22 Feb 2020
We hired Lux On Wheels for a five day, five night excursion from Lisbon to Porto. We also engaged them to pick us up at the airport and on departure day return to the airport. The overall experience was exceptional, highly custom, and fairly priced.
I came up with a tentative itinerary from Lisbon to Porto that included sites in Metro Lisbon (Day 1), more Lisbon (Day 2), Sintra and Cascais (Day 3), a coastal drive to Porto (Day 4), Porto and Douro River valley (Day 5). The return to Lisbon to catch a flight the next morning was late on day 5, but very efficiently handled even though a long day. The roads in Portugal that we took seemed pretty new, and divided interstate type. It made for smooth traveling in the nice Mercedes sedan. Our driver Joao was very professional, and easy to work with as we managed each site and our journey north, and then back south to Lisbon.
A few highlights: First, we spent two nights in the Penha Longa resort for easy access to Sintra, and to position for our northern coastal drive. It is a five-star resort worth your time and convenience. If we go back to Portugal, we will return to this nice resort and reserve a Jr Suite again.
Second, my wife enjoys churches, ocean views, and food. Our driver Joao made certain we made key stops to see magnificent old churches, breathtaking ocean views, and over the top lunch spots which typically had amazing fresh fish! He expertly showed us what we needed to see, and we moved forward to the next site, and then the next site, until we reached Porto. We couldn’t see everything so we had to carefully manage our time to max out each day.
Third, somehow we saw 80% of the key highlights in Porto on day 5 morning (including the Harry Potter bookstore!), and then headed east to see the Douro River Valley (wine region). Whatever you do, make time for this wine region excursion which is incredibly beautiful. It was the highlight of our trip! From Joao’s recommendation we had lunch at DOC chef Rui Paula’s restaurant. It is nesteled in by the Douro river with vineyards on the surrounding valley hills. I have been to Tuscany more than once and this location and restaurant eclipsed any Tuscany spot I have visited. He is a world class chef, and the food is beyond words! Joao then took us to a winery and to the super hip Six Senses Douro Valley resort. It is hard to summarize how unique and special our Day 5 was! While we were “on the go”, it is a day that we will never forget, and wouldn’t have happened without Joao and Lux On Wheels.
Thank you Joao and Lux On Wheels for a custom tour of your beautiful country!