Portugal Local Travel Experts

Itinerary fitted our needs. Travel book was very useful and well put together. Joel (our host) was always available and easy to reach and provided good advice as well as addressing last minute requests for changes.

We had a great time. Joel was a wonderful host and took great care of us. He was knowledgeable and friendly. We enjoyed our time with him.   The trip went very well. All the accommodations were more than we expected, and the sights/events chosen gave us a full view of Portugal. I would whole-heartedly recommend Rough Guides and Joel for anyone considering Portugal.    The only suggestion I would make is that an electric vehicle is not the best choice for long car rides. To manage the battery life, we had to go very slow, but we did enjoy our time with Joel on the drives. Electric is great for short visits like Sintra and Belhem, but for the longer drives the technology is not yet there.

Traveled to Portugal and Joel with Rough Guides was amazing. He planned our trip and was our driver too. He’s very friendly and loves his country. We felt we made a friend in the 10 days we were there. Loved our trip.

I'm not sure where to send this so I'll start here. My parents just reached out to me to ask whether I'd told you how exceptional our experience was in our recent (May 2024) trip to Portugal and, particularly, how wonderful our guide, Joel (mylisbonholidays), was. I let them know I had not, but that I would. At any rate, I wanted to pass this on. Joel made our trip exceptional himself, with meticulous planning to ensure my mother, who is disabled, could participate to the degree possible. Her ability to walk is significantly compromised, yet he "made it happen". He, personally, pushed her around in a wheelchair in a number of circumstances that I was simply not able to or would have been limited. What an experience - I am eternally grateful to him for making this trip possible for my parents (85 and 89 respectively) and for making it a trip I (55) could enjoy without worry. I would recommend Joel and his company 100%. In fact, this experience was so good that my parents, who were thinking they were done with traveling outside the US, are contemplating another trip next year. As an aside, this was my second Rough Guides trip and I recently recommended you to another couple who is taking a trip with you to Italy in October. Thank you,

Thanks so much for all of your help in planning! We had an amazing trip and greatly enjoyed our time in Portugal. The return trip was successful (sadly), but we hope to return!

We just wanted to give you some feedback on our itinerary. We were happy with all the hotels but especially enjoyed Melia Aeroporto. It was beautiful and the staff was professional. We had dinner there and enjoyed it. The breakfast was bountiful and delicious. We enjoyed all our stops and really enjoyed the Fado show. Boca do Inferno was a beautiful stop. Sintra was hard to access so we did skip it but stopped in Cas Cais briefly and thought it was lovely. The sailboat cruise was ok but it was drizzling and they didn't tell you what you were looking at unless you asked for that information. Porto was amazing and the wine cellar tour was wonderful. We enjoyed our meal at Escondidinho. Guimaraes was great and we enjoyed lunch there in the courtyard. Douro Valley was beautiful and the river cruise was well worth it. We had dinner at The Vintage House which was classy. The surrounding area was desolate at night. Next time we book with Rough Guides we would definately stay away from a standard transmission rental car. We appreciated your guidance and to know that you were accessible most times when we had questions. We had a great trip and thank you for all your knowledge. Will definitely recommend Rough Guides for future travel.

Just wanted to express my thanks to Joel and Rough Guides for a wonderful trip! Everything was well-chosen and we just loved all of the hotels, sightseeing recommendations, activities, etc. The one time we had an issue (and it really was only one time), I called Joel and he responded immediately and fixed the problem. Thanks again!