We will be a party of 4 adults in Lisbon in April. Have only 1 free day, as the cruise ship has scheduled 2 days of Belem and Sintra. We are looking for a private tour guide who work with us on customizing a 4-5 hour trip through Alfama, Baixa and Baiiro Alto neighborhoods for drive-through with opportunity to get out and stroll. We do not want to visit any churches, palaces or museums as we will have just 4-5 hours. Shelley (Idaho) recently recommended lisbonriders.com. Would greatly appreciate hearing of any positive reviews of such tour guides (as well as bad experiences are names to stay away from). Thank you!
Posted by
Pacific Northwest
2690 posts
I agree that Lisbon Riders is a great choice. I did 3 daylong tours with three different employees last year and liked them all.
Posted by
San Francisco
191 posts
We also had a good experience with Lisbon riders.
Posted by
WA State
3961 posts
Larry, we used Lisbon Riders for a guided tour of Sintra. We were very happy with our guide Manuel. He was knowledgeable and engaging. It was a great introduction to Portugal. I can't comment on their Lisbon tour, but we have recommended them multiple times for the tour of Sintra. I haven't heard any negative reviews. Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
Portugal
17 posts
Hi,
As Portuguese for 4-5 hours in Lisbon i would advice you a local tuk-tuk, deal price because they can lower the first option, i bet all the differences you might find is the quality of the english or the empathy from the guide, as all tuks do this daily.
For Lisbon i would also suggest you divide it by central city, with museums, chapels, toustistic views as "colinas do sol", Avenida da Liberdade is the central avenue, Bairro Alto, Chiado and Alfama.
Another part of the city is 15min farway that is the Belém area, in there you have 3 high important attractions related to the discoveries time where the Portugueses use to depart by boat and a great view over the river.
For custom trip i would advice to search first your directions and any local tuk or uber would drive you by.
Hope it helps out, feel free for any tip from Portugal .
Posted by
Arlington, VA
23 posts
Don't know about Lisbon Riders, but we had good experiences with insidelisbon.com and PortugeseforaDay.com I've also had good experiences with freetoursbyfoot.com.
Enjoy Lisbon, it's wonderful.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
10676 posts
The above tok-tok post reminds me of our experience in Lisbon. When our ship arrived, Lisbon had just had a storm that flooded the port area and shut tramlines. Our tour with a reputable company was canceled. With another couple we hired someone at the port who showed us a card saying he was a licensed guide. He also did airport chauffeuring. We had a great time bouncing over the hills in his luxury SUV, seeing vistas, stopping to taste port and local foods, but he couldn't answer any of our questions and his English was below the level of licensed guides elsewhere. In the end, we enjoyed the day even if it wasn't the typical fact-filled tour. I'll keep Lisbon Riders in mind for next time. Thanks for the tip.