24 Jun 2018
Overall, this tour was OK at best. Be prepared for long bus rides to and from Lisbon. The rides were drawn out because of several stops mandatory rest for the driver? including the ones at Trujillo and Caceres. There were six people in my traveling group and the consensus was we would not have missed anything if we skipped Trujillo and Caceres. Nice places but it really took time out of potential touring time in Lisbon. Besides the lengthy travel time was the poor performance of the tour guide. Her English was inadequate and I felt she was not explaining enough to the English speaking travelers compared to the Spanish speaking travelers. I also did not like her lack of enthusiasm and helpfulness especially with things to do in Lisbon. I would have appreciated some sort of help or guide on one or two unique things to take in while in Lisbon and recommendation of restaurants. The touring via bus was OK but left me wanting more. We did the optional afternoon tour to Caiscais coast and Sintra in the mountains on the second day. Again, nice places but did not significantly enhance the trip. We were satisfied with the trip to Fatima. However, the rest of the day after visiting Fatima essentially was have a nice day and see you tomorrow morning.
The hotel was good. The rooms and beds were spacious and comfortable. It was very quiet at night. The buffet breakfast food was good but be prepared to stand in the food and coffee lines if you are not the first in line to the dining room. There were other large tour groups at the hotel.
Upon reflection, I would not take this guided tour and would seek other options. It just seemed a lot of wasted time spent on traveling, inadequate tour guide and unsatisfied with what we saw. It would have been nice to have some time to ride the unique cable cars.