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!!!

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.

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

Great experience with a super couple guide! - I was in Lisbon with my family and the hotel suggested us this tour (pick up / drop off at the hotel and a daily private tour to sintra, cabo de roca, cascais and belem tower). Sarah and Ana (our private guide and driver) made the difference in this day! 2 sweet girls very passionate, kind and nice that stay with us the full day giving the opportunity to discover these treasures. I would totally suggest this tour to explore something special out of Lisbon, it worth!!

Full Day of winery and cork factory and the chapel made of bones - I’m from Texas in the USA and I’ve been on a number of tours and BRUNO is excellent. He is educated, intelligent, kind, helpful and has your safety in mind. His knowledge of history rivals Wikipedia (slight exaggeration)- He knows about far more than just Lisbon and Evora and other common tourist areas - he will customize your tour. BRUNO is the best.

Excellent Guide and Great Sites - We enjoyed an excellent day with Joao for our tour to Sinatra and Cascais. He was delightful, extremely knowledgable and very flexible to tailor our tour to what we wanted to do. He was also a very steady driver and we felt comfortable in the car with our 3 kids. Highly recommend this tour both for the sites and the guide.