Our tailor-made trips are all planned by local experts – who work for tour operators on the ground – so that all the pesky planning details are taken care of for you. Their know-how, and 24/7 support, makes travel truly stress-free. But don’t just take our word for it: these reviews are all written by real travellers who have booked a tailor-made trip with Rough Guides. Every traveller is asked to leave a review after their trip, but you can leave one before you go, too.
Rosemarie, AU
19/09/2025“Rough Guides listened and understood what I wanted out of a holiday. From Sara, who started the process, to Monica Mendes from Be in Travel Portugal who perfected the trip details, everything went brilliantly. The private walking guides were excellent with particular reference to Maria Joao Matos in Evora. In hindsight, doing a self drive road tour, I should have elected to spend more than two nights in some of the smaller towns like Evora and Tomar. Distances are not great when accessing the good freeway system. Driving only becomes a problem if staying in the smaller places in the old parts of the town where to get a parking spot near accommodation is almost impossible and the streets are so narrow that on occasions had to turn in the side mirrors. Another difficult with self drive is the drop off at Lisbon airport - a nightmare. Our holiday in Portugal with the guidance of Rough Guides and Be in Portugal was wonderful. All the hardwork of planning a trip with accommodation, driver pickups from airports, guides and 24hour help line if needed taken care of made for a top class holiday”
Catherine, US
17/05/2025“My Travel Ladies (6 in total, all over 70) and I spent 10 days with Joel throughout Portugal, and we all felt it was simply excellent. I started working with Joel in August and nailed down our trip. We discussed sites important to us, where we wanted a guide, and hotel levels. His suggestions were spot on and we could not have been happier. I recommend him for his kindness, his communication and overall ability to meet our needs. Joel has a beautiful sense of humor that blended with all of us. My one wish is that I could work with him on our next adventure but, we all now feel Portugal is like a second home. Beautiful trip!”
Maud, US
13/04/2025“Our guide (Joel) set up a perfect 10 day itinerary for us in Portugal-based on our requests. He was available at all times if we needed anything. Our tours were with small groups (ideal) and all set up for us. The hotels were also wonderful. We will definitely use Rough Guides in our future travel. ”
Genaro
25/09/2024“Itinerary fitted our needs. Travel book was very useful and well put together. Joel (our host) was always available and easy to reach and provided good advice as well as addressing last minute requests for changes.”
Rudolph
20/09/2024“We had a great time. Joel was a wonderful host and took great care of us. He was knowledgeable and friendly. We enjoyed our time with him. The trip went very well. All the accommodations were more than we expected, and the sights/events chosen gave us a full view of Portugal. I would whole-heartedly recommend Rough Guides and Joel for anyone considering Portugal. The only suggestion I would make is that an electric vehicle is not the best choice for long car rides. To manage the battery life, we had to go very slow, but we did enjoy our time with Joel on the drives. Electric is great for short visits like Sintra and Belhem, but for the longer drives the technology is not yet there.”
Leann
11/09/2024“Traveled to Portugal and Joel with Rough Guides was amazing. He planned our trip and was our driver too. He’s very friendly and loves his country. We felt we made a friend in the 10 days we were there. Loved our trip.”