Published on Jul, 2024
We flew into Lisbon very early and could not check into the hotel until the afternoon so we decided to make the best of our time and hit the ground running. This company is so flexible on pick up time so we were able to set up what we thought would be right time wise, an hour after landing to allow for customs etc. This allowed us time to clean up and change in the bathroom too and it was perfect. Elizabeth met us at the airport and the pick up directions were clear to meet near luggage arrival area. She had a sign and we found each other quickly. Her vehicle was clean and cool and all our luggage was secured in back easily. She took us to Belem as we had asked for and it was absolutely wonderful. We visited the tower, monument and cathedral and enjoyed the traditional custard pastries at Pasteis de Belem nearby...so glad we had her as a guide there as it was busy and would have been difficult to navigate getting a table. Elizabeth knew the perfect places to pull into to let us out and she let us walk around and take pictures at the various places. It was a perfect balance of us walking a couple places on our own and our guide taking us. She is passionate about Portugal and history and shared a lot of information. I wish I had asked her to take a few more family pictures as her focus was showing us the sites and sharing information as it should be, but that is on me so if you want photo opportunities just share that upon pick up. If you are into history, ask for Elizabeth as a guide! She really added to what we were seeing. So glad we chose Belem for those four hours as we could not have fit it in elsewhere and it is a must see. We chose to not go inside any of the stops as the lines are long even with timed tickets and you wait in the sun but we have seen a fair amount of cathedrals etc in Europe and felt we got a great view just walking around. Then, arrived at our hotel in perfect time for check in. Elizabeth even stopped at a view spot in Lisbon before dropping us off. Driving and parking in Lisbon city center is pretty intense and she is wonderful at it. We had considered a Tuktuk tour and I am so glad we passed on it. No A/C in those and it was hot and so much street congestion, the people ended up just sitting there in an open air vehicle with no air movement and it looked miserable. I wouldn't recommend that unless you go at a cool, non touristy time. This though was a great tour!