Highlights of Spain & Portugal

The history of Spain and Portugal is visible to all who visit. I enjoyed having a knowledgeable tour guide to give us information as we travelled. Good mobility is required as there is a lot of walking - sometimes up steep, uneven footpaths. Buses are banned from many areas so the only option is to walk.

Miles had previously visited all European countries, except Spain and Portugal. So, this tour conveniently checked off that uncompleted box. The two countries were on both Betty and Miles' bucket lists. Our fellow tourists were the most compatible of our three Expat trips, so it was great to get to know most of the them over the course of the nine days. Emiliano is a delightful person, and Nuno was the best coach driver we've had in our three trips. He was very professional in dress and manner, and his communication skills were awesome, as well as his hard work and excellent driving skills.

You see amazing sites on this tour. Our tour guide, Emiliano went above expectations and our bus driver, Nono always made us feel safe.

I had a great time on this tour! My favorite parts of it were Pena Palace in Sintra, the Flamenco performance in Seville, and exploring Ronda. I feel like I got to do and see so much on this tour. Before the tour I was a bit worried about how comfortable the bus would be but our driver Marcio was the best. I highly recommend this tour to anyone considering it!

Great tour with an amazing tour leader. Unfortunately we couldn't complete portugal as my friend became unwell and ended up in hospital. Expat were amazing about keeping in touch and offering support. Spain was amazing and the tour was well planned and we were able to relax knowing everything was taken care of. Thank you

Overall this is a wonderful experience. There were a lot of things to see and learn. The team leader, Enimilano, is fun and energetic.

Loved the multiple experiences we had in such a short period of time.

This was an absolutely amazing trip! Every day was full of really interesting experiences. Spain might be the most enchanting country that we have ever visited. We didn't want the trip to end. I highly recommend this Expat adventure!

Beautiful tour through Spain and Portugal. Our tour guide Emiliano and our driver Marcio kept us safe and entertained.

Accommodation was of a high standard and excellent bus. Transport on tour was great.

The tour was evrything and more than I expected!

It was an amazing experience! Our team leader Emiliano was truly wonderful , awesome and amazing, very helpful and a good team leader . He always made everyone comfortable and entertained. He's very knowledgeable with the history and culture of the place, providing us good tips and suggestions of beautiful places to explore! Paolo, the driver was also amazing and incredibly very experienced driver. He really knew his role well, navigating difficult routes and handling our baggage's in order. Thank you so much! Looking forward to another trip with Expat Explore!

It was a great way to relax and have fun, discover and understand another culture, try new food, visit the places that I used to only read in the magazine, meet new friends, and most of all, spend time to bond with my family. Pauline, our tour leader was great, helpful and shows genuine concern to us. When our daughter lost her luggage going in to Madrid, she was the one calling the airport and arranging for the hotel delivery once the luggage is found. It was a stressful time for my daughter, and for us, as she only had an extra day of new clothes to wear before the start of the tour but having Pauline there to talk on her behalf (we can't speak Spanish), made us all feel we can get through this glitch in our vacation and continue to have a great time. Luis is a great bus driver, polite, helpful with baggage handling - we never felt we were in danger when travelling even on very narrow roads. Bus also has wifi. We never had serious problems on the hotel we stayed - toilets are clean, wifi is available. Meals are OK. The optional excursions were awesome, very interesting, helped us understand more about the place we were visiting. Local tour guides were very informative - special mention to Manolo at Seville and Maria at Porto.

We recently embarked on the Spain & Portugal bus tour, overall, it provided a decent travel experience considering its price. Here are the highlights of my journey. One of the highlights of the tour was the wonderful group of people I had the pleasure of traveling with. The camaraderie and friendly atmosphere among fellow travelers made the trip enjoyable and memorable. Interacting with people from different backgrounds and sharing experiences added a delightful dynamic to the journey. The tour leader, was generally pleasant and approachable. However, I did feel that he could have made a bit more effort to provide us with interesting facts and insights about the places we visited. A knowledgeable and engaging tour leader can greatly enhance the travel experience, and I believe he missed an opportunity to truly captivate the group with his commentary. Unfortunately, the quality of some of the hotels on the tour left something to be desired. Several accommodations were quite basic and located a fair distance away from the city centers. While I understand the need to keep costs down, I would have preferred to pay a bit extra for more comfortable and better-located accommodations. That being said, the tour did offer several positive aspects. The itinerary covered a good selection of Spain and Portugal's highlights, allowing us to experience the rich history, vibrant culture, and stunning landscapes of both countries. From the architectural marvels of Barcelona to the ancient charm of Lisbon, there were plenty of memorable moments to cherish. Moreover, the tour price itself was reasonable, considering the number of destinations covered and the duration of the trip. For those looking for an affordable way to explore Spain and Portugal, this tour offers a decent value for money. In summary, the Spain & Portugal bus tour had its share of positives and negatives. The wonderful group of people and the chance to visit remarkable destinations were definite highlights.

Overall the trip has been an enjoyable experience. Zema has been very professional and the tour guides at each location have been excellent, particularly on the Alhambra optional.

We had such an amazing time on this trip! Although you don't spend a ton of time in each place, you do have enough time to explore and take in the sights. I highly recommend you do the extra food tour in Madrid and the food and wine tasting in Grenada!

The tour was loads of fun! Got to see a ton in 9 days and went to places I had never heard of. Food was decent, could have been better and wish we got more history information of each place. Seville is absolutely beautiful!

Made some life long friends and got to experience my first tour as a solo older traveller , the places were fabulous , the time spent on the bus extremely comfortable , never two long , hotels all clean and comfortable.

Amazing

Just returned from the Highlights of Spain and Portugal tour and cannot say enough good things. As always the tour doesn't disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the excursions, and yes....I did them all. But above and beyond the amazing tour were our tour leader and bus driver. Emiliano was a wonderful leader. Kind, patient (what's harder to deal with than a bus load of kids...a bus load of adults!) and absolutely hilarious. Tiago, our bus driver, kept us safe in the road, handled our luggage with care and always helped the ladies off the bus with a smile. I absolutely recommend this tour, whether it's your first or twenty first, it's well worth it!

Great way to see the two countries, and our tour leader Marysol was amazing, knowledgeable, and very friendly! Some of the places I really loved were Algarve's beautiful beach and little shops, the colourful Sintra Palace, coin caves, and the quaint little town of Obidos! The architecture around Spain was impressive, and I loved exploring Salamanca as well as Alhambra Palace and Alcazar of Seville!

Beautiful tour of Spain and Portugal, went as a solo female traveller and made some great friends. Marysol was amazing, energetic, kind and taught us a lot. Would've been nice to have more time in Granada and Porto but amazing chance to try each place out Loved seeing the smaller towns such as Obidos, Ronda and Toledo!

The tour itself was amazing but what made it extra special was our guide, Gustavo. He was kind, caring and sweet to everyone. He always went the extra mile to assist us whenever we needed something. Diego was a fantastic driver too! Both made a wonderful team

The tour met all of my expectations, from accommodation to the planned activities. Timing for each stop was pretty precise for my style of travelling - I never had the chance to get bored and I never missed the bus once! Everything was well explained, instructions easy to follow, and nothing was too difficult to work around. There was a good amount of flexibility in the schedule. Every city/town we went to has its charms. The hotels were clean and comfortable. Overall the trip was pleasant and I had a very good dose of Spain and Portugal. I cannot thank Antonio, Emiliano and Sandro enough for all the surprises they had organised for us during the trip, I was particularly excited for what we had in Lisbon! These little things are what make it that much more special. Also thank you for all the laughter and smiles (and some pretty good jokes). I could see how much they cared about us having the best experience possible and felt very looked after.

This tour was an amazing experience. Antonio our Tour Leader is quite likely the BEST Tour Leader we have EVER had with any Tour Company and we were very fortunate to have a Tour Leader in training in Emiliano, as well. They were both so full of knowledgable about history, the areas we visited, local customs, language and all sorts of extra things about their own countries too. They were both so kind and helpful to everyone. My husband chipped a tooth and neede a Dentist and Antonio just arranged it, as if it was no bother at all and then made sure my husband didn't miss out on any of the tour we had while they were at the Dentist. Beyond any expectation of ours. We just drank up all the history of these two countries …. there are amazing sights to see and more history to absorb around every corner and of course, as we have found with other Expat Tours, the people we met on tour were a great mix of ages, personalities and customs and all were delightful and interesting to spend our days with. We were sorry to come to the end. Thank you so much Antonio and Emiliano and Sandros, our excellent driver. You are what makes Expat so great

Met amazing new friends

Love every single day of our Highlighrs of Spain and Pirtugal. No downtime moments everyday is a exciting experience Always looking forward what next the Architecture, History Landscape wow pure breathtaking.

Spain and Portugal are beautiful places to visit, however this is the first expat tour we have been on where the tour leader Marisol did not provide detail information/recommendations on what we could do on our free time. Most tour leaders talk to fellow travelers and you feel like they are also new friends you meet on your travels, but Marisol did not have that welcoming feeling. Other tour leaders make sure everyone gets to know each other and we all travel as a family, but she didn't either. Overall very different experience from the past where expat should review all tour leaders provide a more welcoming experience for all tour members.

Outstanding tour of Spain and Portugal

Beautiful architecture, history, amazing food and people! Alahambra Palace and Sintra - highlights of the tour!

Visits to marvelous UNESCO sites and historical locations, good food and wines and port wine tasting, incredible shopping experiences, professional tour guide and driver. I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone.

I was extremely well pleased with this tour. Our tour guide Pedro was beyond amazing. Our drivers Ruben and Carlos were exceptional, friendly and expertly maneuvered our bus in both countries. And, I have seen so many fantastic cities and sights in both countries in a short amount of time... have met some truly engaging people that we parted as a secular group of friends that made my trip more memorable. Thank you, tour operator, for giving me this opportunity to ticked off some of the places in my bucket list.

So much to see and visit in 9 days, but you get a good flavour of the beauty and culture of Iberia.

I loved it

From day 1 to day 9, it's been a wonderful tour. From the awesome places in Spain and Portugal, to the lovely tour guides, and most especially the whole group, making the trip most memorable, including our ever dependable tour leader Pedro (He's a legend!!!) and coach drivers Ruben and Carlos.

Tour was organized and tour leader was nice, charming, knowledgeable and very approachable/friendly.

Great tour very well organised, if you get the chance take the optional tour to Alambra Palace it was magnificent as was the optional to Sinta. Marysol did a great job of keeping us organised and on time. Hotels were very good as was the optional dinners. Another great Expat experience ????????

Amazing tour

It was amazing, beautiful small and charming towns and beautiful cities both with a lot of history.

Marisol is fantastic TL.

Led by the fabulous Marysol, it was a lovely mixed group of 48 people who headed to Spain and Portugal. There were so many memorable moments and some great friendships were born over our shared experiences. The tour visited lots of places and had a good mix of excursions. The flamenco show in Seville was a highlight as was the cruise in Porto. The 2 night stays in Lisbon and Seville gave us a chance to recharge our batteries. Great trip, good value for money, would recommend.

Good deal for the money that I pay.

Fantastic journey over 9 days. We saw so much and loved every moment. Antonio and both drivers were superb and they tried and succeeded in making our tour safe and pleasant. Hotels and bus used were great. My wife, daughter and husband thoroughly enjoyed our time.

Our tour leader was the best. Antonio since the begining was helpful, polite, respectful, Made me feel in a family...!!! The Places we went were amazing. I totally recommend this tour operator. ITS my second Time travellying with Expat AND now I am planning my third!!!

I really enjoyed the tour. Our tour guide John was terrific. He was very helpful and had Lots of information. I didn't find Lisbon easy to navigate, could have used a walking tour there. Nuno was an amazing driver. His parking powers something to aim for. Felt very comfortable driving with him. I enjoyed all locations and could have used more time in a couple of those places. Seville and Porto. The hotel In Porto was tiny, not enough space to have 2 bags. The hotel in Lisbon was dark and dingy. I did not appreciate the hydro going off at various times.

Great but too much walking.... Travel group were amazing to be with, friendly, caring and fun. John was able to lead the group accordingly and Nuno was a great driver.

Group, Tour Leader and Bus driver were wonderful

Quick visit to important sites.

Spain and Portugal was absolutely amazing trip. We had a wonderful time from first day up to last day . John is the best tour guide a happy jolly guy as well as Diogo an excellent driver.Surely,we will come back for more ??

I found the Spain/Portugal itinerary to have been thoughtfully put together, with the objective of maximizing our travel time and allowing plenty of time to explore independently, or just relax if that was preferred. I especially appreciated getting to sites before ANY other tourists in the morning. Seeing places not yet overrun by (other) tourists was amazing! Also, the extra excursions that we're available were terrific. John and our driver were professional and enthusiastic. I have recommended this company to others, and will continue to do so.

John is a great leader and provided lot of information on excursions and sightseeing. He is knowledgeable in history, language etc. Overall we had wonderful experience with this tour. We will recommend to others.

If you like to be on the move seeing and experiencing as much as you can with like minded people in the company of a highly trained and entertaining tour guide then this is the tour for you !

Its our second time with the tour operator. Overall we liked the places covered and the programs. On the negative sides: some places were too rush, hotels do not provide kettles or hot water, no ironing board. Breakfast was good but some days we hardly had time to really enjoy them. Tour Leader John was really fantastic & helpful, knowledgeable, striking personality. Bus driver George was patient, on time & drove really really safe & careful.

All the destinations we're wonderful. Beautiful cities, walled towns and coastline. Included meals were very good as well as most of the accomodations. Alhambra optional tour was a highlight. Tour leader Marysol was the best. The tour is fast paced so be ready!

Comfortable hotels with the exception of one i.e. Bellavista in Sevilla (thin walls). Breakfast at Hotel Elba Madrid, Sercotel Gran Hotel Luna De Granada and Hall 88 Apartahotel in Salamanca were good. The rest were just passable. Two excellent dinners in Madrid and Salamanca. Two disappointing dinners at Sevilla and Lisboa. Did not deliver what was written on the menu (thin slice of pork was served instead of sirloin steak and a cracker was served as shrimp omelette in Pelayo Bar!) At Casa de Alenteyo (the third dinner), the pork was very salty, the fish/vegetable was mashed like baby food and the egg pudding was very very sweet!. The sites were breathtaking. Comfort stop were good with the exception of Guarda which is a dead town!. Both drivers, Neuno and Antonio were skillful and friendly. Marysol is a very experienced Tour Leader. Patient and calm when dealing with difficult passengers. Animated when conducting the history and culture of each destination with excellent knowledge!

The tour was great just needs more tweeting. Some places and eateries were not fully accommodating to everyone needs. Some stops were not useful to the tour. And a lot of the Stops weren't long enough time to spend there. Everything was really quick. But all in all I enjoyed myself

As commented in the Review Form. Suggest to consider giving introductory discount say if I recommend more friends to join Expat Tours

From day one we have seen the most beautiful places of Spain & Portugal, with enough free time to do some exploring of our own. Antoinio Veiga, our tour leader, did a brilliant job and his Portuguese accent made the trip so much more special. Each one on the bus left foot steps in our hearts which we will cherish for the rest of our lives.

Great tour in the sense of organization and meeting interesting people from different countries. One thing I was missing is information about historical facts and cultural events in the places we visited. Google was helpful. Overall I enjoyed this trip a lot.

Very nice tour. Would have liked to stay in Porto longer, maybe a 10 day tour instead of 9.