Escorted tours and holidays in Portugal
Portugal fits a great deal into a small country: the granite north around Porto, Braga and Guimarães, the terraced Douro where port has been made for three centuries, Lisbon spread across its hills above the Tejo, and Madeira alone in the Atlantic several hundred miles offshore.
Our Portugal holidays travel by air from the UK with a tour manager, coach transport at the destination and the excursions arranged and paid for before you leave. You unpack once or twice, walk when you want to and let someone else deal with the cobbled one-way streets and the parking.
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Portugal Tours
Lisbon and Porto are roughly two and a half hours from the UK. Madeira is further out in the Atlantic and takes around four hours. All our Portugal tours travel by air with flights and hold luggage included, plus transfers at the destination. Departure airports vary by tour and departure date, so ask us which airport your chosen tour flies from before you make other arrangements.
Yes, and the two feel quite different. Madeira is a volcanic island with a subtropical climate, so the interest is in gardens, coastal viewpoints, levada channels and the laurel forest rather than cathedrals and city squares. It is warmer than the mainland in winter and cooler in high summer. Many people who have done Porto and Lisbon go on to Madeira for the flowers.
Enough to see things properly, on paved streets that are often hilly and cobbled. Guided city walks in Porto and Lisbon typically last an hour or two with stops, and gardens in Madeira involve gentle slopes and steps. Coaches drop you as close as the streets allow. If you are unsure whether a particular itinerary suits you, ask us and we will talk you through the walking day by day.
Return flights with hold luggage, transfers, accommodation, transport for the itinerary, the excursions and entrance fees listed, and an English-speaking tour manager. Meals vary by tour: some include breakfast with a few lunches, others include breakfast and every evening meal, sometimes with wine or water. Each tour page sets out exactly what is covered, and it is worth reading that list before comparing prices between operators.
On tours where a single room costs more, the supplement is shown on the tour page. Our Gardens of Madeira holiday, for example, carries a single supplement of £350. Solo travellers are a normal part of our groups rather than an exception. Single rooms are limited on most departures, so if you want one it is worth asking us early.
Yes. Any of our Portugal itineraries can run as a Private Group for a gardening club, U3A branch, church group or a set of friends travelling together. We can adjust the excursion mix to suit the group's interests, whether that is gardens in Madeira or port lodges in Gaia. Contact us with rough numbers and the time of year you have in mind and we will put together a costing.
Porto, Lisbon and the Douro
Porto is a working city built on a gorge, with the Ribeira quayside at the bottom and the port lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia facing it across the Douro. São Bento station is lined with twenty thousand blue and white tiles; the Palácio da Bolsa was built to impress visiting merchants and still does. Our tours base themselves in the city for several nights, which is the sensible way to see it.
North and inland are Braga, with its baroque stairway at Bom Jesus, and Guimarães, where Portugal as a country effectively began in the twelfth century. Coimbra's university library sits between Porto and Lisbon and is usually taken in on the way.
Lisbon repays a few days: Belém and the Manueline stonework of the Jerónimos monastery, the lanes of Alfama, and a day out to Sintra for the palaces in the hills. Our Porto and Lisbon tour splits eight days between the two cities and includes a cruise on the Douro.
Madeira's gardens and viewpoints
Madeira is subtropical and volcanic, and things grow there that will not grow anywhere in Europe. Agapanthus lines the roads in summer, jacaranda colours Funchal in spring, and the island's gardens hold plants gathered from South Africa, South America, Australia and Asia. The Monte Palace tropical garden, reached by cable car above Funchal, is the one most people remember.
Away from the gardens the island is dramatic. Cabo Girão has a glass skywalk on one of the highest sea cliffs in Europe; the fishing village of Câmara de Lobos is a short drive along the coast; and the interior holds laurisilva, the ancient laurel forest that is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Our eight-day Gardens of Madeira tour stays seven nights at the five-star Hotel Meliã in Funchal, from £2295 per person sharing, with a city tour, east and west island tours, the gardens themselves and a catamaran trip.
Port, wine and the Portuguese table
The Douro is the oldest demarcated wine region in the world, mapped out in 1756, and its terraces were cut by hand into schist so steep that machinery is still largely useless there. Port is made upriver and matured downriver in the Gaia lodges, where tastings usually run from a young tawny to something considerably older.
Elsewhere the north produces vinho verde, light and faintly sparkling; the Alentejo produces the big reds; and Madeira makes a fortified wine that is deliberately heated in cask, which is why it lasts almost indefinitely once opened.
At the table, expect salt cod done a dozen ways, grilled sardines, caldo verde, and pastéis de nata still warm with cinnamon. Our Madeira and Estreito Wine Festival tour includes a three-course lunch with wine at Estreito Câmara de Lobos and a wine tasting, with evening meals included throughout.
What escorted travel in Portugal involves
Portuguese cities are hilly and paved with calçada, the small polished limestone setts that look handsome and can be slippery in rain. Porto in particular involves gradients, and Lisbon's older quarters involve steps. Nothing on our itineraries is a hike, but sensible shoes make a real difference and there is usually a level alternative if you would rather sit somewhere with a coffee.
You travel with a tour manager throughout, and headsets are provided for guided visits so you can hear the guide without standing in a scrum. Coach transport at the destination is included, along with entrance fees to the visits listed on each itinerary.
Tours run either as an Open Group, where you join a scheduled departure with other travellers, or as a Private Group for a club, society or set of friends taking the whole tour. If your group has particular requirements on walking or pace, tell us before you book and we will be straight with you about what suits.
