01 May 2025
The best experiences start well, take place well, and end well. We were visiting Porto for about 8 hours via a cruise ship. We had a wonderful time with this company which began with prompt, effective communications courtesy of Ana. We booked many months in advance and needed quite a few changes from the standard (great) itinerary due to medical issues. She always responded promptly, directly addressed issues, and I felt confidence that this tour was actually going to happen. We reconnected shortly before arrival to finalize times and pick-up details. (Ports can be tricky.) The evening before the tour our actual guide reached me via Whats App which included his photo. We communicated easily on tour day, sharing last minute details about our docking time and location. He pulled up to the exact spot promised and got us settled into his immaculately clean, very comfortable (H is 6'4") car. Bottles of water were available. Carlos was wearing a suit jacket and his guide credentials, looking quite dashing and very professional.
++++He was well informed about our special needs and priority interest in visiting "the library". We were grateful for Ana's tip that we needed to buy tickets to get in, particularly the Gold ticket to cut down time waiting in line. (Every minute on land is precious when you are in the port for 7-8 hours.)
provided helpful recommendations for Porto first-timers (like buy the Gold tickets to visit the famous "library" or we we would waste precious time in lines.) They cost more than the least expensive but you receive a free book of a certain size which they publish. There is a wide array of choices in multiple languages. I decided to ask Carlos to choose some by Portuguese authors in English while we explored the astonishing interior. He ably fulfilled my wish and I've already started the slimmest one, in English. Last night he surprised us by sharing photos he'd taken of us inside the bookshop. Wonderful!)
From start to finish (about 3.5 hours total) he shared information about history, culture, architecture, culinary specialties, etc, never sounding like he was reading from a script. He patiently answered questions, we shared some laughter, all as he expertly zipped around to show us so many stunning sites plus great picture locations.
We were immediately comfortable with him and he regularly checked on our comfort. We got back to the ship at the planned time and wish we could have spent more time with him. Carlos and his company were excellent. We will have very good memories of Porto.