Going on RS Heart of Portugal Oct 26th - anyone else? and any tips from those who have taken it

Posted by Steph (Placerville, ca, us) on 06/05/26 08:49 PM

Hello fellow Portugal tour travelers!

I know this is a long shot — most of you probably won't see this before we meet — but I thought it was worth a try!

My partner and I made our deposit almost a year ago, and we are finally getting close and getting excited. This will be our first visit to Portugal, and we are longtime Rick Steves fans — my 6th tour and my partner's 5th. We even have some friends joining us who are on their 2nd or 3rd tours, so it's shaping up to be a fun group.

We genuinely love the RS tour style — the guides, the pacing, the way you end up really in a place rather than just passing through. Looking forward to experiencing that in Portugal.

If you happen to spot this before we meet in person, feel free to say hello! We'd love to connect early. Keep on traveling!

Any tips for the trip are welcome - we are arriving 4 days early and staying 4 extra nights. Anything you loved or wish there was more time for?

Posted by TinaC

WesternNY

06/13/26 12:37 AM

126 posts

Hi Steph!

Not on your tour, but we'll be on this tour starting 6/22! I started my packing today. Trying to weed out the excess clothes :)

It looks like it's going to be hot for us!

I'll try to circle back to this post after we return with any tips or info for you.

Tina

Posted by dootle

Palmetto State USA

06/17/26 12:16 AM

102 posts

Great tour, for a TIP, recommend the 150 yr old Lisbon Botanical Garden. Not as polished as some, but the 10 acres are an amazing showcase of very mature plant and tree species. A walled oasis in the middle of the city, its an inexpensive entry fee and a leisurely relaxing stroll. Proper compliment to the RS Portugal Tour itinerary. Especially if its blazing hot and you want to cool off under the specimen trees or just decompress from the crowds. Some info if you are interested.

https://www.lisbonportugaltourism.com/guide/botanical-garden.html

Posted by Steph OP

Placerville, ca, us

07/06/26 03:09 PM

199 posts

Thanks for the tips so far. Getting a bit closer now, time to start diving into the book for RS "homework" and yes, watching MNT tonight as Portugal is the topic!

Posted by TinaC

WesternNY

07/07/26 10:21 AM

126 posts

Hi Steph:

We are just back from our tour. It was hot! High 80's-mid 90's every day. Hopefully in October, you will have cooler weather!

The best tip I can give you is to prepare as much as possible before the trip by walking inclines, declines & up and down stairs. My husband and I are in decent shape, but live in a flat area. We (or mostly me) struggled with that. That plus the heat meant that we didn't explore the cities on our own as much. After a day of touring, we would spend our free time recovering in the hotel. Normally we are go, go, go when on a trip.

As told to me by a forum member, Coimbra is a good stop to do laundry. We did some hand washing prior to Coimbra, but went to a nice little launderette about a 5 minute walk from the hotel (assuming you are staying at the same one).

We took a food tour in Lisbon prior to the tour starting & we enjoyed it very much. I wish we could have gotten back to a couple of the places we went to.

In Lisbon, our group skipped the Monastery of Jeronimos. It was so hot & the guide said the wait in the sun would be at least an hour. Hope you have better luck with that!

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Tina

Posted by TinaC

WesternNY

07/07/26 10:24 AM

126 posts

One more thing:

We really enjoyed touring the wine estate & cork farm! The people who own them are so passionate about what they do. It was a pleasure to listen to them & learn. The food at both places was wonderful as well.