Portugal Walks - www.portugalwalks.com

A friend, my wife, and I joined three others plus our guide on the Castles in the Air guided walking trip. I cannot say enough positive things about the walks, the accommodations, the guide, the pace, etc. Our guide was very knowledgeable and very considerate. She also was great, great fun which meant that all the time spent with her was so much fun. The pace was just great on the walks. I felt I had unrushed time to take photos along the way. She was terrific at adapting the walks to the weather.

The two places she picked for accommodations were both terrific and different from each other. That made the week even more interesting.

The pre-trip information was complete. We were told everyhting we need to know before the trip.

We are eager to do another walking week with Portugal Walks.

Portugal Walks and their partners TurAventur are a credit to organized walking holidays. We chose the Alentejos Steps Back in Time and can honestly say we were not disappointed.All of our six route were very scenic going through the vineyards, meadows, alongside the rivers and the final walk along the aquaduct into Evora a gem itself. The two hotels provided at the start of our walk were certainly top class with their food going from good to excellent. The farm house for the last stage of our holiday was very comfortable, cosy and clean. The staff were very friendly, ensuring we did not want for anything. The route maps together with written instruction faultless. This together with a GPS provided ensured we did not wander off inadvertently. Our contact was excellent and certainly commendable, she ensured that everything was as close to perfect during the length of our stay, staying in contact and providing the transport and support when and where it was need.

The Castle of Monsaraz with its city within its walls is probably the the highlight I will cherish most.

Thank you from the eight Gibraltar hikers.

First, with regard to Portugal Walks, I would like to say that we enjoyed meeting the person I dealt with and found him quite helpful and the hikes were quite beautiful. I found the accommodations mostly pleasant, and I would say that it was worth getting upgrades to view rooms both in Lagos and in Sagres as they are well worth the few extra Euros. With regard to the hikes in particular, I would suggest that you bring three things. First, some kind of dog spray is essential. The dogs are quite nasty in Portugal and they are present on three of the five hikes. If you cannot get dog spray, be prepared to hike with a rock and good aim as you will probably need it. Second, bring a good sense of humor. The directions are often muddled, and the other person I dealt with left off some major visual clues (like "follow the signs to" ...) while concentrating on minor details and often seeming to get those partly wrong. That being said, we were always able to back track and we did find ourselves in the correct hotel every night, so just try to go with the adventure of it all and enjoy the treasure hunting aspect of it. You are really hiking in such a small area that you are not going to end up in Morocco, so don't worry. The maps, by the way, are completely, utterly useless. Third, and most important, bring your sense of wonder because you will be inspired by such a beautiful, peaceful place. It was absolutely worth it and I would probably hike with PW again - good value, loads of fun, pretty spots off the beaten path.

Went on the WALKING PILGRIMAGE TO SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA in 2013 with Portugal Walks.

Well organised, good value and with the advisor guiding you know the food will be good !

Hotels were just right: small, comfortable and good enough for an overnight stay when lots of facilities would be a waste.

We went on self organised holiday in the Algarve ( Best of Algarve) and had the best time. The walking notes were clear and if we did take a wrong turn it was our mistake as we were chatting too much.

Accommodations were all different and excellent in their own separate ways. The transfers were always prompt efficient and the driver on time.

In the week we experienced very different scenery from orange groves to mountains to countryside to cliffs - it was amazing.

Thanks Julie for a great time.

We just spent a great week with Julie in the north of Portugal where we walked along the Lima Valley from the coast eastwards in land to take in the Penedes National Park.

There was different scenery each day and and we were also given an insight into how the local people live, their traditions and history.

We stayed at a small family hotel in Viana do Castelo where we were treated to some great dinners cooked personally for us. From here we moved to Casa da Arrabalde the home of Isabel and Miguel - a 17th century manor house on the edge of Ponte de Lima - fabulous and those breakfasts in the formal dining room!!!

It was a wonderul experience with so many laughs and fun.

Let me say at the outset, that Portugal is a magnificent country, and clearly Julie, founder of Portugal Walks, knows the country well. And again, on the positive side, we stayed in comfortable, clean establishments. That having been said, we chose to take a self-guided walk, and the directions were nothing short of a disaster. If anybody does this, it is imperative to carry a cell phone. Most of the time we could get in touch with Julie who did her best to set us straight. But we are fairly seasoned hikers, and if there were a way to make directions obique, Portugal Walks does this. Although we had a pleasant, taciturn man taking us from one daily point of departure to the next, he had no interest in our experiences, where things went wrong, or what could have been done to make the directions clearer. Our daily trips became a "treasure Hunt" to follow directions. On a five day trip we lost our way every single day but once. No one ever called to find out how our trip went. We haven't heard from Julie -- other than helping us try and figure out where we were -- since we returned.

We had never been to Portugal before and were not sure what to expect and all I can say is that we had a brilliant week. Portugal Walks were so helpful from the first e-mail inquiry until they met us from the train at Tunes. The accommodations were so different but good and the hosts in all the places were so friendly. Our driver Peter was always prompt and gave us background information that was not in the guide books and the walks were so very different that was what so great.

In April the spring flowers were out and everywhere we walked there was an array of color. Thank you Portugal Walks for introducing us to your country.

This is in response to a previous review about Madeira which I thought was not at all our experience. We had a brilliant time, excellent service, great hotels and good walks.

The previous review was griping about one hotel where we had a a good clean room and good breakfast.

The whole trip from beginning to end was superb.

Madeira is a spectacularly beautiful island; however, we went with portugalwalks.com and I can not recommend the company. On our final night we were placed in a hotel that was a dump. My son and I had separate rooms. His had an unflushed toilet and a used tampon. Need I say more? (Mine was similarly dirty.) I bought 2 rooms at a lovely nearby hotel and e-mailed portugalwalks immediately explaining the situation and saying I would like a refund for that portion of the trip. I was e-mailed back but it was not until weeks later, I was told that I needed to explain to the portugalwalks dumpy hotel why I would not stay there...no refund. So definitely go to Madeira but seek out a different company! There are other companies doing independent hiking trips in Madeira.