Upgraded - Walking in the Algarve

It was a very good well thought out programme of walks. The leader Rocio was excellent and the hotel accommodation was firdt class.

Fabulous tour Fabulous tour leader - Rocio Beautiful country Great hotel Lovely town Great restaurants Very happy

Rocio enthusiastically led our days, well briefed and always friendly. Tavira great base. Hotel good location to restaurants and the Porto Novo train station. Visited museum; Islamic museum and Fado. Great selection of restaurants. Great food especially fish at vfm prices. Walking varied and challenging , yet enjoyable.

This is my third trip with Explore. I really love this company. I get to meet amazing travellers from around the world who are all eager to have an immersive time. I especially like the guides. They are all incredibly positive, patient and knowledgeable. I think people underestimate how much work it is to be a guide. They have to be attentive and responsive at all times. Rocio was our guide for the Walking in Portugal trip. I learned so much from her! She has a deep knowledge of Portugal (historical, cultural and local habitat). Tavira is a wonderful village and the surrounding area was perfect for our daily walks. We also lucked out with beautiful weather and the spring blooms.

Really great tour, with just the right amount of walking. Rocio was an excellent tour leader who looked after us all very well, and went out of her way to help us plan what we'd like to do on our "Free Day". The new Explore App which you can put on your phone is a valuable "extra", as it gives all the info you need in one place, and the map is most useful part of the App for finding your way around when on your own

The tour was great, leisurely but very scenic walks. Rocio our tour leader was fantastic.

Great trip, excellent guide, great group of people on the trip

Rosio was really amazing!! She was very knowledgeable, friendly and well suited for this trip.

Varied and interesting itinerary! Fabulous guide: enthusiastic, knowledgeable about flora, fauna, restaurants, snacks and flexible to make adjustments due to changing circumstances. Hotel location and services are excellent

Really enjoyed Tavira and its culture, cuisine, the hotel and people. Holiday was fun - a nice, mixed group of 16 people. Great walks every day which were varied and included salt pans & flamingos, hills and olive, carob, almond and orange groves, through beautiful countryside and stopping for refreshments/lunch/ or to eat our picnic. Fascinating seaside town with fish markets and beautiful houses, and a very easy - going good guide.

Very disappointed with walks. Some walks we were walking on the road.

Thanks to Rocio the wonderful guide, I am giving this holiday a 5 star review!! Her enthusiasm and passion for Portugal shone through, her knowledge on history and culture and all things flora and fauna was amazing, she was so interesting, fun and engaging and charming, as was Tania who joined the trip from the office in Barcelona. I particularly enjoyed the walking up in the hills, so green and verdant, lots of wild flowers….and the gorgeous orange and lemon trees were dripping with fruit. I loved the additional things like visiting the Monterosa Olive Oil producers, fascinating to hear and see how olives are produced and also the visit to the templar castle with fab views. The delicious lunch stop at Casa Merca with local cheese and a chorizo and pork chickpea stew was a treat! And visiting the local market at Olhao was fun! I would have preferred another days walking up in the hills rather than 2 days with walks along the beach….It was a plus for me that the holiday was centre based in Tavira as I really loved exploring the old town and its cobbled streets and finding delicious local restaurants to eat in, in the evenings!

The walks were well-selected, all exactly as described in the trip notes, and we were mostly fortunate with lovely early spring weather. Particular highlights included beautiful beach walks, inland wildflowers (especially the wild freesia), delicious fish dinners and local wines. Our tour guide Rocio was excellent. Just the hotel was somewhat disappointing. If the hotel matters to you, I suggest read the reviews on other booking sites (the negative comments are fair).

Enjoyable and leisurely trip, helped by blue sky and sunshine and brilliant tour leader Rocio. Tavira is pleasant and picturesque with small shops, restaurants and historic sites (recommend the Islamic Museum), nice to stroll around in the evening. Only negative comment is that walking four miles on sand isn’t easy or pleasant, even when it’s a beautiful beach.