Jan 12, 2025
Incredible journey - Very professional and personal journey. Thanks to Jose our tourguide, who was full of wisdom with clever insertive information with perfect timing while driving through the area. Polite and precise at the same time. We couldn’t recommend this tour enough with words. Thank you for a great experience. Book this tour, you won’t regret it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dec 31, 2024
A wonderful day with Bruno - Before my trip to Portugal I did a lot of research on where to go and what to see. Thankfully, I read an excellent review about Bruno and decided to get in touch with him. I trusted him from the beginning. The tour with him was the highlight of our journey. We could see the love for his country and his job by the way he was explaining everything; he knows so perfectly well the history of his country, and so do we now thanks to him. Not to mention that he is an excellent driver and cared about our safety first.
I would really like to mention that he came with us and showed us secret gems in every stop that we made.
He even sent me directions on where to go and what to see in PORTO that we were going the next day…..
Thank you Bruno for making us love so much this part of your country. Till we meet again…
Yulie and Georgia (Greece)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dec 30, 2024
A day to remember with Bruno - Firstly I would like to thank you for the wonderful experience.We booked our tour with Bruno after a lot of searching . He made me trust him from the first moment of our conversation . He picked us from our hotel smiley and kind.
You can understand from the way he talks about his area that he has a deep passion about it so he made us love it too. Bruno had the perfect schedule for us . We loved every minute of the tour since he gave us details of the history of your country all the way and showed us secret gems. Not to mention that he was a great driver and always put our safety first.
A big thank you Bruno César for the great experience . Next time in Lisbon you will be the first to call. Georgia and I agreed that you were the highlight of our trip to Portugal.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 1, 2024
WONDERFUL Tour Company & Tour Guide for First Visit to Portugal — Jose ROCKS! - What a wonderful tour company and a wonderful tour guide —- could not recommend this tour company more highly! Jose Marques was our private tour guide for our first few days in Portugal. As this was our first trip to Portugal, we wanted to learn as much about the history and culture and Jose’s knowledge about the country is nothing short of amazing!
Jose provided excellent commentary about all of the monuments, and provided extra details about everything that we saw and experienced with him. If you are looking for an intelligent, well-spoken, and knowledgeable tour guide with a fun sense of humor, you should request Jose for your private tour. He’s also a terrific photographer and we got many beautiful photos of us taken by him taken during our tour. He was also a safe and considerate driver in the midst of the complicated and busy traffic of Portugal.
One of the best things about our 2.5 days with Jose is that he took us to places throughout Portugal that were uncrowded, special and unique, so our experiences were personal to us and created special memories. Jose was also able to tailor our tour to what WE wanted to see and asked us many questions about what we wanted to see and do. Here were some of the sights Jose took us to see:
1. Santuario de Cristo Rei — Sanctuary of Christ the King Monument (Lisbon) - Breathtaking views and tour to top of Catholic monument (8 euros) was worth the small additional cost
2. Area of Jeronimos Monastery (Jose gave us a tip to go in the late afternoon and get in the queue to the right of the monastery — short wait and free admission) and Belem Tower and Monument to the Discoveries (all in Lisbon) AND Jose bought us wonderful Pasteis de Belem (custard tarts) from the original historic bakery in Lisbon
3. Parque Natural de Arrabida (Arrabida Park) with abandoned Monastery — Gorgeous views, magical place & beautiful chapel (it is very windy and cold — bring jackets — there are few visitors to the monastery and the chapel was open (a surprise to Jose as it is normally not open to the public) — wonderful!
4. Seisembra (fishing village) — lovely beaches (uncrowded), gorgeous views, crystal blue waters and wonderful restaurant lunch — a treasure of a small village!
5. Multiple stops along Portugal’s beautiful coast for photos and other historical places with wonderful commentary by Jose about the history, political climate (both current and past) and the people of Portugal
6. Extensive visit to Sintra and Cascais, including tours by Jose of the two palaces and their beautiful gardens — Monserrat & Regaleira (Dante’s Inferno well) — both places are well worth the visit, and we got some amazing photos taken by Jose of us. Again, Jose’s knowledge of the many types of plants, trees and grounds was amazing as well as his detailed recitation of the history of both beautiful sights (wear VERY comfortable shoes & be prepared for strenuous walking with MANY hills but it is worth it!)
7. Lunch at Macas Beach (Beach of the Apples) — Beautiful spot and great food at beachside restaurant and
8. Colares on Portugal Coast & celebratory drink with Jose back at our hotel.
Overall, an AWESOME private tour with a WONDERFUL tour guide — Jose is a talented tour professional who is an asset to his tour company — so impressed with his knowledge, intelligence and sensitivity to the needs of his clients — HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 24, 2024
The best way to see Sintra and Cascais in a day. - Bruno was punctual and very friendly. He gave a concise and detailed history of the Palácio National de Pena. I had time to walk through the beautiful gardens and get away from the crowds.
I had a similar experience with Quinta de Regaleira.
Bruno customer the day to my interests and showed me private arrears that I would not had seen on a tourist bus.
We had a most delicious lunch at a traditional Portuguese restaurant, in a small village, right next to the sea.
I saw many sights and Cascais and had a most amazing and unforgettable experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 17, 2024
Bruno and Sintra-Cascais - Just returned from a wonderful trip with our tour guide Bruno. He picked us up at our hotel, traveled by private car to Sintra and along the way learned an amazing amount of history about Portugal from 700 BC until the 19th century. That really added a perspective to our trip. Being a local resident of Sintra, he knew the ins and outs of the best ways to view the palaces and historic places. We visited the grounds, terraces and lakes of the Pena Palace avoiding long lines. We then went to visit the beautiful Monserrate Palace and park. Then on to a small local coastal restaurant for authentic Portuguese seafood. Off down the coast to Cascais to visit and on back to our hotel. Simply a wonderful day. Highly recommend Portugal Unknown Tours, and especially Bruno our guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 15, 2024
Sintra-Cascais excellent tour - This was an amazing tour the palace grounds were so beautiful and the area of Cascais was so vibrant, filled with pubs, restaurants, shops and of course the beach. Our tour guide, Paulo Girao was fantastic, he was very informative and we highly recommend you ask for him. This tour is a definite for anyone going to Portugal!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 3, 2024
Victhor was an... - Victhor was an outstanding guide, he provided us with lots of historical information throughout our trip. We loved our visit to Pena Palace and all the stops along the way. Highly recommend this trip.
Jackie
Review provided by Viator
Oct 2, 2024
Nelson our Guide showed us around, the West Coast was a magical day. - West Coast was beautiful , our French-speaking Nelson Guide was most kind. Thanks to Nelson.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 22, 2024
Bruno was great - excellent tour - book it now! - We booked our tour with Bruno after reaching out to another "Tour by Locals" guide who was booked. He referred us to Bruno and we were so glad we had the day with him. He was an excellent communicator from our initial contact until our pick up time in Lisbon. He was born and raised in Sintra so has a deep passion for the area and shared his extensive knowledge and personal stories from growing up. The castles were closed due to wildfires in the Northern parts of Portugal but that didn't stop us from having an amazing day (we weren't planning on seeing the interiors of the castles regardless so it didn't change our itinerary). We were picked up promptly at our meeting point and from then on the day flew by. Bruno gave a great mix of time on our own to explore Sintra and Cascais along with portions that he accompanied us and provided history and details that we wouldn't have gotten had we done things on our own. He was a great driver and always put our safety first. He took us to a few "secret" stops that only someone who grew up in the area would know about. He brought us to a great lunch spot on the coast and was very mindful of the fact that some may prefer to dine alone. We invited him to join us for lunch (we highly recommend that you do) and he helped with the menu, portions and we tried things we wouldn't have had he not been along. After lunch we continued our journey and despite our tour lasting longer than anticipated we were not charged extra and he did not rush us to get back to Lisbon.
Review provided by Tripadvisor