Beautiful area and fun experience for lunch and port tasting. Only critique is the little town of…read moreAramante where we stopped for an hour was in no way prepared to have tourists arrive. No one accepts credit cards so be prepared with Euros. Also long delays because of cycling race... something you would think the tour group would be aware of.

Manuel was the best driver ever and made the tour special with music and his caring heart. Philip…read morewas a kind and knowledgeable guide and they were a fabulous team! Don't miss it- and tip them well- they work very hard!

We signed up for the five bridge boat ride along the Douro River along the Porto waterfront. We…read morelined up early for a good spot on the boat so we could take pictures. At a bit before 6pm they loaded us onto the boat and then we sat there for over 30 minutes waiting. No explanation. Earlier we had witnessed a fight among the boat crew and those handling the tickets. We saw the crew stomp off... we are guessing the delay involved them finding a new crew. Ahhh Portugal! While entertaining it was an annoying wait. The cruise itself lasted 50 minutes and the scenery was nice but there was no narration regarding what we were seeing - not sure there was supposed to be but this was a miss. Not worth the 14 euros/ person.

Great cruise, 50 minutes to see 6 bridges for only €15. Great price and perfect amount of time to…read moreget a view from the river. Outside sitting options along the sides of the boat, as well as some outside chairs in rows. Inside seating was also available. Some audio, but I'm glad they didn't talk the entire time since it was nice to take in the views just listening to the waves.

We went on a cruise from Régua to Pinhão and back and it was wonderful. The scenery was so amazing…read morealong the entire route. The staff was all very professional and there was a guide on hand that spoke English. We had aperitifs and lunch on board during our cruise. We were served a white Port before lunch and then lunch consisted of 3 courses with both a white and red wine made with grapes from the immediate area we were sailing through. The main course of beef was delicious and it was all topped off with a super tasty cheesecake. During our break time in Pinhão we walked out to the Symington visitor center and even got to pick some grapes from the vineyard at the visitor center. Great memories were made on this cruise!

I was so excited for this tour but it was a disaster to begin with. Three tour guides show up at…read morethe meeting spot. No one knows which attendees are supposed to be with which guides because that was not predetermined. So it's already a mess. And the groups are big--12 people max. That's really too big. The guides are super confused about how to handle everything and what to do. Probably because they are all of 22-years-old. I get told I'm going with one leader, then another, then back to the first. Well, the first leader is leading a group of 11 20-year-old Americans. No one wants to be a part of that. I left in tears and will do whatever I can to get my money back. City Lovers is an awful, disorganized tour company and I will never book with them or Viator again.

The free City Lovers Tour was amazing. Silvia was one of the very best tour guides my wife and I…read morehave ever had. She was cheerful, clear and clever. I loved how she shared her honest feedback about what was worth it and what is a tourist trap. Those local secrets made the tour totally worth the time. I also loved how we got to learn the character of Porto from her.

Views worth the money, boat was adequate except for the fact that not everyone can sit on the upper…read moredeck to view. When asked to bring more chairs for the elderly people their response was that that they were at capacity for seating . No apologies. If they don't have enough seating for the tickets sold they should not sell tickets.

Ship broke down and they REFUSED to reimburse us! Insult to injury as we were stranded. The food…read morewas subpar. I recommend taking the train as you get too see the same views and get there faster. I am continuing my dispute but they are adamant about returning a nominal amount. I don't understand how you get a partial refund when you never make it to your destination and stuck at a port midway because the boat need repairs. We ended taking the bus back to Porto. Big disappointment. Stay away from this outfitter.

Went with a large group of friends for a Douro Valley Wine Tour in March. Our Living Tours guides…read morewere Luis Matos and Pedro Teixeira, who picked us up from our hotel in two vans and drove us around all day while narrating the history and knowledge about the area. We stopped by two beautiful vineyards for delicious wine tastings (Quinta Dos Castelares and Quinta Santa Julia) with a peaceful boat ride on the Douro River in between. The whole day lasted 9am to 6pm. Luis and Pedro did a wonderful job and made the trip seamless and memorable. They mentioned that they partner with different vineyards daily, so you could get other wonderful options for wine if you go on the tour with them. Overall, highly recommend the experience and thank you for a great trip!

Took a Wine Tour to the Doure Valley Vineyards... with a fairly large group.. had to take a long…read morewalk from the Meeting Place to where the bus was.. didn't explain that when we booked the Tour... however once we got settled in the Bus, our Guide Aldrien "The Voice" and Driver Mykel were friendly and very accommodating... while on our way to the Valley we made a 45 minute stop to a very interesting Village and explored the Church and the Pastry Shops... 1st winery we went to gave us a tour and offered wine tasting of 1 Port wine, and that was it! They expected us to by their many types of wine without tasting them... we passed... we did eat at there restaurant which was quite delicious.. took a short Boat ride down the Doure River and back which was nice... the 2nd and last Winery was Krofts which was a much nicer experience... enjoyed the Tour Guide and the Driver so it was enjoyable day out!!

Andreia was a fantastic guide! She was personable, funny, informative, accommodating, and a great…read moredriver. I enjoyed her tour of Quinta Santa Eufemia, having lunch at Restaurante Tipico, and one more winery. She stopped at various places to let us take photos, including Regua and Sabrosa (where explorer Magellan lived). She also kept reminding us to drink water and made sure we were comfortable on the windy roads. I also loved that she was a local from Gaia, around the area, and could share many personal stories and experiences about wine in the Douro area. Regarding the tour in general, the 7-seater van was clean, spacious and comfortable, with large windows on either side, and adequate A/C. The river cruise was relaxing, though I was hoping for some commentary from the captain instead of just the boat ride. It didn't hurt that the weather was perfect, sunny but breezy. An excellent value tour, and would definitely recommend to others!

We took Cooltour's all day (10 hour) tour of the Douro River Valley which included stops at an…read moreolive oil plant/winery, a boat trip, lunch, and another winery. It is not a cheap trip but it was worth it. Our guide, Luis, did a great job driving us about the are and educating us on the region. It was very interesting The van picked us up near our AirBnb in the morning and dropped us there at day's end. This was a small tour group, only 8 people plus Luis. The Douro is a stunning area and all of the stops were really well done with locals introducing us to their oils and wines. The one hour boat ride was beautiful and the lunch at a local restaurant was good. Highly recommended!

City Tailors and Taste Porto have merged into one company since I believe April of 2022. I began…read moreattempting to create a customized trip starting with Ricardo in early January 2022 for a trip in June. We discussed some ideas and I ended up requesting a trip of 6 days with a private tour guide - 3 days, a break day, 3 more days, then a concert festival the following day on my own. Apparently, 6 days is unintentionally the longest number of days for time spent with a tour with the same private guide at this company at the time of writing this review. A lighthouse tour was 5 days and it was 3 days at most before that. Within the 6 days, 2 were within Porto and 4 were in suburbs of Porto with history of its own and hidden food gems that one would not be aware of unless one grew up in this area. I have just completed the 6 day tour and it has become one of the most heart warming confidence building trips of my life. If you want a customized tour with this company, you need to come as an adventurer and not a typical tourist. If you want a typical tourist trip, there are many other companies and guides for this. If you are more of a traveler, foodie, adventurer, then this may be the Porto company for you! If you are not a planner and if it fits into a guide's schedule, you could be asked to pay a premium price. Remember, you're paying for 35+ years of experience done more on the company's terms. They can work with you on some ideas, but it is important to come with an open mind. If you have many extreme allergies, there are certain tours or parts of tours that may need a premium price or the company might not be able to serve extreme, unusual situations but they will try to do so. When you tour with CityTailors, do not expect mainstream. Also, plan ahead if you can. If you aren't a planner and need to be thrifty, look elsewhere. Remember, you get a unique brand of quality here like no other. Some mainstream things may be included, but other more unusual spots will be created as well. Local people or southern Portuguese are not likely to hire a tour guide company, but they really should or at least consider a private tour guide. Not only would you be supporting your own, but you would be enhancing your trip in ways you thought not possible. I also told my tour guide after the tour that his girlfriend was tired of hearing him talk to her about his 11,147th tour and showed the graffiti picture of angry woman with her roll away suitcase. Oh, don't forget to "look for signs in Porto"!

On our first trip to Portugal. Friends gave us 2 " must -do's": Fado in Coimbra and hiring Ricardo…read morefrom The City Tailors as a tour guide in Porto. They were " dead on" about both. But this is a review about Ricardo who was certainly for us the most knowledgeable , pleasant , interesting , and fun tour guide we have ever used, and we travel a lot in Europe. He guided us with his trainer "Ze" who was wonderful as well. Ricardo in particular is clearly extremely well read and skilled but is just a nice guy. History, architecture , culture, coffee, wine and FOOD , including just a lovely, authentic and delicious multi course lunch included in the tour price. My wife and I felt like we were just walking the city with good friends whose company we totally enjoyed. This is as I said a " must do" in Porto. Hire Ricardo. He will " make your day".

We had a wonderful experience with Pedro Fiel, our walking tour guide. He showed us the best spots…read morein Porto and he did it with such passion. He was absolutely wonderful!

We signed up for a port wine tour with Porto Walkers which included visits to 3 wineries and 7…read moretastings. I really knew nothing about port - my impression that it was a sweet, heavy wine that old men drank after dinner in period British dramas. I learned that there's a huge variance in types of port and that the industry is really working to attract younger drinkers and introduce new things. The tour started at a traditional producer, then moved to an independent, local place and finally ended up at a cutting edge, new house with a fabulous rooftop bar. Our guide Lucas was great! He was extremely knowledgeable about port wine but also full of great suggestions about Porto and had good insights on the history and culture of this great city. Our other tour mates were cool and fun to hang out with - definitely a good thing for solo travelers to check out. At the end of the day I learned a ton and have a greater appreciation for port wine (not sure I'd drink it often but I do know what to order now). Recommend!