wonderful 😊. We will use kimkim in planning and booking our future vacations.

Activity Reviews

Sunset Sailing Cruise

Lisbon

Thoroughly enjoyed this 2 hour cruise. Saw many amazing sites up and down the river. Cruise guides were very pleasant and informative.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Fado Dinner Experience

Lisbon

We enjoyed the very emotional and melancholy Fado music. The musicians and singers expressed so much emotion. Noted that the singers usually had their eyes closed while performing. Their emotion was unlike anything we have seen before. The food was very delicious at this Fado restaurant.

Quality of Experience

See above.

Food

Our trip to Portugal was excellent ! Well planned with good guides provided especially Gustavo who drove us on a private tour to Douro Valley.....

Coimbra was super ! We didn't know much about it but both of us loved it.

Porto, wish we had a week in Porto! Sure to come back soon.

Obrigado Raquel......

Our experience working with Kim Kim, and specifically João from Across Portugal, was absolutely stellar. When we started planning our trip, the communication was timely and responsive to our needs. João really understood the type of vacation we were looking for, and made it happen within our budget!

We were incredibly impressed with the communication platform on Kim Kim. We had all the details we needed for our trip, including confirmation numbers and contact information. Not only that, but we got a personalized message through WhatsApp every evening with a detailed plan for our next day's itinerary. Everything was seamless and well organized. When there was a minor issue with transportation to the airport on our last day of travel, João responded to us within 1 minute (at 6am!) to resolve the problem and issue a refund for the transportation we had paid for. We couldn't ask for better service.

The only negative is that we only had 7 days to enjoy this beautiful trip, and will definitely need to come back to explore more of beautiful Portugal!

Hotel Reviews

InterContinental Lisbon

Lisboa

Beautiful hotel, very clean, amazing breakfast buffet. A bit off the beaten track from downtown Lisbon, but easily accessible via transit and a short walk.

Authenticity & Character

Location

A bit outside the city centre, but easily accessible by transit and a short walk (uphill)

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cascade Wellness

Lagos

Beautiful hotel in a picturesque setting. Everything you need is on the resort, but it is a short walk or taxi to the centre of town in Lagos (downhill to get there, uphill to get back).

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pestana Cidadela Cascais

Cascais

Very unique hotel in the old fort in Cascais. Wish we could have stayed longer!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Lisbon's Historic Odyssey Walk

Lisbon

Gui (Guillermo) from "Your Friend in Lisbon" was an incredible tour guide. His background in Portuguese history and culture added so much value to the tour. We learned so much about the history of Portugal! He took us to all of the most important places in the city, and pointed out some really helpful tips for getting around (i.e. the hidden elevator in Baixa-Chiado). The meeting point at the Restoradoes monument was a bit confusing as there was another large group tour starting there at the same time. In the future, it might be helpful to have a sign with the name of the tour company, as it was initially challenging to find our guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Immerse Yourself in the Portuguese Culture by Experiencing a Fado Dinner

Lisbon

An amazing cultural experience with beautiful Fado music. The dinner was good, but not the highlight of the evening.

Quality of Experience

Food

Unveil the Fairytale Villa of Sintra with a Private Driver Service

Portugal

Our driver, Eduardo, provided a fabulous trip to Sintra for the day. Pena Palace is a very unique experience. We had time to explore the village of Sintra before it got too busy (and have some local pastries - highly recommend). We went to the Regaleira and initiation well in the afternoon, which was worth the visit.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Panoramic Boat to the Ponta da Piedade Grottoes

Portugal

A beautiful boat tour of the grottoes to get a different perspective of the Algarve beaches. Our tour guide (Bruno) was excellent!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Marissa our agent was very communicative as well as her colleagues. They helped us not only in our 10 day Portugal itinerary but helped get our daughters passport to us when she left it behind. We will be happy to use your company again.

We just returned from our vacation to Portugal. Words can’t describe how much we loved our time there. Everything was planned to perfection and everyday just got better and better. Our walking tour on our first day in Lisbon with Ricardo was incredible. He’s extremely knowledgeable about the areas and shared so much of Portugal’s history with us. Our drivers we had while there were equally as enjoyable. Luís Vicente drove us around a couple of days while staying in Lisbon and took us to incredible towns sharing his knowledge about each special area we visited. We were equally impressed with Jorge Amaral who we had the pleasure of meeting while staying in Porto. Jorge drove us around for exclusive tours through Duomo Valley and beyond. He was fantastic and even gave us recommendations for our next leg of the trip after we left Porto for Madeira. His guidance was above and beyond!! We are so thankful for the attention to detail each person provided. Our hotel experiences were great as well. We will definitely use KimKim again and recommend the services provided by Kim Kim to all of our family and friends. Thank you for a magical vacation!!!!!

Hotel Reviews

Bela Vista Hotel & SPA - Relais & Châteaux

Portimao

This hotel is perfection! It’s gorgeous!!! And the history is so interesting too. Awesome views and fantastic rooms. All of the hotel employees are so kind and generous with their time. We loved staying here and how to be fortunate enough to come back again someday. Loved it!!!

Authenticity & Character

The history is incredible!

Location

Views!!!!

Staff

So kind!! Very helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Exquisite!!

Savoy Palace – The Leading Hotels of the World | Savoy Signature

Funchal

Loved it!! Great rooms. Great breakfast everyday. Really nice staff….highly recommend!

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful location snd views

Location

Walk to do most things nearby!

Staff

Do nice!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean!

Activity Reviews

Lisbon's Historic Odyssey Walk

Lisbon

We really enjoyed our walking trip with Ricardo. It was very enjoyable and time well spent. Highly recommend this activity!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

walking was fun!

Immerse Yourself in the Portuguese Culture by Experiencing a Fado Dinner

Lisbon

We really enjoyed the food here and the Fado performance.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Unveil the Fairytale Villa of Sintra with a Private Driver Service

Portugal

Loved this tour and our driver. The palace is a must see! Our driver Luis Vicente was incredible and we had a wonderful time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Luis Vicente was fantastic. Very knowledge and very friendly.

Transport

Unraveling the Timeless Charms of Braga and Guimarães on a Tailored Expedition with a Private Driver

Porto

Loved this tour! Both areas are so interesting to see. Great day!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Seamless Discovery - The Ultimate Douro Valley Experience with Private Driver Service from Porto

Portugal

This area is a must see! Its gorgeous!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The driver was Jorge Amaral. He was fantastic.

Transport

Scenic Voyage along the Douro River aboard an Exclusive Boat

Portugal

This was quite an experience. The boat trip was very beautiful. The surrounding hillsides are so pretty with vineyards. Its a must see!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Panoramic Boat to the Ponta da Piedade Grottoes

Portugal

So fun! Touring the Grottoes in our own boat with two boat drivers was amazing! We loved this tour! The sights were so pretty and the caves were incredible.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our honeymoon trip to Portugal was absolutely amazing! I'm an event/travel planner in my day job, so I know I could've planned the trip on my own, but working with Kimkim and our specialist Beatriz made the planning experience SO much quicker and I appreciate all the time they saved me! I loved how we were able to customize our itinerary, ask specific questions, and tailor the whole experience to our interests + Beatriz was super responsive during our travels in case we had questions or last minute change requests (which was super reassuring). All of our onsite tour guides were all so friendly, knowledgeable, and passionate about making sure we had the best time. A few stand out experiences that we highly recommend: Duomo valley tour (100% ask to book a Quintas lunch experience!!!), our private cooking class in Porto (huge shout out to Vitor!) , and our kayaking excursion to the Bengali caves in Algarves. The hotel recommendations were fantastic as well - all located in convenient, central locations and were usually walking distance to our tours. Thank you kimkim and Beatriz for an amazing experience and we look forward to planning our next trip with you soon!

Hotel Reviews

Vivenda Miranda

Lagos

Stunning views, convenient location! The decor has a bit of quirkiness to it, but still felt high end!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Octant Évora

Évora

Absolutely stunning resort property - we just wish we had more time to spend there since there is so much to do! Multiple pools, planned activities, onsite restaurant, farm/garden, hikes, the spa, etc.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

We were late to the breakfast buffet and they had already cleaned it up, but their staff went above and beyond to fetch us two plates from the kitchen!

Cleanliness & Comfort

PortoBay Marquês

Lisbon

Great location and clean rooms!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

We had some issues with our wifi device being delivered and they were so helpful in rescheduling our delivery!

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Editory House Ribeira

Porto

AMAZING location and great breakfast! Appreciated the complimentary port glass upon check in. Rooms are a bit smaller, but didn't matter too much since we didn't spend much time there besides sleeping!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Day Excursion: Sintra, Cascais & Estoril

Portugal

Marta was absolutely amazing and beyond accommodating! She really knew all the secret back roads, local spots, and most interesting facts about all the locations we visited. We appreciated that we didn't have to wait in any lines and chose some of the "off the beaten path" places to visit - just our style! :)

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Porto Cooking Class

Porto

Vitor was the best! Amazing company, laughs, and food. We have a new friend for life :)

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Excursion to Douro Valley, Wine Tasting & River Cruise

Porto

Rui was an amazing guide and really hooked us up with such a special, delicious lunch/wine tasting experience at a local quinta. A highlight of the trip!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Great trip well organized Marina is amazing

Trip was well organized. Transit from Lisbon to Carvoeiro via coast & Sagres was good. Carvoeira hotel & location was great. Caves boat tour was spectacular . Monchique/Foia was not very interesting. Day trip to Silves & Lagos was great. Same local guide for most of the local tours - good guide & flexibility (e.g, changed Tavira walking tour to trip to Castro Marim & across border to Spain to Ayamonte). Rio Fomosa boat tour - would have done the shorter excursion option . The only issue was the transit from Tavira to Lisbon. The driver was one hour late, as he was given the wrong hotel location.

The trip plan app was great for providing information

We had a 5 star service from Pedro and the team of tour guides and drivers he put together for us. The response on our questions were fast and accommodating. The itinerary was a perfect balance of culture , gastronomy , sights and introduction of Portuguese history. We were never felt rushed. The hotel selection was awesome and the upgrade that Pedro facilitated for us was very much appreciated. Our tour with Gui in Lisbon was amazing. He was very knowledgeable, informative and definitely proud of his Portuguese heritage. Our winery tasting and lunch in Douro Valley was comparable to a Michelin star restaurant. Andre in Porto gave us a good insight into local cuisine and wines. Our transfers were effortless and easy. With Peña palace staff striking the day we were to visit, Pedro came up with an alternative in matter or minutes and we were quickly rerouted.

Hotel Reviews

Porto Royal Bridges Hotel

Porto

Location , location! This hotel was perfectly located for us as we had a quick access to the river, restaurants snd shops. The room was stylish and adequate. The staff was very attentive . The breakfast was delicious.

Authenticity & Character

Modern and stylish

Location

Proximity to downtown, attractions

Staff

Top notch and attentive

Cleanliness & Comfort

Firm bed and super comfy

HF Fénix Lisboa

Lisbon

Super great location and access to downtown and all the neighborhoods. Busy location than Porto. We had an eight floor room with incredible views! Very spacious and roomy. Bed was super comfortable and got a good nights sleep!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Proximity to attractions and downtown

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Exploring Porto's Rich History on an Exclusive Gastronomic Tour Through Time

Porto

Nice introduction in Porto, wine , food and culture

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very courteous, and also shared recommendations and history

Transport

Very courteous, informative and shared historical information

The Flavors of Port Wine - Sip & Discover

Porto

Nice cave tour and tasty wines.. cheese board was amazing

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Seamless Discovery - The Ultimate Douro Valley Experience with Private Driver Service from Porto

Portugal

The beautiful and stunning Douro valley floored us! We had an incredible wine tasting, tour and lunch.. this was an excellent choice by Pedro. Boat ride was ok. Not much different scenery from boat.. would have skipped that had we known

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very polite and knowledgeable about the area. Prompt and knew the picture stops on the way

Transport

Indulge in Elegance on a Guided Winery Tour Infused with Tastings and a Delicious Lunch

Portugal

Amazing winery and views. Excellent setting among the vineyards. Lunch was well presented and yummy. Tour was informative and staff was very friendly. Did not feel rushed.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Scenic Voyage along the Douro River aboard an Exclusive Boat

Portugal

Slow boat ride with nothing much of a different view. Would skip in future.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lisbon's Historic Odyssey Walk

Lisbon

This was one of the best walking tours we have taken! Gui was very informative and shared his culture, history in a fun way. He had numerous stops on the way.. pointed out souvenir stops. The hours flew by and we were sad to be done with the tour. He answered our curious questions and made sure his talk was engaging us!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Unveil the Fairytale Villa of Sintra with a Private Driver Service

Portugal

Peña palace officials were striking the day.. so we ended up going to another palace which got crowded soon. But amazing gardens , caves and mystery routes

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This was a great trip. Diogo and Joao were terrific hosts. Attentive and funny. All the hotels were well chosen especially Quinta de Pacheca. The itinerary was perfect. 4 people and each of us left with beautiful memories and stories to tell.
Obrigada😘

Hotel Reviews

The Wine House Hotel - Quinta da Pacheca

Lamego

There is only one word for this hotel - Wow!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Just beautiful!

Mercure Porto Centro Santa Catarina

PORTO

The Mercure Porto Centro was very well-located, making it easy for us to explore Porto. We initially had an interior room with frosted windows, but the staff kindly offered us a different room with real windows, which was great. Overall, our stay was smooth and trouble-free.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Guided Tour of Lisbon

Lisbon

Joao was a great tour guide. Welcoming and flexible. Funny and knowledgeable. 😘

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Clean and comfortable 😊

Sunset Cruise of Lisbon

Lisbon

Beautiful. Great captain. Perfect sunset😊😎

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tell people to bring a snack with them. And try the green wine!

Enjoy Dinner with Live Fado Music

Lisbon

Beautiful music. Intimate space. Just right😘

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wine Estate Visit in the Douro Valley

Portugal

The Douro Valley wine estate visit was simply extraordinary. The landscape and vineyards were unbelievably beautiful, and we really enjoyed our time there. We decided to cut out one of the additional stops on the way back to Porto, but didn't feel like we missed anything important.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Port Wine Tasting Tour

Porto

The port wine tasting tour in Porto was a great experience. We got to taste various kinds of delicious port wines and learn more about the history and process of making them. It was well-organized and enjoyable.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wow, so much to mention. The hotel accommodations were excellent and well located. The entire agenda was very well planned and detail oriented. The guides were very good, special kudos to Joao. Diogo was extremely responsive to all our needs.

I would definitely recommend you to friends and other relatives.

Hopefully we can plan another trip with you as well.

Great time, thank you so much for a first-class vacation!

I recently had the pleasure of working with KimKim and Catarina while planning a trip to Portugal with my friends. I must say, they are an exceptional team. From the very beginning, they were incredibly responsive and paid great attention to detail. Catarina, in particular, went above and beyond to ensure that every aspect of our trip was taken care of.

Catarina worked closely with us to create a custom itinerary that perfectly matched our preferences and interests. Throughout the trip, she was always available to answer any questions we had, and she made sure that everything ran smoothly.

What impressed me the most about KimKim and Catarina was their dedication to providing a personalized and authentic travel experience. They truly took the time to understand our travel style and preferences, and as a result, they curated a truly unique and unforgettable trip for us.

Overall, I can't recommend KimKim and Catarina enough. Their commitment to their clients is truly inspiring. If you're planning a trip to Portugal (or anywhere else, for that matter), I highly recommend reaching out to KimKim and specifically Catarina for their expertise and support.

Mathilde Almas was such an incredible guide. She was as thoughtful as she was knowledgeable. Mathilde anticipated our every need and did everything she could to ensure that our trip was fantastic. Pedro was very attentive, albeit remotely, and we always felt that if there were a problem, Pedro and his team were available. We loved the hotel choices in Porto and Alcobaca and the decision to stay in Alcobaca rather than Nazare. The drivers were equally excellent. All and all, Pedro and Mathilde plus the wonders of Portugal ensured a trip of a lifetime for us!

We just returned from Portugal and had an outstanding vacation. A great part of it was because of the tour designed by Tiago and the tour guide that he had assigned to our care. Tiago put a package together that checked all the boxes that we asked for and everything was handled with perfection and not an issue with anything. We were picked up at the airport and in their care until we were dropped off 5 days later. Excellent job by our tour guide. We hope we have the pleasure of returning some day and will definitely, start our dream vacation again with KimKim tours. Thank you again Tiago.

I want to start off by saying that Kim Kim is hands down the best travel agency I have ever worked with. From start to finish, they made the planning process simple and stress free and curated the most amazing Portuguese experience we could have ever asked for! Tiernan, our local specialist, worked very hard to plan a dream Portugal vacation for my husband and I to celebrate our anniversary! He was extremely helpful, communicative and attentive and made appropriate changes to the itinerary when needed. We both work in the wine industry in the United States and wanted a true wine experience in Portugal and Tiernan went above and beyond to make sure we had just that! It was also very easy to get in touch with him while on our trip if we had any last minute needs or questions. The hotels that Tiernan chose were perfect and convenient to everything we wanted to do! The tours and suggestions he made throughout our trip were all amazing! If you are traveling to Portugal, I highly recommend reaching out to Tiernan and letting him plan the vacation of your dreams!

A few experiences that we want to point out:
We had a lovely dinner at a local's home on our second night in Lisbon. Our host Margarida and her son were fabulous! We were only supposed to stay for 2 hours and ended up staying for 4! Margarida was so friendly and welcoming and cooked us an amazing 3 course meal paired with wine! She is definitely one of the highlights of our trip and we will never forget our night with her!

We visited several vineyards throughout our stay and all were incredible. We would highly recommend visiting all of these amazing operations and we bought several bottles from each that we visited! Tiernan did a great job choosing some wineries that were larger commercial operations and much smaller, family owned operations as well! We enjoyed the experience and the wines at each stop! If they are offering tapas with your tasting, we highly recommend trying them as they enhance the experience!
Wineries we visited:
Casal Santa Maria
Adega Belem
Prova Wine Bar
Quinta De Crasto
Quinta Do Infantado
Sem Igual
Vale dos Ares

I also want to give a huge shout out to two of our drivers: Ronado Santos and Pedro!! Ronado took us to Colares and Sintra and we had a wonderful time getting to know him! We took him up on his suggestions for lunch and dinner and both were absolutely delicious! He was extremely helpful and friendly and didn't mind when we took too long at our first vineyard stop! Tiernan then set us up with Pedro, our local guide/winemaker, who met us on our first day in Porto and was with us for the rest of our trip! He truly was the best guide we could have asked for and we appreciated how helpful, friendly and passionate he was! His knowledge of Portugal's history is extensive and there wasn't a question he didn't know the answer to! Pedro took us to Douro Valley and Vinho Verde and we enjoyed every minute of getting to know him! It was very exciting being able to spend so much time with a local winemaker so that we could compare notes on everything wine! I cannot recommend Pedro enough and we hope to see him again on our next visit!

Again, we cannot thank the Kim Kim team and especially Tiernan enough for a magical, dream vacation to Portugal! We could not have asked for a better anniversary trip and learning experience. We look forward to working with Tiernan again in the future! Obrigada!!!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Convento do Salvador

Lisbon

We truly enjoyed our stay at Hotel Convento do Salvador! It is located in the beautiful and historic Alfama district and is within walking distance to great cafes and restaurants. A short walk up the hill provides one of the best views in Lisbon and you can easily walk to the city center! The staff was amazing and very helpful throughout our stay! Our train went on strike and the staff helped us book the correct bus to get us to our destination! If you are visiting Lisbon and don't want to be in the middle of the hustle and bustle every night, I highly recommend staying here!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Aeminium Coimbra Hotel

Coimbra

We only spent one night in this hotel but it was beautiful! A very convenient location to the bus and train stations and a beautiful walk to the river front where there are lots of great restaurants! The rooms were clean and spacious and the staff was extremely helpful! They made our reservations for dinner and also helped us get a taxi on time to make our train! We would definitely stay here again!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Legendary Porto Hotel

Porto

This hotel was beautiful and in the perfect location, convenient to any attractions or restaurants! Maria at the front desk gave us a room upgrade which had a marvelous view of the cathedral from our balcony! She made our stay extra special and was always smiling! The staff was extremely helpful and gave us great recommendations throughout our stay! They also helped us a lot in the process of shipping wine back over to the United States! The breakfast was delicious! If Antonio is working the lobby bar, be sure to try his famous Port Tonic! We would definitely stay in this hotel again!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Portuguese Dinner at a Local Home

Lisbon

This experience is one that will always be a fond memory for us! Our host, Margarida and her son, were absolutely wonderful people! They were so friendly and welcoming and we enjoyed spending our evening with them! Margarida cooked a delicious meal and paired it with some of her favorite wines! Everything was superb and it was a very special evening on our trip! Obrigada, Margarida!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Colares, Cascais & Sintra

Lisbon

Pena Palace is beautiful and definitely worth seeing! Be sure to take your time to take in the amazing views and history! It may be a bit crowded but the experience is worth it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Casal Sta. Maria Winery Visit & Tasting | The Most Western Vineyards of Europe

Lisbon

We visited Casal Santa Maria for a wonderful wine tasting experience! We toured the vineyards with our guide and she was extremely knowledgeable! The wine tasting and tapas were absolutely delicious! We spent so much time enjoying the wines that we had to skip Cascais but it was totally worth it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Urban Winery Experience

Lisbon

We visited Adega Belem and had a beautiful experience. Catarina and her husband, the owners, were extremely knowledgeable and passionate about their wines! The tapas provided enhanced the entire wine tasting experience! We spent several hours talking to the owners and other guests and left with several bottles of their delicious wines!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Rabelo Boat Cruise of the Bridges on the Douro River

Porto

This was a great one hour cruise with a wonderful view of the bridges with lots of history!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Porto Street Walk and Wine tasting with a Local Wine Maker

Porto

WE highly recommend Pedro as your local guide if you have the chance. He was wonderful and took us on a very informative walk around Porto! He knows a lot about Portuguese history and showed us some of the beautiful architecture around the city. He then suggested that we end our evening at Pravo wine bar which was a wonderful experience. WE met several Portuguese winemakers at the bar and drank lots of delicious wines from all around the country!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Douro Valley Wine Country with a Winemaker

Porto

No trip to Portugal is complete without a visit to their most famous wine region. Douro Valley is definitely worth the drive from Porto and offers amazing views and delicious wines! We highly recommend visiting a larger, commercial style operation as well as a small, family owned operation! Again, if you can request Pedro, you won't regret it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Vinho Verde Wine Country with a Winemaker

Porto

The Vinho Verde wine region was definitely one of the areas that surprised us the most. The wines are very unique and delicious. It is also pretty amazing to drink wine in Portugal while staring at the mountains of Spain!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our local specialist Carmen was very responsive to our questions and would quickly update our itinerary with great suggestions. I never felt pressured or rushed, and I appreciate her checking in on us before, during, and after our trip. Our favorite highlight was a private tour of Sintra with a local guide (Marta): we were treated to plenty of sightseeing, but we never felt fatigued or overwhelmed. Additionally, our overall experience in Lisbon and the Algarve region were exceptional. Everything else such as private transfers, car rental, dinner reservations, alerting restaurants of our food allergies, etc. went smoothly. We will use this travel agency again.

The delay at the airport for more than an hour was frustrating. The driver was less than apologetic. His name is Alfredo and he was also the driver that took us to porto. This ride was better and he was on time and courteous

The hotel 1908, our pick, turned out to be a highlight of the week. It and its staff are amazing. Highly recommend. Daniella our food walk tour guide was very very good and her tour was special. She is so passionate for her country. We give her 5 stars! The tuk tuk ride was good and informative. The fado dinner and show was also great the food was excellent and good musicians, we enjoyed the evening. Our day trip to sintra and caiscais with our guide Paulo Pires was amazing. 5 star ⭐️ tour guide and tour. He became our friend and made the tour and day so very special. A highlight of the trip. We then made our way to porto to the exe Almada hotel with a stop in coimbra. Our guide was looking for 4 people and it wasn’t Sarah, instead it was a guy who replaced her. He was ok but not very animated. The tour was a 3 star. Our exe room was good but w a terrible brick wall for a view. We opened our window as the ac didn’t work and the fumes from parking garage below were not tolerable. Would suggest requesting a view. The vintage car tour started out quite confusing for us and our guide Sandra Tavares. We expected to be picked up by someone in the vintage car but it turned our that after half an hour our guide who was asking around for her guests “ the mctavish couple from Hong Kong” was really our guide and she was given the wrong guest info. She then clarified that the tour was a walking tour for an hour n a half fist then followed by the car tour. Once we sorted it out the tour was great. I would recommend the description of the tour be clarified so that the description is clear that we are walking first then the car later….the Douro valley and boat tour w Nelson was 5 star. Our lunch at a private farm was another highlight of the week and Nelson is absolutely top notch. He was very good. It was a special day spent w him that day. Thru out the week most guides were looking for 4 people and co fused. Hope this helps Rob n Fran Crawford

Highlights of our Portugal Adventure:

Helena arranged an amazing itinerary that gave us a taste of Portugal and we'll be back. We appreciated Helena's responsiveness and ideas. She was also great at helping with problem solving when we realized that we couldn't make our connecting flight.

1. Our Douro Valley visit to small family run quinta Maos e Irmaos with personal wine tasting & pairing with owner Rafael followed by wine lunch prepared and served in the family dining room. We really enjoy getting to know the people and the culture so this experience was PERFECT for us. Also we loved our driver Rui Queiroz, who was extremely personable and informative. He gave us a great dinner recommendation in Matosinhos at O Valentim . We were lucky enough to have Rui as our driver to Coimbra as well. We especially loved the stop at the Buçaco Forest and Rui took us to Restaurante Mugasa for piglet which he added on his own since he knew we were big foodies!
2. Day trip to Sintra with our amazing driver/guide Paulo Ferreira Pires...we actually wished we had more time in Sintra. Paulo took us to this really cool small family owned restaurant called Refugio do Ciclista. Again we loved this little hole in the wall family run place where we got to meet the owners. The tour of the Palacio nacional da Pena and gardens were amazing. Afterwards Paulo took us to his wife's restaurant, The Bristol for a welcomed coffee and traditional pastries.
3. Our stay at the Convento do Espinheiro was by far the best of all of the accommodations. We loved wandering around this incredible historic site.
4. Jeep Safari of the cork forest with Joana ....Joana was a wealth of knowledge and we really enjoyed learning about cork. Folowed by the Olive Oil estate tasting with João Rosado...we loved this small family run estate and having a lovely lunch prepared by his wife.

All in all it was an amazing adventure and Helena did a GREAT job. Thank you so much.

Marta, our travel coordinator, was fantastic. She provided an app that gave us great information. She did a perfect job matching our vacation wishes with experiences. She continuously checked in with us to see how everything was going and if she could assist in anyway, always going above and beyond. KimKim has a gem in Marta!!
All our guides throughout Portugal, Azores and Spain were wonderful. (With the exception of the guide we had in Barcelona for our visit to Monserrat. He did not provide good information and was more interested in smoking than speaking to the group.) But, we can’t let that one incident overshadow the amazing trip we had.

Hotel Reviews

Pousada de Lisboa, Praça do Comércio - Monument Hotel

Lisbon

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Exe Almada Porto

Porto

Authenticity & Character

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The Noble House

Evora

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Gran Hotel Miramar

Málaga

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Gran Hotel Havana

Barcelona

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Hotel Palacio de Villapanés

Sevilla

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Activity Reviews

Get to Know Lisbon with a Local

Lisbon

Our guide was fantastic! Very knowledgeable and provided a great experience

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Sintra Heritage Hike: Hidden Secrets

Portugal

Our guide was wonderful. She was flexible and fun. Had a wonderful time.

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Azorean Culinary & Wine Experience & Get to Know Ponta Delgada with a Local

São Miguel Island

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Food

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Sete Ciudades Jeep Adventure

São Miguel Island

Natasha, our guide, was unbelievable. She shared great info about the islands. Our adventures with her were outstanding. We felt like she was a family member by the time we parted ways.

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Night Hot Springs in Furnas

São Miguel Island

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Food

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Privately Guided Visit of Porto

Porto

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Introduction to Portuguese Wines

Porto

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Day Excursion to Douro Valley, Wine Tasting & River Cruise

Porto

Our wine tasting and food pairing was the best!! Got so involved with the tasting that we decided to forego the cruise

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Private Transfer {{start_location}} to {{end_location}} via Coimbra

Portugal

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Driver was great. Very knowledgeable.

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Excursion to Alentejo - Jeep Safari Through a Cork Fork & Visit to an Olive Oil Estate

Lisbon

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Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our driver was super fun. He even took us to an optical store to get my husband’s glasses fixed.

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Flamenco Experience

Spain

FUN!

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Guided Visit of Seville

Seville

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Sunset Málaga Cruise

Málaga

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Free Day to Explore Málaga

Málaga

Wandered around. Visited the Picasso Museum. (Don’t waste your money on “Skip the Line” tickets. We didn’t get in any faster than anyone else.) spent the afternoon relaxing on the beach.

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Tapas Walk in Barcelona

Barcelona

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Private Tour of Barcelona & La Sagrada Familia

Barcelona

This was our main reason for wanting to visit Barcelona. We were not disappointed

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Day Trip to Montserrat & Penedès Region Wine Tasting

Barcelona

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Driver was good. Guide was poor.

Transport

Kimkim put us in touch with Pedro at Across Portugal Tours in Lisbon. He is INCREDIBLE. We have never worked with such a responsive, helpful, knowledgeable, and competent travel agent and we have been around the world. The process of developing our tour was collaborative, taking into account our budget and physical needs and our desire to see a lot of Portugal but at a slower pace. The choice of hotels was spot on (Heritage in Lisbon, Portobay Teatro in Porto, and the Miragem in Cascais). He even sent photos of the showers so that concern about stepping in them was directly addressed. When we arrived, there was a care package waiting with port, cookies, and soaps. The drivers were excellent and we had the same driver for most of the trips; the walking tours were truly informative and fun. Everything went very smoothly. Pedro checked in with us daily on WhatsApp to make sure everything was OK and gave us the names and contact info for the drivers. He would offer suggestions for daily activities and for restaurants. There are not enough superlatives to describe the services offered by his agency. Working with Kimkim was also easy, clear, efficient, and responsive. We are so happy that we discovered the Kimkim website and services.

Hotel Reviews

Heritage Avenida Liberdade

Lisboa

Elegant, has a great location in the center of Lisbon, has great breakfasts, and warm and very helpful staff. Beautiful historical room with modern facilities. Highly recommended.

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PortoBay Hotel Teatro

Porto

Center of Porto. Modern hotel with lovely rooms and a great restaurant. Breakfasts are very ample and delicious. Helpful and warm staff. Surprised us with a bottle of champagne and a birthday cake for my wife! Highly recommended.

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More of a modern-style hotel

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Cascais Miragem

Cascais - Portugal

Wow! Stunning hotel facing the ocean. Public rooms are breathtaking with art and sculptures everywhere. The outdoor infinity pool overlooking the sea was stunning. Also, the Water Lounge with a family pool, adult pool, salt water pool, steam room, and sauna. The spa massage was top-notch. This is definitely a five-star experience. The breakfasts were enough to fill you for the day and the staff were exceptionally warm and welcoming. The pool bar and cafe around the school made for a lovely dining experience for breakfast and lunch. Our room was huge, with sea views a dressing area, and a modern bath. As we were leaving at 6:15 AM they woke us with a call at five and then came by at 5:15 to make sure we were up. Also brought us breakfast bags with cappuccino as room service was not as yet open. Highest recommendation!

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More of a modern-style hotel

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Activity Reviews

Porto's Historic Odyssey on a Private Walking Tour

Porto

Our guide, Bernardo, was an archaeologist and provided a wealth of information. The tour was very enjoyable.

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Visit: Sintra

Portugal

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Lisbon's Historic Odyssey Walk

Lisbon

Our guide was a woman who was incredible, thoughtful, and nice. She modified the tour as necessary to accommodate our walking abilities on the cobblestone streets.

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Visit: Porto

Porto

We participated in a port wine tour and an olive oil tour in Porto and even brought home some olive oil. Our exceptional driver ensured that we visited all the lesser-known tourist attractions before departing.

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Visit: Cascais

Cascais

We stayed at a five-star hotel here near the ocean which offered convenient access to the center of town which was great for walking to shops.

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