My husband and I are doing the Heart of Portugal tour in early/mid May. We have a few extra days in Lisbon before the tour begins. Has anyone had a good experience with a private guide? Perhaps for Sintra visit or other day trip from Lisbon? Any good food tours you would recommend? Thanks
Posted by
Virginia, USA
5985 posts
For food tours, I highly recommend Culinary Backstreets. I’ve taken a lot of food tours in various cities but the Culinary Backstreets tour in Lisbon was the best food tour I have ever taken. I took the Lisbon Awakens tour
https://culinarybackstreets.com/category/cities-category/lisbon/#
Posted by
Chicago
3475 posts
In March, I took this tour to SINTRA & CASCAIS.
https://lisbonriders.com/group-tours/sintra-cascais/
It’s not a private tour, but it is max 8 people. I really enjoyed it.
Posted by
11913 posts
Caiscais is near Lisbon and so easy to visit on your own. We didn’t have a guide for Sintra but reading about the crowds there now, I think it would be a good idea to hire one.
Posted by
Lisbon, Portugal
108 posts
For a guide to cover Lisbon as well as Sintra I can highly recommend Pats Madeira https://lisbonwithpats.com. Many of us here in Lisbon use Pats when friends visit. She can customize the tour around your interests. Highly recommended.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks for all the input everyone
Posted by
Barcelona
10 posts
This is a late reply, but I want to second the Culinary Backstreets recommendation! I went in 2020 (RIGHT before things shut down) and the "Lisbon Awakens" tour was one of my favorite "culture through food" tours I've ever had, giving a great sense of how Portugal's colonial history shapes its food - and the food of the world. I've used the company in a few cities since then, but that remains one of my favorite experiences, highly recommended.
Posted by
10 posts
We had a fantastic 1/2 day tour in Lisbon with Peppe https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567040137908
He was prompt, friendly, and very knowledgeable. It was a great way to get acquainted with Lisbon in the comfort of his car. He even gave us tips on other stops for the rest River two week trip. He’s the best ! https://www.portugaljourneyswithpeppe.com/
Posted by
Southern MD
31 posts
We had a marvelous experience with Fernando of the Portuguese Chauffeur. He will do day tours of the places you want to see from Peña Palaces to Fatima. I would definitely book with them again if we were there. I don’t know if he would be available but it’s worth a try.
Posted by
40 posts
For a tour of Belem and the Jeronimos Monasterio, I utilized Rick Steves Portugal guide, Rafael Pereira. He's been featured on Rick's radio program and is a tour manager for RS Portugal tour. He is a terrific guide. Even though I did not hire him to be my personal guide, I was the only person that morning, but he did not cancel. [email protected]
Posted by
129 posts
We had a really good experience with a driver/guide to Sintra. His name was Jose and he worked for Lisbon On Wheels
He picked us up from our hotel around 9 am and brought us back to our hotel after 7 pm. I chose the places in Sintra that I wanted to see which were the National Palace, Quinta da Regalaira , the Moorish Castle and Pena Palace. We only felt rushed at the Quinta da Regalaira and could have probably used another hour there.