Ola,
I just returned from Portugal and had the greatest time. We were in Lisbon for 3 nights, Sintra for 2 nights and Evora for one night. In Lisbon I had a tour guide who made the city come alive for me. He is Portuguese, although he grew up in Canada, so his English is perfectly understandable. And he knows his history and geography, and has such an ability to make it interesting to his clients. I don't usually hire tour guides... I usually research everything myself and make my own way around. But this time, I was with my elderly parents, so I thought a tour guide would be better. I'm so glad, because Peter took extra care to make sure that my parents were comfortable and he drove us everywhere in a nice big Mercedes. He made our Lisbon experience so wonderful. He also took us to some great restaurants, explaining the food along the way. I only wish we had used him for tours in other parts of Portugal as well. In Evora, we had a problem with our hotel overcharging us for things. We contacted Peter (4 days after our tour with him) and he called the front desk to straighten everything out for us. Thanks to him, we were not overcharged. He's a great tour guide and a good person too. I highly recommend him. Contact Peter Feijao at [email protected] or at [email protected] (he is also a destination wedding planner!). Have a great trip to Portugal.
Joni

Thanks for the tip - I am just starting planning a trip and looking at hotels - where did you stay?

Wombat, I would not ask and not use any advice from OP. It seems that all what he knows is that there is a very good tour guide (maybe himself ??)

Valtor, I will try not to take offense to your posting. I am for real. Yes, I did put this posting on the boards because I want to let others know about Peter if they want a tour guide. And yes, I did this because Peter did a lot to make our vacation so much the better. I used these boards extensively to plan my trip and in return, I have put a few postings on the boards to try to help others plan their trips... period!

Wombat, in response to your question, in Lisbon we stayed at the Residencial Dom Sancho I, www.domsancho.com . It was a good place to stay, especially for the price, but a little noisy if you are near the kitchen and the pillows are the lumpiest pillows in the world. The location is a good location too. The reception is very, very helpful and nice. I would recommend it.
joni

travlpashn-Thank you for your information on the tour guide for Lisbon. We are just in the planning stages for our trip to Portugal next September. I just wrote Peter a letter & stated as such. I will let the board know about him if it works out.
My husband & I just got back from a month in Thailand & Bali |& through Fodorite reccomondations I had 3 different guides in 3 different locations & was thrilled with all of them. I use this site for all my pre planning-Thanks Chris

trsvlpashn-This is just an update. I have been in communication with Peter. My husband and I are going to use him as a guide when we are in Lisbon September 13-17th. He has responded to all my E-mails and answered all my questions. I am looking forward to using him as a guide. Again Thanks for you advise. I have not been steered wrong with guides on this site-Thanks Chris

Thank you to those who recommended Hotel Britannia. We stayed there and were highly pleased. It's very tastefully decorated, Art Deco with history, quiet, and clean. All this would be enough, but also, the staff is excellent, from the nice, helpful bellmen, to the maids who even took my nightgown from the door hanger and folded it neatly every day, to the real stars, the desk staff who are extremely knowledgeable, personable, helpful, and most pleasant. We stayed 10 days, so we had plenty of time to evaluate them.

I also want to thank travlpashn who recommend Peter Feijoa, the Lisbon guide and wedding planner. Based on your entry in this blog, we contacted him ([email protected]), and he picked us up at the airport, and subsequently took us on tours in Lisbon and outside of Lisbon. He lived most of his life in Canada, and not only is bilingual, but familiar with both cultures, Portuguese and North American. He is reliable, extremely accommodating, and pleasant.

We appreciated him even more after we took one tour with a local bus company, Diana Tours. Their guide did not leave the bus, barely gave any information, and rushed us by giving us very little time to see the magnificent churches and museums included in our tour. She did not even mention that one of the castles had a closed cloister and a hidden wing, which we were the only ones from the bus tour to see because I had taken with me the Fodor's guide book. The only time she gave us more time was at the Fatima factory store to which she took us, where it was evident that either the guides or the bus company were receiving a commission. It was in the middle of nowhere, and although we had not purchased lunch with the tour, we ended up by eating there because there was nothing else in that part of town.

The two days we went with Peter, he waited for us outside the museums but never limited our visits by giving us a time to return. He encouraged us to stay as long as we wanted, recommended good restaurants, even stopped for us for an hour at one of the big outlets located outside of Lisbon. We saw a lot more with him than we could have done on our own, using public transportation, or as we did see using bus tours.