Great travel agency, great trip!
Portugal is a fantastic destination, a remarkably diverse country with its enormous variety of different ecosystems, historic and prehistoric sites, superb food, opportunities for adventure, and friendly welcoming people in a relatively small area that is easy to get around.
This was our second trip planned and arranged by Angela and Paloma, our Carameltrail team. They did such an outstanding job for us on our trip to Spain that naturally we chose to work with them on our trip to Portugal.
They came up with a fantastic itinerary for our 23-day trip, which included Lisbon, the Algarve, Évora, Marvão, Coimbra, Pinhao on the Douro River, Porto, Madeira and finally Lisbon again. The itinerary included not only several diverse guided tours and prepaid experiences, but also useful recommendations for places to go and sites to see on our own as well as restaurants.
There were no transportation hassles ever, because they arranged reliable transportation to and from airports plus a rental car for our cross-country trip starting in Lisbon and ending in Porto. The one time we had trouble finding our driver at an airport, we called Paloma and she immediately got us connected. And when we got notice at 3:30 am that our early morning flight home would be delayed, I never expected prompt service at that hour, but Paloma instantly responded to my text message and worked with our driver to try to delay our ride to the airport.
We had excellent guides for city walking tours in Lisbon, Porto, Évora (including a cork factory); Coimbra (with special attention to the oldest university in Europe and its stunning Joanina Library); the megalith route outside Évora; a driver guide in the Douro Valley; a guided hiking tour in Madeira; a circuit driving around the western side of Madeira; a day at fascinating Sintra and Cascais; a sunset sailboat ride on the Tagus River in Lisbon and a rabelo boat ride in Pinhão. Following their suggestions, we explored other sites along our route, including but not limited to Béja, Lamego, Lagos, Tavira, Faro, Cabo da Roca, Monsaraz, Estremoz, Tomar, Guimarães.
One highlight among many was the thrilling boat ride out of Portimão to see the sea caves which they booked for us. There are probably over a dozen sea cave boat tour companies in the area, and they managed to find us one that maximized the experience as we requested. It took us on a more comprehensive tour that included many sea caves and actually got us inside the caves on a rollicking sea.
In fact, a strong point of Carameltrail is their willingness to work with clients like us, who do some independent research and have wide ranging interests. They were always attentive and responsive to us, and patient with our requests to refine our travel plans.
The hotels they booked for us were generally excellent, particularly Hotel Albergaria in Évora, Hotel Pousada Marvão (although it was an enormous hassle finding it with GPS in that medieval town), Hotel Quinta das Lagrimas in Coimbra, Vintage House in Pinhão, Hotel Pestana Carlton Madeira and the perfect finisher, Hotel Casa Balthazar in Lisbon. (The only hotel that fell short of expectations was the Hotel Pestana Alvor South Beach in the Algarve, which had a terrific location and wonderful staff but was surprisingly funky for a supposed 4-star.)
On our own, we would have spent countless hours trying to organize the trip without the benefit of our Carameltrail team’s knowledge, and we would never have been able to get such great results. They have deep knowledge of both the famous and off-the-beaten trail locations, and the best local guides and services available in each location. They listen well and consider the client’s preferences, abilities and interests, to tailor a unique trip best suited to each client. And then they support the client when weather or other circumstances develop that require adjustments along the way. We would definitely use their services again, and highly recommend them!
23 de octubre de 2025
Opinión espontánea