Portugal

Enjoyed this trip to Portugal. Good mix of easy and moderate riding to work off the fantastic food/beverages.

This was our first VBT vacation. We were very impressed with the planning, accommodations, and route. It was a wonderful experience to bike along country roads with guides who knew the area. The hotels were lovely and the meals were delicious. Everything was top-notch.

We’ve done 7 previous trips with VBT and have been happy with all of them. We would rate this trip the best!

How much more than I could ever anticipated. Enjoyable and problem free!

We thoroughly enjoyed our first VBT experience. The tour route was very well laid out and we cannot not say enough about how impressive our tour leaders, David and Frederico, both of whom are natives of Portugal. Kudos to VBT for the way they planned and conducted our tour!

We loved this trip! Beautiful and varied biking routes; knowledgeable, competent and engaging guides, top-notch hotels, delicious food and interesting cultural activities. I wish I could do it all over again!

We really enjoyed this trip and would recommend it. The routes were scenic; the bikes excellent; the food very good; the leaders outstanding; the other experiences (tours, wine tasting, etc.) were fun and informative; the hotels at the beginning and end were very nice. We would suggest using the e-bikes as the terrain is hilly.

Perfect trip, VBT staff/guides above and beyond!!!

Really enjoyed the trip. The guides were excellent and very personable. The hiking took us through some very beautiful coastal inland areas. Some of the hiking was a bit strenuous but overall it was well planned. I would have preferred a bit more free time after the hikes in lieu of the pottery, cheese , and cider presentations.

A wonderful mix of hiking, cultural activities, and regional foods. The guides were exceptional.

As has been true with every one of our previous Country Walkers trips, we were so impressed with the skills and knowledge of our guides, Ana and Luis. They made the daily experiences stress free and so much fun. We learned a lot. We enjoyed the interactions with the others on the tour. The teaching from local people was great. I was so impressed that you were able to keep Marialva on the tour despite the big fire two months ago. We included both the pre and post trip extensions in Porto and Lisbon. We enjoyed exploring Porto and scheduled two port wine tastings. In Lisbon, we explored restaurants, museums, and churches. We had an extra day in Lisbon when our flight home was cancelled. (We were glad that we had purchased travel insurance). We got to visit a couple more places and walked around some different neighborhoods. Despite being in November, we had decent weather. The only really rainy morning was while we were on the boat on the Douro river. The rain stopped by the time we got off. I have a few suggestions for improvements: 1) The tour of the olive oil facility was the only disappointment of the week. I wish that there had been more time spent to discuss old and current methods of making olive oil. A short video with still pictures and some vignettes demonstrating olive harvesting would have been a big improvement. 2) Keep the nature preserve walk at Marialva. It was great, as was the knowledgable leader. Getting to know a bit more about "rewilding" and something about wildlife was great. 3) I suggest that the evening meal at Marialva be included in the tour. There weren't many choices for where to eat. Or include a driver and vehicle to a near-by town with some suggestions.

This was our third Country Walkers / VBT walking vacation and it did not disappoint! Superb guides (thank you Ana and Helene!), a thoughtful itinerary, excellent food and gorgeous landscapes, plus two extra days in beautiful Lisbon. We had a great trip - highly recommended!