Hello everyone,

I am in need of your great advice picking a tour for our upcoming visit to Lisbon. We will be spending 3.5 days in Lisbon and I want to book a tour for one of the days. I'm looking at the company Lisbon on Wheels due to nothing but great reviews online. The trouble I'm having is picking a trip. My wife and I love food & wine and we also love sightseeing. We do not love art or museums, I personally do not like touristy things and tend to appreciate the "off the beaten path" adventures. It seems like the most popular and well reviewed tours are Sintra/Cascais/Cabo de Roca - a few a visit to a wine cellar. However, due to the popularity of Sintra, I feel like we wouldn't have any issue getting there on our own to explore. Another option that caught my eye is a tour to the Azeitao and Alentejo regions for wine tastings - seems like it would fit the bill of food/wine, but I wonder if it would be too "off the beaten path"?

Anyone have experiences in this region or with this tour (or a similar one)? Just looking for advice if we should go mainstream and book the Sintra tour or try something different. While I like to be a contrarian, often the most popular attraction is most popular for the right reasons!

Thanks in advance for any opinions or advice.

Hi,
In Lisbon the best tour for me it's a food tour by this guys: Culinary Backstreets Lisbon (https://culinarybackstreets.com/cate...tegory/lisbon/).
There's also a free walking tour by Sandeman's (Free Tour of Lisbon | SANDEMANs NEW Lisbon Tours).
Lisbon on wheels certainly has great reviews, it's also a good choice.
Sintra it's a highlight for any visit to Lisbon, yes it can be crowded and certainly not off the beaten path, but it is amazing. Wile in Sintra you can visit the amazing beaches (https://www.travel-in-portugal.com/beaches/sintra) and the wine cellar of Colares, a unique wine in the world, great experience: https://www.winetourismportugal.com/...al-de-colares/
Sintra has everything, castle, palaces, mountain, beaches, gardens you name it: Sintra Portugal Guide - Fully Updated for 2018!
The plus of Sintra is that is very close to Lisbon, only 20 km away. From Sintra you can see the coastline of Cascais, a bordering city of Sintra on the way to Lisbon.
The tour to Azeităo is also very nice but different from Sintra (also very close to Lisbon), less monuments but amazing nature. Azeităo is a small village close to the amazing Arrabida natural park. You can do several things there: Wine taste at Bacalhoa wine cellar, one of the finest in Portugal (Bacalhôa Home), taste the famous Azeităo cheese and tart and them visit the Arrabida natural park and amazing beaches:
https://sesimbraportugal.net/index.html
https://visitsetubal.com.pt/en/rotei...bida-e-praias/
You can also continue with the wine tour to the close by wine region of Palmela and Setubal were is produced the famous "Moscatel" wine. (Wines of Portugal | A world of difference | Moscateis)
https://www.winetourismportugal.com/...la-de-setubal/
Alentejo is another major wine region in Portugal, the main places are in Reguengos and Borba village, but everywhere you look you'll find very high quality wines, certainly off the beaten path, plus the villages are absolutely stunning and scenery is amazing (endless plain). Évora should be your destiny, since is close to Lisbon, 120 km away, it's a world heritage city with several winery close by beig Cartuxa winery the most famous one:
https://www.winetourismportugal.com/...io-de-almeida/

Thank you for the awesome reply!

I visited Evora on my own, taking a bus from Lisbon. I arranged a one day wine tour with the B&B I stayed in. I skipped the megaliths, which are also a popular sight in the area. I would not say that it is "off the beaten path".

if you are interested in wine do not miss the Solar do Vinho do Porto in Lisbon.