We have two days in late October before beginning a bus tour of the country. The idea behind the extra days is to see some things that are not on the tour bus agenda. I had hoped that I could hire a local independent tour guide, but I am finding that difficult. I can hire one of the established guide services, but that is overly expensive, they are in the "tourist" mode, or they do not seem to want to work my agenda preferences. Which, would be flexible enough to provide suggestions, but allow me to determine the day's events. I have traveled to 40+ counties enjoying buildings of various kinds. Now, when we are on our own, we prefer to do what the locals do. I am thinking of doing a rental car and DIY or maybe just hire an Uber driver for an extended period. Among this forum, there must be someone who has an established method for getting around in a country without paying what most tourist do in seeing the same buildings. Please...suggestions.
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
7512 posts
Often, the Rick Steves guidebook will have some guide suggestions in each city's section.
Posted by
Bend, OR
1617 posts
We used a guide from the RS guidebook that is also one of his Portugal tour guides, for a tour of the Sintra region. She asked us what we wanted to see and made suggestions on what she felt we could see on our own. It was well worth the money we paid.
Posted by
martinez, ca, usa
2710 posts
hey hey rmill.ace
wou're welcome to check these sites out. don't know what you are not seeing on the tour or your budget. many tours are private own and make their own rates knowing many will pay or not. my own opinion is that some feel if you can travel you can pay!! plus many guides go to school/classes to get a "license" that cost them money & pass it on
guruwalk.com
free walking tours, guided tours in lisbon at a cost,
discoverwalks.com click lisbon
Taxi Lx Mar (she is on facebook ) ([email protected])
she is a taxi driver and does tours, email her and see what she offers & rates.
tukdreams.pt
look at tours and email them for rates
airbnb/experiences/lisbon
click culture tours and your dates. # of people
in a few cities we talked to empty taxi waiting, asked them to take us on a tour for an hour or so, gave him what we wanted to pay, was yes or no. he said yes and off we went. money in his pocket
hope you find something to your liking, friends just got back from lisbon/porto and absolutely loved it. enjoy
aloha
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
8002 posts
We always get a rental car and go on our own. It takes some research, but we find plenty of interesting places to visit that are not in most tourists radar, especially in small towns.