Sintra And Cascais Private Personalized Full-day Experience

Excellent way to see the surrounding areas of Lisbon. Our driver Carlos was very knowledgeable and polite and made sure we enjoyed our tour. Very comfortable mini van and lots of time to enjoy the stops. Our favourite was Cascais, what a beautiful stop to enjoy the sun and have a delicious lunch.

Lino was the most professional and knowledgeable guide. He led us through the day perfectly. It was so nice to see as much as we did in one day. We had tickets for the Palace at 10:30 and the Regaleira at 1:00. I would spread them out a bit more to give time for the adorable town of Sintra. Lino was able to drop us off at the entrance of each site and picked us up at the exit. His timing was spot on. Our time in Cascais for lunch was nice and Lino directed us to the perfect restaurant. The van was most comfortable and was stocked with water for our journey.

Excellent driver and tour guide! Our best day in Portugal. Loved each stop and the ability to customize our day. Well Worth it!!!

Amazing experience. Very courteous and friendly guide, Tiago Costa. Exceptional service, genuinely helpful, incredibly knowledgeable on history and overall Portuguese culture. Tiago even helped purchase tickets for Quinta Palacia when our internet connection was out of service range, which we reimbursed. Answered questions, provided tips and local recommendations. Historical conversations begin on the drive from Lisboa to Sintra, walked us to the entrance, provided insight on times, processes, drop off, pickup, etc. Castle was extraordinary, worth every minute of tour. Palacia and grounds are breathtaking. Trip to Cascais was beautiful. Book the tour, then relax and prepare to be amazed.

We had a beautiful and awe inspiring time in Sintra, Cascais and lunch at O Faroleiro. Mostly we had an amazing time meeting Paulo he is an excellent Ambassador and guide. A great human being. He was very knowledgeable and friendly. Flexible and accommodating. He spoke very proudly of his country and the amazing places we visited. We recommend doing this Tour or any Portuguese tour with Paulo. He is truly the best.

I made reservations for this trip the evening prior. I didn’t know what to expect. I also didn’t have tickets for the main attraction—Sintra. My guide Luís was fantastic. He was timely, knowledgeable and professional. He guided me through the day’s sights and sounds, all while explaining the significance of each. He also showed me how to obtain tickets to Sintra. We went off the beaten path a couple times when something caught my attention. And he knew a good spot for lunch. I’d highly recommend anybody with little time to spend around Lisboa to consider this trip.

We had Mário García as our guide, he was the best. We had a great time and he provided us with the best tips and recommendations.

Hugo was a phenomenal driver to say the least! He made our trip to Portugal one for the books! Learning about his personal experience in Portugal, his family, his personal stories and knowledge and expertise about the area made this tour 100 times better than your typical private tour. Hugo was extremely kind and considerate, and made sure that we took the appropriate routes with all of the tips and tricks when he dropped us off in certain locations in Sintra and Cascais. He was exceptionally caring for my family and my parents in particular. He was accommodating in every single way possible. I would highly recommend that anyone who decides or is looking for a private tour in general or with this company in particular ask for Hugo personally, he is an amazing person that deserves to recognize all of the effort that he put into his work in making Portugal a welcoming destination for all travelers.

We had a great time on this tour. Our driver Rui was highly knowledgeable about the history of Sintra (and Portugal overall) and shared insights and interesting tidbits throughout the drive. He asked us upfront as to the level of insights we wanted, any special places we wanted on the agenda, and thus customized the experience for us. He stopped at a couple of off-the-beaten-path places that we may not have experienced on a regular tour. He also gave us some expert tips that helped us to avoid long lines and still experience the best of sights, foods and shopping. The van that we ride in was very comfortable. Rui’s hospitality, friendliness and knowledge made this a very special tour for us.

Our guide, Ismail, was so patient when we had a complication at the beginning. He was incredibly knowledgeable and flexible. The Sintra Palace was breathtaking. He provided us a lot of guidance in designing what we did that day and he was 100% accurate with everything we did The van was very clean and comfortable.

The tour was superb, esp our driver, Daniel, we couldn’t ask for a better tour guide/driver! I highly recommend this tour and ask for Daniel if you possibly can!

Our Guide Hugo!! He was fantastic and we looked forward to sharing time with him and learning about Lisbon and Sintra. Thank you Hugo for making our trip so special!

We had such an amazing time. We saw so much beautiful places and learned a lot about the region! We had an amazing driver, shoutout to carlos, he taught us so much and was so nice. Definitely recommend!

Such a lovely day with our amazing tour guide. He made fantastic recommendations, shared his love of his beautiful country, zipped us through countryside to city - and all with ease! I would highly highly recommend this tour! From recommending the best use of our time, a great historical overview, to what impeccable pastries to try, we had the most fantastic day!

Our guide was great! He also bought us the most fantastic pastry we ever had!! The only glitch we had was with Viator. We advised Viator that my wife has mobility issues and that we needed a van that could accomodate her electric scooter; in addition it would be easier for her to get in and out of it. We gave them almost nine months notice. Regardless, they just sent a car, instead of a van! We tried to contact Viator again before our excursion started, but they never responded!!

Miguel was a great guide. We had a great time, including s fantastic lunch. Miguel have us great recommendations and took us to the best pastries in Lisbon.

Tiago was an incredible tour guide who you can see loves his job and proud to show visitors around. Everything we did was very informative and interesting.

Tiago, our guide was awesome. He continously provided information about everything we saw on the way to Sintra. He gave us recommendations but we ultimately decided on Queluz Palace and Pena palace. Queluz had beautiful gardens and we could also buy Pena palace tickets there which saved us time. Tiago could not go to palaces with us but he gave us a lot of history on both . We then went to Sintra and ate a great lunch at Paris restaurant which Tiago recommended. We also shopped there. Tiago then took us to Cascais where he made a few stops so we could see the beaches and the cliffs. On the way back Tiago continued to give us more information about everything we saw. Tiago is a Portugal encyclopedia. If we come back we will ask for him. Great tour and very reasonable price considering it was private.

Andrey was a great guide and we really enjoyed the tour. We started driving in a beautiful Mercedes Benz up to the mountains of Sintra. We stopped at Peña Palace and loved the grounds and the castle was beautiful too. Even the Geese have their own castles there. Had pastry’s in Sintra at Casa Do Preto opened 1931 and really good. Lunch at restaurante O Faroleiro was amazing. The seafood rice and the clams were so good and then the tour thru Cascais. Oh, we bought table linens and Port Wine after the wine tasting. Go early as possible to avoid crowds. It was a great day!

Luxurious day trip to Sintra and Cascais. Our private chauffeur Mario Garcia, absolutely a real gentlemen, treated us as if we were the queens and thanks to him my daughter and I, we had a wonderful day to remember in the future. let me remind you that this was a trip with many stops and we easily managed to go in between our destinations with no hassle at all.

We had a world class tour with Tiago. He was incredibly knowledgeable on Lisbon and surrounding areas. His English, sense of humor and knowledge of world events were incredible too. He adapted the tour on the run to what our family interests were. We had a great visit to the gardens and palace of Monserrate. It was not as crowded as some of the other attractions but did not disappoint in any way. He set up a great lunch with an optional wine tasting and port tasting that was incredible. We hit some good shops to buy handmade Portuguese items too. This was well worth it and we appreciate the warm hospitality the tour company and Tiago extended. Obligato!

We were extremely disappointed in this private full day tour for 4 people. The description indicated a driver and a private tour. There are currently 14 reviews of this tour on your site, all but one complimenting the wonderful tour guides their drivers were, so it was expected that our driver would be a guide as well. When we met the driver he did not introduce himself and said nothing about whether we had reserved our Pena Palace tickets in advance (we received a text at 9:30 the night before the tour indicating that we should purchase tickets on line for a certain time, but since it was so late we didn't see the information). Had he simply checked when we began the tour, we could have purchased them before we left. Since there was basically silence in the car as we began our drive, we asked the driver to give us information about things. He made it clear that he would try to answer some of our questions but that we had only hired a driver, that he was not a guide, and if we had wanted a guide we should have booked another tour. Unfortunately, your only one star review echoed our sentiments "this is no more than a chauffeur service." When we arrived at the Pena palace, he only then asked if we had our tickets. We spent over an hour and a half in the rain waiting to get an appointment to enter, and that affected the rest of the tour. From then on we were just dropped off at each of the other sites with literally no information and lost time for the other attractions. With all due respect, if our driver was told he was only supposed to drive, he did an excellent job and the car was very nice and clean. We had a private Lisbon city tour the previous day with your company and had a wonderful driver/guide. We took several other similar private tours at other ports in Spain on our cruise and never had a similar problem.

We had a great experience and it was fueled by Mario (Garcia). Professional yet very easy to be around. Great knowledge of the area. We will be back and we will hire Mario again!!!

This was not really a "full day tour". Our driver was courteous, friendly, and careful; and the car was a well-maintained Mercedes minivan. But that was about it. The driver didn't offer much in terms of history or cultural information. He didn't follow us into the monuments or places we visited. (ex: Sintra castle, Sintra city, Cascais). He basically just said "I will meet you back here in an hour" and "if you up this road and make a right there's a good bakery". My advice: book your own car from Enterprise or Alamo for $40 per day and save the $300 for good meals.

I was looking for a way to ask my partner’s hand for marriage while in Lisbon. Last minute I called a few tour operators who could help me and Gold Compass were the ones who said they could assist me. After getting the number of our driver, Rui, I gave him a call and asked him if he could find a nice spot for us in Sintra where I could get on one knee. The next day he picked us up at the hotel and showed us around in Sintra. The knowledge about Sintra and Portugal that his man has is astoundingly much! Combined with his absolutely friendly and professional behaviour, Rui is the guide you always wanted! After arriving at Cabo de Roca, he showed me a nice place where he could film me proposing to my future wife. Back in the car he would put on a love song for us and let us enjoy this wonderful moment while he drove us to a restaurant. The way Rui arranged this, played a part in making this day unforgettable and I will never forget it. Thank you very much Rui. We hope to see you again very soon. And for people reading this: book a trip with Gold Compass, you won’t regret it!!

This is my 2nd experience with Golden Compass and this company is definitely great to work with. I reached out to Carlos to help me out with a Tour to Sintra for a group of 8. He was very responsive and worked with our schedule. Our Tour Guide was Tiago - a Very Professional, Personable, Brilliant and Friendly young man who made sure that our Day in Sintra and Beyond was memorable and very enjoyable. Tho it rained throughout our tour, his enthusiasm did not dampen our spirits nor change any of the days plan. We were picked up promptly in our hotel in a comfortable Mercedes Van. His lunch recommendation was absolutely delicious! Plus our Gelato stop was yummy bonus. I would book future tours with Golden Compass - I highly recommend them!

Amazing experience with Jose, the driver. A great professional and full of knowledge about local history, highlights to visit etc…. that he shared with all of us. Highly recommended to any other travellers

We had a great trip… Good thing we knew to get to Sintra and the palace early. All roads to Caiscais were closed due to the Ironman passing through so Luigi had to improvise. Stopped at Cabo da Roca, an amazing pizza place (Portugal pizza not, New York) and and adorable fishing village. A very memorable day!

The overall experience was memorable but the guide could have been much better. He was pleasant and knowledgeable, however he was seriously lacking in enthusiasm, energy, personality and general fun. We were greeted by him explaining to us how tired he was. NOT a good first impression. He was amicable to do what we wanted but lost us on two occasions. I was personally disappointed as this was a gift for my husband’s birthday.

We thought this was a guided tour, but it wasn’t. We had a driver would made suggestions but didn’t explain and walk you around. Sergio was friendly and helpful, but we would have liked a guide guide. Not his fault, ours for misreading this tour. However, all in all a good time. Sergio expertly shuttled us back and forth telling us how long to spend at each site and making some gentle recommendations. Good trip and great transportation

Without a doubt, one of my favorite cities, Lisboa Upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed by Andreu My name was mentioned on the board and I felt welcome and such a friendly atmosphere I had a excellent services Andreu is a extremely good,very professional and the tours Porto, Cintra and Fatima was so amazing Andreu is very knowledgeable and his services is 5 starts I enjoy his services and his personality and highth motivated guide. I truly appreciate the services that I feel special All Andreu, who does a great job He is a true sample of excellent tour guide Many thank you again I recommended Andreu to everyone

Had a great full day in Sintra and Cascais. We did not know how long it would take at each place and so for the palace and Sintra city we only had 30 minutes at each place. So then we ended up with over 1hr at Cascais. Wish I had a better idea of how long things would take cause I would have probably spent more time at Sintra then Cascais. However that was not the tour guide, Rui’s fault. Rui kept saying the day is for us to decide how to spend. He is very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of information about the history of the area. Great way to see both Sintra and Cascais if short on time, however if you have more time I would say do more time in Sintra as I wish we were able to go to the park.

As a well-seasoned traveller, I have done countless tours, including private, small group (under 20 passengers) and large coach (40 passengers) tours. During this pandemic, I resorted to book all private tours (for obvious reasons) on our trip to Portugal. Our tours to Porto with VanGo, (with guide, Susana); a Tuk Tuk tour of Lisbon with Sardinha Do Bairro (with upbeat and humorous guide, Nuno); and a tour to the Algarve with Local in Lisbon (and guide Eddy); were all delightful and memorable. The worst tour was with the company called Gold Compass Chauffeur and Tourism. By comparison to other tour companies, this one uses the term “Tourism” very loosely, and perhaps should use quotation marks around the word. By my definition, this is no more than a chauffeur service. Maybe it was the guide we had that spoiled it for me, since I read reviews about other guides from the same company who did a wonderful job. Our guide took us to Pena Palace, dropped us off at the gate, pointed to the shuttle bus, and left. In all fairness, he did give a little background history, albeit nothing that we haven’t read on the internet. At Sintra and Cascais, he dropped us off at a certain intersection, pointed out what’s right and left, and took off “because he had to be with his car”. Is that the Company’s definition of “tourism”? Again, I’m not sure if those are the Company’s guidelines. Apart from a little (internet quality) history, this guide, a self-professed poet,spent his time talking about HBO documentaries, like the 100-foot Wave, in Nazare…( not part of our itinerary), and how he is a movie buff and what movies he saw. Everything irrelevant and, in my opinion, inappropriate. But what really shocked me was how he called my daughter on her cell phone after we came back to our home country!!! “To chat”, he said, in a video call in his apartment with his cat on his lap! In all my years of travelling, I can certainly recognize service providers who go above and beyond, to accommodate their clients’ needs, but I can also tell when my personal space is invaded, and in my opinion, this guide has crossed my comfort zone. Suffice to say I was appalled, and all kinds of red flags are raised. I will let other travellers judge for themselves.

Our day trip was just fantastic and our driver Nuno Maia was very friendly and competent. Due to a local event a part a the day trip to Cascais was not possible. With high flexibility and enthusiasm Nuno took us to other places of interest. We enjoyed every moment of the trip and learned many things about this beautiful area of Portugal.

Out trip to Sintra was fantastic, beyond our expectations. The transport Mercedes benz was clean, comfortable and our Driver Nuno Maia was absolutely fantastic, very polite and yet very friendly. He was well informed about throughout our full day tour he guided us with lots of history information and culture of the country. Myself and my family were very pleased to use the service of the company and not only we would use then in future but would highly recommend to our friends and family to use your services on the visit to Portugal. Thank you for making our day so memorable.

Great job by Tiago . Very professional and personable and knowledgeable guide . We enjoyed our day . The port wine tasting was excellent and very informative . Lunch stop was excellent also . Thank you for a great day learning about all kinds of Portuguese history and culture

What an amazing day! Our tour guide could not have been better. He showed up all the amazing sights in this beautiful area of Portugal. We even had time for some port wine tasting! Highly recommend!

Just the way it should be; André was super knowledgable, a very nice and professional guide- the tour is highly recommended and comes at more than a fair price.

The tour was great. Both cities ; the palace and lunch at Sabores de Sintra was fantastic. Thiago our guide was very friendly and accommodating. Highly recommend.

My 13 yo son, husband and I absolutely loved this private tour. We were collected from our hotel in a Mercedes and driven around in style and comfort. Our tour guide and driver Francis was informative, explained the history and interesting stories about the places we visited. He was so lovely. The lunch suggestion was fabulous... a must do for anyone visiting Lisbon.

I have used Viator for trips in a variety of places in the world. Australia, Ireland, etc. Each and every time we have a quality experience. I use Viator because I'm not qualified to vet local companies. This was not a guided tour. We had a bus driver. The first question he asked when we got into his van was "where are we going?". My wife laughed as I reached for the tour brochure to tell him. At the monuments he simply let us out. No explanation, no suggestion we go and get audio guides. He was simply a driver. And a very poor driver. He sped, tailgated and did not respond, at all, to us asking him to slow down. Either for safety, comfort or to be able to take pictures. Viator usually does a good job vetting companies. Not this time.

Our guide was great - super courteous, professional and kind. He adapted the pre-planned schedule for us to meet our preference of an earlier lunch time, which we appreciated! I would definitely use this service again!

Our driver Nuno was great. He was extremely professional , well dressed and an excellent driver. He dropped us off at various places to see but could not accompany us as we toured each area on our own. He would patiently wait for us at each location. He spoke very good English and was very informative. We were very happy with his service.

It was a splendid tour. Mr.Euclides was a friendly guide and did an excellent job in fulfilling our expectations of the private tour.

Our driver and guide Hugo was exceptional! His knowledge and enthusiasm for Portugal was contagious! We could not have been more pleased. We travel quite a bit and are grateful for such an outstanding experience.

Although this tour stated we would visit the Pena Palace, Sintra and Cascais, we were not able to visit the Pena Palace. Evidently, because of crowds, it is advised to get to the Pena Palace when it opens at 9:00. We should have been told this when booking and we could have adjusted the time of our tour. Our guide picked us up at 9:00 and by the time we arrived at the Pena Palace, there was a long line. As such, we had to make a choice to either spend the whole day at the Pena Palace or skip it and see Sintra and Cascais. We were very disappointed.

This was a FANTASTIC tour! Francesco, our guide, was thoroughly professional, very knowledgeable, and super friendly throughout. He provided options for every stop and section, and unfailingly brought us to restaurants, shops, and sites that made this a very special day. Francesco is very proud of Lisbon and its surrounding gems, and this came through in our trip. Highly recommended! If we ever go back, we will request Francesco for future tours!!!

<p>Very comfortable! Spectacular and complete tour. George was a great driver and tour guide!</p>

<p>Sintra and Cascais was an unexpected surprise. Great tour with an experienced and knowledgeable tour guide. Very pleasant day!</p>