Hello!
We are booked for best of Portugal starting 3/23. Anyone else on the forum joining us? And yes, despite the risk and uncertainty I’m insanely excited for some international travel after so many years of holding off while working towards financial goals and savings. I’m sure we could have managed things differently and traveled more but here we are. A year ago I knew of Rick from PBS but had no idea about his tour company. Hoping all goes well and this can be the first of many, many more travels to come.
Cheers!
Posted by
Tucson
4158 posts
Hope you've already renewed your passport. They only last for 10 years.
Posted by
OP
Bay Area, California
14 posts
Yessiree! It’s brand new and shiny, ready for action
Posted by
Tucson
4158 posts
That's great. I did that tour in June-July 2019. You are going to see some things that may surprise you, eat well and have a great time.
Be sure to check the weather before you pack. It might be cooler than you expect. Even when I went, it was cool-ish some of the days.
A good place to do that is https://www.timeanddate.com/
Beyond averages, you can get historical data for your exact dates in previous years as well as actual weather forecasts for your dates this year.
Posted by
Wisconsin
454 posts
You're going to love your RS tour! We've been on two and both were fabulous. Beautiful sites, awesome guides, small hotels run by friendly people, and the opportunity to enjoy it all with a group of people ready for fun and adventure! We still stay in touch with many of the friends we met on our 2010 and 2014 tours. We're taking our 3rd this year. It was supposed to be the Best of the Adriatic, the tour I signed up for on the very first day that 2022 opened up for bookings. However, some lucky person on the June 5 wait list recently got our spot as we had to cancel. For a good reason though! We have a new grandchild due during the tour. Instead, we're taking the Heart of Portugal tour, but not your departure date. Ours is 4/25. We've already ventured back to Europe once since the pandemic, independent travel in Italy last fall. There were some hoops to jump through, but it was so worth it! Like you, I'm very excited about the Portugal tour!
Posted by
OP
Bay Area, California
14 posts
Thank you, Lo, yes I’ll be packing a medium weight jacket and although the itinerary says we'll have a chance to swim in the ocean I’m not sure that will happen!
Thanks, Vickie! Congrats to you and hope you enjoy your trip!
Posted by
Los Angeles
4436 posts
not to be my usual killjoy, but are you sure the trip is going? It's only a month away ...
Posted by
OP
Bay Area, California
14 posts
Phred, well of course I can’t be 100% sure. Thanks for grounding me in reality a bit! I take hope in seeing the case numbers decline every day and that the tour is still waitlisted. If it doesn’t pan out, I’ll just have to figure out a new way to break in this passport!
Posted by
18 posts
We will be on the BOP tour starting May 30th! Love to hear about your experiences and suggestions when you get back. Also, and feedback on getting the tour start and departure Covid-19 PCR tests. We are getting to Lisbon 5 days ahead of tour start and leaving 5 days after so we need to get tested in country, twice, at least as I understand it. We are adding time in Estoril on the front end and Douro Valley on the back end. Johns Hopkins Covid tracking site shows Portugal as 90.44% fully vaccinated. Cheers!
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
We're on BoP as well, but not until late October due to school and work schedules. Fingers crossed for smooth sailing for all of us and hope to hear about your adventures! I've done 3 RS tours pre-COVID (Rome & Florence city tours and Paris & the Heart of France in 2017). I find them to be a terrific introduction to a city/country, so that you have the tools and experience you need to strike out independently thereafter. The groups and guides are always terrific as well, and I feel if you are going to do international travel in this day and age, an RS tour is one of the better ways to go.
Posted by
Michigan
318 posts
Is the same as Heart of Portugal? We are on that tour starting March 23!
Posted by
OP
Bay Area, California
14 posts
Hey @fosterberger you got it! Looking forward to meeting you in person next week! Safe travels
Jon
Posted by
18 posts
How was arrival in Portugal from a Covid-19 clearance point of view? Hope you have a great trip. We'll be there at the end of May.
Posted by
OP
Bay Area, California
14 posts
Our entry experience went pretty smoothly. We flew TAP and had to show the negative test and passenger locator form when we checked our bags. If you didn’t check bags you had to go to the counter at the gate to get a boarding pass and show the test info (even if you checked in online and had your boarding pass on your phone). Upon arrival we were greeted at the gate by some agents and had to show the same info. Interestingly, our tour mates who connected from other points in Europe like Amsterdam were not asked to show anything upon arrival in Lisbon! We’re having a great time- so many interesting things to see and a good group of people. Hope you have a great trip!