Across Portugal

A very special experience. Walk into the beautiful lobby and take in the charm of this “once home”, now hotel. Have your welcome drink on the terrace overlooking the ocean . Use your Portuguese to chat with friendly staff. Enjoy the view from your spacious room. Take a short walk through the lovely streets of Estoril before heading down to the water. The food here is excellent, so be sure to have a special dinner there.

Our guide was a young woman named Anna. Her passion for history was evident through her knowledge and enthusiasm. She guided us through different areas of Lisbon and took us to historical places as well as the best views via elevators. The tour ended with a delightful wine tasting and sampling of cheeses and hams. This was only for us. The wine expert talked about some different wines from Portugal, especially its vinho verde. Of course we bought one.

Our driver took us up narrow, winding roads to a restaurant that is famous for Fados. We enjoyed a very nice meal, good wines, and were treated to a performance of guitar and singing. The songs were often about the sea and of course love. I especially loved the guitars.

A great way to see the stunning rock formations. Your motorboat takes you through the arches of the walls. The guides are knowledgeable and great at handling the boats.

We had a lovely evening visiting the farm of Mariana and Inez. Their family has had this farm for many years and all work to keep it going. Our cooking class with Inez was a real highlight of the trip. With her guidance, we four prepared a 3 course meal. We all took part in the creation of a meal fit for a king. After the meal was ready, Inez and Mariana set the dining room table and served us the meal we had prepared. It was a wonderful experience.

Lovely boutique hotel located perfectly in historic Lisbon. Great staff, delicious breakfasts, beautiful decor. Everyone was friendly and helpful

This hotel is unusual for us. We stayed in the minimalist rooms and enjoyed the care with which they were furnished and decorated. The balcony was an enjoyable place to relax. We loved the restaurant and the wellness drinks on offer! Dinner was excellent as were the breakfasts. The beauty of Casa Mae is also outside of their buildings. The garden is a centerpiece, even in February and the pools look enchanting, although it wasn’t warm enough for us to be tempted.

We were only here one night and wished it could have been longer.

This gorgeous small hotel was the best of the best. The staff makes every effort to help you feel at home and every detail was considered in planning and decorating. Every where you look you find something beautiful. The restaurant was excellent and the location was convenient to everything we wanted. The terrace overlooking the water was unforgettable. Nothing better than sitting there, sipping a drink and watching the waves.

Anna was full of information. She tailored the walking experience to our needs. Answered all our questions and was fun to be with.

This is a crowded tourist spot even in February. The drive up the mountain is interesting!

If you haven’t seen and heard fado, you must. The guitar playing is amazing but I can’t quite relate to the singing style.

We do a lot of personal boating, so we weren’t sure how much we would enjoy this. However, it was a lot of fun and really special to see the rocks and cliffs from the water side. The guides on the boat were safe and entertaining.

This was our favorite experience of the whole trip. These families are working hard to create a sustainable organic farm, raise their children and earn a living. They are so proud of their home, their property and products. It was an inspiring evening. We had a great time cooking and chatting and eating.

Ana was our walking tour guide for the day. She was very pleasant, friendly and easy to talk to, has a good understanding of local history. 3.5 hrs just flew by going around this historic town w/ Ana. I would recommend this walking tour to folks who are able to comfortably walk around - esp hilly ups/downs.

The hotel location, decor, rooms, and service were exceptional. We were on a quiet street, yet only blocks from the high end district. The rooms were beautiful and well-appointed.

The hotel was beautiful and nice that the apartment offered separate bedrooms and a common area, dining table, and kitchen. It was on a very busy and noisy street, and the bedrooms were up a flight of narrow stairs with a tight turn, making luggage a bit of a challenge.

Every aspect of this hotel was amazing. It was one of the nicest hotels experienced by anyone in our group. We did not want to leave!

The private tour of Lisbon offered just the right level of detail on the history and current state of Lisbon. Our tour guide was kind, fun, knowledgeable and professional.

Our driver was beyond amazing in his professionalism and knowledge of the area. We enjoyed Pena Palace but especially enjoyed Sintra and the brief tour of Cascais.

The atmosphere and music offered great insight into the Portuguese culture. We appreciated how much all native Portuguese love the Fado music. It is beautiful.

Porto is beautiful and we walked through some amazing locations. Our guide offered an extensive history of Porto and Portugal as a country - perhaps a little too extensive, at times. We would have preferred to cover a little more ground and see more sights.

Beautiful location and interesting tour.

The Douro Valley is amazing and beautiful. We enjoyed the views and the winery tour; however, the time spent in the car seemed a bit excessive.

The guides on the boat were wonderful; however, the boat tour was a bit underwhelming. We traveled a short distance down the river and back and really did not see anything overwhelming - perhaps because we live in a part of the world that also has beautiful rivers and hills :)

The lunch was wonderful. We did enjoy the tour of the vineyards, but having been to other vineyards, we would have opted not to do this experience.

The weather was not conducive to a bike tour that day, yet the guide suggested we continue. We thought we would be transported to the park by car, but we left the hotel on bike after only a brief introduction to the e-bikes and traveled on side walks and through the narrow city streets. Due to the wet tiles on the street, one member of our party wrecked their bike after two previous near falls. Thankfully, she wasn't seriously hurt, but had a large bruise on her cheek and a sizeable scrape on her knee. We returned to the hotel without seeing the park. Our travel agent, Diana, was exceptionally concerned about the injury and make sure our injured traveler did not need additional care. Diana also immediately refunded our fees for the tour.