lisbon private tours

I have contacted Top Ten Tours, but Alex is busy the day we are in town. They said the have some other newer guides available. Does anyone have experience with any of their guides other then Alex. All the reviews mention Alex. We were hoping to book with them, but it makes me nervous to book a guide with no reviews. We had a bad experience in the past. I have also contacted Jorge Bras but have not received a reply. Does he usually reply quickly? Thank you.

We used Alex as well & loved him. If I was going back and he was not available, I'd email him and ask for his recommendation on who to use.

Anybody know about an excursion to a bird reserve from Lisbon,about £50 per person

A group of us took We Hate Tourism Tours' Pirates tour for cruise ships. http://wehatetourismtours.com/

No luxury, and irreverant, but toally enjoyable as a change of scene. Ricardo was great, and his personality certainly helped make the day. He adapted to our wants, and we took so much time it added up that we were almost late for departure. Lisboa, Sintra, hot Pao raodside picnic, Cabo Roca, coast, surfers, fishing port, warm and fresh Belem Pastries, and lots of opportunities for photos. Our cruise was interrupted a day arriving in Lisbon due to weather, and Tatiana rebooked us on three days notice to the following day.

Another vote for WeHatetourismtours. Had a great trip to Sintra and loved our guide. Also loved the warm and fresh Belem Pastries.

We can't say enough wonderful things about Top Ten Tours & Alex in particular! We had very specific needs over 3 days, and they tailored every detail for us so that we saw so much more than we could ever have seen on our own. Maria was wonderful coordinating before the trip. Alex picked us up at our cruise ship & showed us many sights in Belem (including those fabulous pastries!) as well as Lisbon, before bringing us to the airport for a flight to Madrid. Upon our return a few days later, he greeted us with a big smile and we were off for over 6 hours exploring the beautiful town of Sintra (more great pastries! along with palaces). He even gave us a tour of our "palace" hotel. Along the way he provided great information of the history of Portugal and the lifestyle of the Portuguese. He gave us suggestions for where to eat dinner and told us to make sure to see Quinta da Reglaeria (a palace with secret magical gardens!) the next day - it was wonderful. Alex is enthusiastic and has a wonderful sense of humor - he was truly delightful. The next day a colleague gave us a transfer to the airport (even going out of his way so we could have a final pastry stop!). Top Ten Tours is a small company with very personalized service; we used them for all 3 days for a very reasonable price. It was fabulous! We highly recommend Top Ten Tours for anyone visiting the Lisbon area. We can't wait to go back and would certainly use them again to see other beautiful areas nearby. lisbon@toptentours.eu

We embarked in Lisbon on 7/17 and had a fabulous tour to Fatima with Jorge Bras (jmvbtours@gmail.com). I highly recommend Jorge as the tour was professional, extremely informative and customized to us. When my sister mentioned needing to get an official Renaldo soccer jersey, Jorge's adult son tried to find one while we were exploring Fatima without us even asking!

 

Charlotte

Charlotte - would you happen to have a current email address for Jorge? We will be on the Carnival Legend in June and would like to visit Fatima.

Please email me at JepsRed505@yahoo.com .

Thanks.

Carol

Another vote for WeHatetourismtours. Had a great trip to Sintra and loved our guide. Also loved the warm and fresh Belem Pastries.

We also had an amazing day with We Hate Tourism Tours - Pirates of the Cruise Ship. Fun, informative and great value! And the pastries...

We are just home from our eastbound TransAtlantic on Equinox - in Lisbon we booked a private tour for the 4 of us with Different Portugal Tours, Filipe is the owner - I will copy the review that I wrote about his company here for you, we highly recommend his company!

We had one day to experience as much as possible of Lisbon on our Celebrity Cruises day in port, so after much research, I contacted Filipe of Different Portugal Tours, and we are so glad that we did! From our first warm email exchange which made me feel like I had always known him, as if we were old friends, I knew that we were going to experience a fabulous day. Filipe picked us up at the port and our adventure began. There were four of us in my family doing this private tour, our adult daughter having physical challenges. I had told Filipe about this of course in advance, and he told us that we could easily bring her walker and wheelchair with us in the tour van, and he even planned out in advance which walking aid would probably be best for her at each stop. He always got us very near the entrances, and was very helpful in general supporting her needs.

Throughout the day as we toured, Filipe kept up a running commentary about cultural and historical facts, as well as interesting friendly conversation. Not only did we visit national highlights but we also went to several cafes sampling local delights. One of our first stops was in Sintra at Cafe a Piriquita where we fell in love with the local pastry called travesseiros - a MUST if you visit, but most surely, Filipe will take you there! Warm "big pillows" of creamy, flaky deliciousness! We also went to a local cheese/wine shop where the shop keeper gave us several samples of cheeses, chorizo, port and liqueurs. We went to the Pena Palace in Sintra, spending nearly two hours there - so beautiful, remarkable, memorable. We also went to Roca Cape, the western most part of continental Europe - scenic, and on this day, extremely windy! There wasn't much time for lunch, with so much to see and so little time, so Filipe stopped at a food truck and got us chorizo calzones, though I don't think they were called calzones - delectable! Food trucks here in the USA are very popular, the new gourmet venues, but I have had nothing like this. The bread is baked fresh daily from scratch, on the truck, and the sausage, wow, so tasty, fresh, no gristle or nasty bits. The bread itself was dense, almost like sourdough but not exactly, crusty on the outside, baked perfectly - rustic, unaffected, just plain delicious! Once he determined that we had no food allergies or restrictions, Felipe always did all of the ordering - he knows his food!

We drove through Cascais, saw Guincho Beach. We visited Belem and spent time inside Jeronimos Monastery Cathedral. Our final food stop was Pasteis de Belem - oh, how can one describe these gastronomic jewels? The cafe is in the actual bakery built in the early 1800s by the monks - fascinating to see - you can watch the process of baking - there are labyrinthine rooms, all with beautiful old tile - a great visit, historic, amazing local pastries!

Our final stop was at the Discoveries Monument, which is truly breathtaking. It was on the cover of one of my textbooks in grammar school and I definitely never thought that I would ever get to see it in person. Filipe plans the day very well for cruise passengers, going to the furthest destinations first so that in case of traffic, there would never be any stress getting back to the ship on time. For instance, the Discoveries Monument is so close to the port that one could, if one had to, walk back to the ship!

Our day in Lisbon with Filipe of Different Portugal was fun, informative, delicious, memorable! We hope that someday he will visit us in Boston and we can return the favor!

Lexmiller, what a nice review of your day in Lisbon. We will be doing a transatlantic on Equinox in December and I am looking for something a bit different in a Lisbon tour. We were just in Lisbon in Dec. as we also did another transatlantic on the Constellation.

I would like to ask some questions, if I may. Sounds like a wonderful day! What would the maximum # they can take on a tour, you had a small group. Did your tour price include anything other than the tour, e.g. food, Pena Palace visit, etc. Would you make any changes in the tour, suggestions, etc.?

I will also check out the website you noted. Thanks so much for the review. We also live in southeastern MA area, 15 min. from RI border.

Did you like the Equinox? How was the entertainment and food? Don't say anything bad, only good things please! LOL

Mary

Lexmiller, what a nice review of your day in Lisbon. We will be doing a transatlantic on Equinox in December and I am looking for something a bit different in a Lisbon tour. We were just in Lisbon in Dec. as we also did another transatlantic on the Constellation.

 

I would like to ask some questions, if I may. Sounds like a wonderful day! What would the maximum # they can take on a tour, you had a small group. Did your tour price include anything other than the tour, e.g. food, Pena Palace visit, etc. Would you make any changes in the tour, suggestions, etc.?

 

I will also check out the website you noted. Thanks so much for the review. We also live in southeastern MA area, 15 min. from RI border.

 

Did you like the Equinox? How was the entertainment and food? Don't say anything bad, only good things please! LOL

 

Mary

Hi, Mary, which is my name also, BTW! About the Equinox, this was our 2nd time sailing with her - first time was veranda/main dining room class, 2nd time, Aqua Class. For specifics, check out the 2 reviews that I wrote - the links to the reviews are in my signature. I go on and on, as I tend to do (mainly only good things, absolutely!!), so I won't repeat myself here and bore you to tears. So for sure, read my 2 reviews.

As far as Different Portugal tours, he can do a larger group, but ultimately, the smaller the group the better. Filipe and I talked about that - he told us how a while ago, a cruise passenger wanted to put together a group of 16 for a tour with him - Filipe went along, but the thing is that he can't shepherd a group of that size around the way that he can with a small group. For instance in Sintra, the cafe that he took us to was very small, cozy - and the wine and cheese shop, VERY small - 16 people would never have fit! Plus, Filipe tells great stories, gets to know his guests........all of that said, he can absolutely do a larger group, yes, it is just that the experience is diluted. Also, he would rent a larger vehicle for a larger group - normally he uses his mini van. When he is not working with cruise passengers, from what I gather, Filipe's preferred tours are off the beaten path, places that people don't know about, so he "plays well" to a small group. But, he is such a personable and knowledgeable guy, he can absolutely project to a larger group.

As far as the cost, we paid for admission separately - admission was not included in the cost. He did not let us pay for any of the food, and there was A LOT OF DELICIOUS FOOD - granted, it was primarily pastries and local rustic sandwiches, so not extremely costly - but we tipped well at the end to cover what we estimated the food costs to be.

As far as us making any changes, I would say 'no' - he knew that we had never been to Lisbon before, so he hit the highlights, which for a first visit, I think is essential. I would love to go back again and see more with Filipe - he loves to take visitors for a full week and travel all across Portugal. He is even putting together a tour of Morocco! That would be super fun to go with him. I guess he has been there himself countless times - he is a huge foodie - he was going to be on the Portugal version of "Master Chef", in fact, but the time commitment was too great. Definitely email him, he is a superb communicator, will reply quickly. I know you will enjoy your time with him and his perspective on his country!

Hi, Mary, which is my name also, BTW! About the Equinox, this was our 2nd time sailing with her - first time was veranda/main dining room class, 2nd time, Aqua Class. For specifics, check out the 2 reviews that I wrote - the links to the reviews are in my signature. I go on and on, as I tend to do (mainly only good things, absolutely!!), so I won't repeat myself here and bore you to tears. So for sure, read my 2 reviews.

 

As far as Different Portugal tours, he can do a larger group, but ultimately, the smaller the group the better. Filipe and I talked about that - he told us how a while ago, a cruise passenger wanted to put together a group of 16 for a tour with him - Filipe went along, but the thing is that he can't shepherd a group of that size around the way that he can with a small group. For instance in Sintra, the cafe that he took us to was very small, cozy - and the wine and cheese shop, VERY small - 16 people would never have fit! Plus, Filipe tells great stories, gets to know his guests........all of that said, he can absolutely do a larger group, yes, it is just that the experience is diluted. Also, he would rent a larger vehicle for a larger group - normally he uses his mini van. When he is not working with cruise passengers, from what I gather, Filipe's preferred tours are off the beaten path, places that people don't know about, so he "plays well" to a small group. But, he is such a personable and knowledgeable guy, he can absolutely project to a larger group.

 

As far as the cost, we paid for admission separately - admission was not included in the cost. He did not let us pay for any of the food, and there was A LOT OF DELICIOUS FOOD - granted, it was primarily pastries and local rustic sandwiches, so not extremely costly - but we tipped well at the end to cover what we estimated the food costs to be.

 

As far as us making any changes, I would say 'no' - he knew that we had never been to Lisbon before, so he hit the highlights, which for a first visit, I think is essential. I would love to go back again and see more with Filipe - he loves to take visitors for a full week and travel all across Portugal. He is even putting together a tour of Morocco! That would be super fun to go with him. I guess he has been there himself countless times - he is a huge foodie - he was going to be on the Portugal version of "Master Chef", in fact, but the time commitment was too great. Definitely email him, he is a superb communicator, will reply quickly. I know you will enjoy your time with him and his perspective on his country!

Hi Mary, thanks so much for your nice response to my inquiry. I will indeed read your reviews later today.

I am not thinking a large group either. We have been to Lisbon twice (went to Sintra one of the cruises) so wanting to do something very different and this sounds perfect! I am thinking 8 max which sounds doable from your description. I will send him an email, may be already booked.

I love seeing all those "backroad places" too when we travel. Will let you know what Filipe tells me.

Mary

We contacted lisbon@toptentours.eu because they were highly recommended. Our tour guide, Alex, was wonderful. He spoke perfect English, picked us up right on time and showed us all the sights of Lisbon in 4 hrs. That gave us time to have lunch and do some wandering on our own. You won't be disappointed - and we didn't have to pay anything up front.

We were on a TA on the Brilliance in April that ended in Lisbon. We stayed 3 extra nights in Lisbon post cruise. A group of us from the Meet & Mingle thread got together and booked a tour through "We Hate Tourism Tours". It was the most enjoyable tour we have ever been on. The guides (we had 3 vans full) were the best, took us anywhere we wanted to go (we pretty much let them decide), they were so informative, answered all of our questions, were fun and funny, and they treated us soooo well. All of us did the day tour and about 14 of us did the evening tour also. They picked us up at the cruise terminal, we toured and ate the most delicious pastries, toured some more and had a great lunch, toured more and had more pastries (all wonderful), finished the tour and then they dropped us of at our hotels around 4pm. Those that went on the evening tour were picked back up at 7pm and they took us out for dinner (oh my gosh....so much food and wine, again, all delicious), then sight seeing a bit, then to a local famous Fado club/restaurant to listen to fado. We got back to our hotel at 1:00am!!! Of course, those that didn't want to go to the club for fado were taken back to their hotel, but an entire van of us stayed out and the guide was happy to accommodate us!

Seriously, some of the people with us are well seasoned travelers and everyone agreed that this was the best ever.

Just my humble opinion..... Whatever you do, and whomever you choose to go with will be enjoyable. Lisbon is a beautiful city and the sites around the city are equally as wonderful. Have a great time!

We are just home from our eastbound TransAtlantic on Equinox - in Lisbon we booked a private tour for the 4 of us with Different Portugal Tours, Filipe is the owner - I will copy the review that I wrote about his company here for you, we highly recommend his company!

We had one day to experience as much as possible of Lisbon on our Celebrity Cruises day in port, so after much research, I contacted Filipe of Different Portugal Tours, and we are so glad that we did! From our first warm email exchange which made me feel like I had always known him, as if we were old friends, I knew that we were going to experience a fabulous day. Filipe picked us up at the port and our adventure began. There were four of us in my family doing this private tour, our adult daughter having physical challenges. I had told Filipe about this of course in advance, and he told us that we could easily bring her walker and wheelchair with us in the tour van, and he even planned out in advance which walking aid would probably be best for her at each stop. He always got us very near the entrances, and was very helpful in general supporting her needs.

 

Throughout the day as we toured, Filipe kept up a running commentary about cultural and historical facts, as well as interesting friendly conversation. Not only did we visit national highlights but we also went to several cafes sampling local delights. One of our first stops was in Sintra at Cafe a Piriquita where we fell in love with the local pastry called travesseiros - a MUST if you visit, but most surely, Filipe will take you there! Warm "big pillows" of creamy, flaky deliciousness! We also went to a local cheese/wine shop where the shop keeper gave us several samples of cheeses, chorizo, port and liqueurs. We went to the Pena Palace in Sintra, spending nearly two hours there - so beautiful, remarkable, memorable. We also went to Roca Cape, the western most part of continental Europe - scenic, and on this day, extremely windy! There wasn't much time for lunch, with so much to see and so little time, so Filipe stopped at a food truck and got us chorizo calzones, though I don't think they were called calzones - delectable! Food trucks here in the USA are very popular, the new gourmet venues, but I have had nothing like this. The bread is baked fresh daily from scratch, on the truck, and the sausage, wow, so tasty, fresh, no gristle or nasty bits. The bread itself was dense, almost like sourdough but not exactly, crusty on the outside, baked perfectly - rustic, unaffected, just plain delicious! Once he determined that we had no food allergies or restrictions, Felipe always did all of the ordering - he knows his food!

 

We drove through Cascais, saw Guincho Beach. We visited Belem and spent time inside Jeronimos Monastery Cathedral. Our final food stop was Pasteis de Belem - oh, how can one describe these gastronomic jewels? The cafe is in the actual bakery built in the early 1800s by the monks - fascinating to see - you can watch the process of baking - there are labyrinthine rooms, all with beautiful old tile - a great visit, historic, amazing local pastries!

 

Our final stop was at the Discoveries Monument, which is truly breathtaking. It was on the cover of one of my textbooks in grammar school and I definitely never thought that I would ever get to see it in person. Filipe plans the day very well for cruise passengers, going to the furthest destinations first so that in case of traffic, there would never be any stress getting back to the ship on time. For instance, the Discoveries Monument is so close to the port that one could, if one had to, walk back to the ship!

 

Our day in Lisbon with Filipe of Different Portugal was fun, informative, delicious, memorable! We hope that someday he will visit us in Boston and we can return the favor!

After reading your review and then doing more research I booked a tour with this company for my wife and myself. I corresponded with Felipe several times and as you say found him to be very responsive.

Thanks for posting your review.

Keith

We will be using Spain Day Tours for this stop in September, they have very good reviews.

Kirk, I would love to hear what you think of this tour after you return.

Thanks,

Keith

I've been researching this forum for a good price on touring Portugal for 3 days. I've been quoted by a couple places mentioned on the forum. One was top 10 tours. Very pricey. My DH said NO. We converted the Euros to US $ and it was going to be $750. I don't see that many of you mentioned prices and what you paid, so if some of you can give us an idea how much you paid, we will be better able to see if we are being fairly quoted.

I have contacted two other companies today after looking on these boards again and hope to find something that will meet our desires and our budget.

It almost looks like we should take one day tours because they pack a lot into a day with a pretty fair price!

I'll let you know what we come up with for our Portugal visit in October and catching our cruise out of Lisbon.

I've been researching this forum for a good price on touring Portugal for 3 days. I've been quoted by a couple places mentioned on the forum. One was top 10 tours. Very pricey. My DH said NO. We converted the Euros to US $ and it was going to be $750. I don't see that many of you mentioned prices and what you paid, so if some of you can give us an idea how much you paid, we will be better able to see if we are being fairly quoted.

 

I have contacted two other companies today after looking on these boards again and hope to find something that will meet our desires and our budget.

 

It almost looks like we should take one day tours because they pack a lot into a day with a pretty fair price!

 

I'll let you know what we come up with for our Portugal visit in October and catching our cruise out of Lisbon.

$750 for 3 days of private touring is an EXCELLENT price. Just realize that you're getting a driver, not a tour guide. We did an 8 hour tour with them in August, but our group of 4 made the price extremely cost-effective. However, if it's just two of you, I highly recommend this company for their group walking tours:

http://www.lisbonexplorer.com/HOME.html

They offer small group walking tours with a licensed guide. We did one of their walking tours and thought it was outstanding. You can check the website, but I believe it costs 35 euros per person. You'll definitely get your money's worth.

I've been researching this forum for a good price on touring Portugal for 3 days. I've been quoted by a couple places mentioned on the forum. One was top 10 tours. Very pricey.... It almost looks like we should take one day tours because they pack a lot into a day with a pretty fair price!...

Epixx has given you very good advice, but I want to add something. If either of you has mobility problems, Lisbon and Oporto are places where I'd absolutely hire a driver to tour the city. Both are extremely hilly, steeply descending to the water. If you were walking and planning your own route, you wouldn't have a clue about the challenge of the terrain based on looking at a two-dimensional map.

My husband and I are good walkers and we love the in-depth information we get from walking day-tours led by a licensed guide. But we hit a wall about Day 15 of a trip that added independent travel before and after our cruise. By the time we had walked the hills of Oporto and had learned that Lisbon would be even hillier, we were ready to give ourselves a break in Lisbon. We avoided the issue by concentrating on the flat river-side Belem area. But you're in a different situation with three days to fill. (Lisbon only?)

All of this is background for my suggestion: the tuk tuk. That's a middle ground between walking and the high price of a sedan car. (The vehicle is an open-air three-wheeled vehicle like the kind used in Southeast Asia.)

Here's the URL to the Lisbon Tuk Tuk company:

http://www.tuk-tuk-lisboa.pt/index_en.html

(This should take you to the English language page.)

There must be an Oporto affiliate since my husband and I used a tuk tuk there to get from point to point during our time in that port.

Their pre-set routes seem to be drive-by experiences only. If you want to treat the tuk tuk as transportation only and go into places you'll probably have to choose Option 5, the custom route.

Thanks so much for the help and information. This is all new to me and that's one of the reasons we love Cruise Critic!

I think we'll just bite the bullet and go with the three day tour. We'll be utilizing our tour guide from the time we arrive in Lisbon until we depart on our cruise Monday evening.

Wish we could find one more couple to tour with us from the boards. It's always fun to get to know others!

We used Top Ten Tours also, with Beth as our guide. What a great tour! Beth was very flexible with our itinerary as we made a last minute switch from Sintra to Fatima, as well as a city tour. She brought us to the famous pastry shop for a snack (wow were they good) and to the discovery plaza by the water. It was all so exciting as that same plaza we were in last week was just on the Amazing Race! Great tour, wonderful company to deal with and Beth was the best.

Bookmarking this thread for next year when toptentours looks like the best bet for us :)

Just recently visited Lisbon and i contacted Lisbonhost (http://www.lisbonhost.com) to provide a tour when i would arrive to the port (i dont like those large shore tours organized inside the cruize). I was informed by some friends that David (the owner) was a great guide and that they loved the experience in Lisbon and he had been really helpful.

So, i did follow their advice and contacted Lisbonhost (they have a nice site..just find in google) and arranged a private day trip to Sintra, Cascais and Estoril for me and my husband.

9 am, we get out of the boat and there was this joyful young guy waiting for us with a beautiful smille holding our name in a card.

Everything was just wonderful, he told us soo much about the city, we visit the romantic Sintra, got to know all the mysterious stories, visit the beautiful city of Cascais, Estoril, and came back safe, happy and really safistied with the day.

Total recommend David and his team of Lisbonhost

Thanks for a great day

Susan

In early October, we completed a half day tour of Lisboa with Alex of TopTenTours as our guide. The tour greatly exceeded our expectations. Alex is simply fabulous! It's the little things that make Alex so good at what he does. We would not hesitate to use him again for a more extensive tour of the city and surrounding area. Thanks to all the people on this board for the recommendation.

Just want to add to the discussion regarding Top Ten Tours. We used them twice in 3 years of stopping in Lisbon for the day on our Trans-Atlantic Cruises. Their drivers are incredibly knowledgable and very well educated locals who know their history and also know how to get around traffic! The cars are clean and well-kept. We had some memorable times in Sintra, Cascais and Lisbon because they are very flexible in showing you what you want to see, or they will recommend things. We especially loved the seaside town of Cascais in the Fall and had some wonderful authentic Portuguese food at a sidewalk cafe. We highly recommend Top Ten Tours to anyone visiting the Lisbon area. (They also do airport transfers which is convenient if you are not arriving by ship.) website: http://www.toptentours.eu

We loved our 3 hour tour in a motorcycle with side car driven by Daniel of Bike My Side. You see a lot (although generally just the outside of buildings, not inside visits) and have a lot of fun, too. It isn't cheap but it isn't expensive, either, particularly for the private tour with tour guide that you get. There's a web site for Bike My Side or you can contact the owner via his Facebook page. Highly recommended.