Portugal & Spain Review: El Caminito del Rey, Food Walking Tours, Toledo, Bike Tour, Sagrada Familia

Review by traveler

Michele S.

7.10.2019

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Spain

Portugal

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

Overall the trip was good. We were pleased with most of the tours but had some hiccups with others.
Once the trip started, we found our planner did not provide enough instructions on some of the "tour on our own" tours. If I had known before we left that we needed to do research on some of the places she sent us, i.e., Toledo, Park Guell, we might not have gone there or would have asked her for more directions before going. Our trip to Montserrat almost didn't happen as she had not told us we needed to take a hour and a half train ride to get there. It was only because I asked the hotel's front desk that we discovered this.
Also, our trip planner had booked us on a sea kayak tour which unfortunately got cancelled. Our problem is that she was not available to help us determine what else we could do with the driver we had for the day.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

Food walking tours were awesome! Bike tour was also great. The private drivers were good except one could not speak any English so it ended up being a long drive without any conversation. It would have been nice to know what sights we were seeing on the way there and back.

We really enjoyed Caminito Del Rey and the Sagrada Familia was great.

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

We probably wouldn't have gone to Park Guell, Toledo or the Flamenco Show (or found a better one).
Travel Company Comments
When working through the booking process with this client, the biggest concern was cost. I understand that everyone has a different budget, and we worked very hard to meet theirs, which was much lower than what we are used to. Unfortunately, they decided to exclude most guided tours and drivers, which add so much to a trip. The guide provides local information, the drivers make transitions go very smoothly.

To overcome this obstacle, my assistant and I created a chat group where we would be available to the client and her husband 24/7. I have the saved lengthy conversations where we sent her locations, directions, advice and more each day for the following day. We constantly answered her calls and messages day by day within 5 minutes. So, I find the comment that there were not enough instructions invalid. I have never given so many instructions to one client, or stayed more on top of them.

The one time I was not able to take a call, my assistant called within 10 minutes, offered advice, texted and coordinated with the driver. Also, the traveler was refunded for the cancelled activity.

Apart from being available like this, there were several occasions where we went over and above. We changed train tickets at the very last minute and drop of a hat. I stayed up one night changing their hotel in Lisbon till 11 pm, even though my toddler was violently ill at the time. No extra charge was made for any of this additional labor.

I feel that the lesson learned from this is that perhaps we need to stick to a certain minimum budget where we can cover our normal guide and driver services.

Photos

Portugal & Spain Review: El Caminito del Rey, Food Walking Tours, Toledo, Bike Tour, Sagrada Familia

General Info

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

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