Portugal Tours in September 2026

This was our first trip with Explore! My wife and I found it to be a very enjoyable and rewarding experience. The itinerary gave us a chance to see a lot of Madeira and the hikes we went on were interesting and allowed us to experience different terrains and conditions! (Rain in the north and lush forest, sunshine in the south and dry paths). We also got to sample many of the regional dishes and beverages (poncha!) as well as visit some iconic sites on Madeira e.g. the western lighthouse, rumours factory. Our guide, Felipe, was excellent and very knowledgeable and helpful. Easy to talk to and we appreciated how well he took care of the group. Felipe also had some great suggestions for restaurants and things to do on our free time. One of which led to us going whale watching and having a whale go right under our boat! Such a great experience! Overall this walking tour was a terrific experience. It did challenge me to get out of my comfort zone (the 'Stairway to Heaven' walk !) but I'm glad I did it! I'd recommend this tour to anyone who likes hiking and has a good level of fitness (the terrain can be a challenge). You even get to meet many lovely people with similar interests. Walking Madeira with Explore! will live long in the memory.

Loved the 5 days of cycling, along with Porto and Lisbon. Alex our guide was excellent and Pablo who worked alongside him was fabulous, great picnics and videos. Bikes were excellent, I had one of the e-bikes, which made life so much easier. Pretty flat cycling but last couple of days there were some hills. Some great scenery along the way. Would recommend the trip.

Our Iberian tour was an enjoyable, easy and fantastic way to see highlights of Spain and Portugal in a limited time. Our tour leader Patrizia was the best - she is fun, organised and super helpful to ensure everyone had the best travel experience possible. The hotels we stayed in were a very high standard and included an old convent and castle. The itinerary ensured we saw the top highlights of each town visited but there was also sufficient spare time to do your own thing. I would definitely travel with Backroads in the future..

We had a wonderful time on the tour. Organised sections of the tour were great with enough self time to discover the joys of each town/city we stayed Patrizia our tour leader was amazing. Full of local knowledge and caring for everyone on the trip. I have food intolerances and Patrizia ensured that I was included in all tastings and meals. A shout out to our driver Augustine who not only was a brilliant drive navigating the narrow streets but shared his local knowledge with enthusiasm. Whether travelling with family and friends or a solo traveller I highly recommend this trip.

The entire trip was wonderful and well planned out . The hotel was bad as it was being renovated so no hot water for showers and banging all day

I loved the trip! It was a great Experience and I would use Explore again! Magdalena was the best! Everything went very smoothly! Magdalena was very knowledgeable. Her recommendations enhanced our experience! I would only eliminate the Protos tasting. The smaller more intimate tastings were a lot of fun and I feel gave us a more real experience!