fully guided
These are tours where our guide will be with you for the full length of the tour, guiding all or most of the activities and making sure that all the services (transport, meals, accommodations) are provided smoothly without you having to worry about anything so you can focus 100% on the enjoyment of the tour. Transportation on these tours is provided by us and depending on the size of the party it could be that your guide is also the driver (normally for groups up to 8 people), or could be on a minibus with a dedicated driver for larger groups.
self guided
These are tours for the traveller that enjoys a level of independence but values the input of our local knowledge to get the most out of the destination. We design the tour with you, include transport rental and accommodation arrangements, add a variable number of services (Meet and Greet, some meals..), and leave most days for you to choose on the spot. For these independent days we provide suggestions and enough information to follow the suggested trails or book the suggested activities. We also provide full time support by phone while you are travelling. These tours are normally carried out with a rental vehicle or the clients´personal vehicle.
accommodation
We work with the whole spectrum of accommodation level as each person and experience might require a different type of accommodation, so for us the top place to stay is evaluated in terms of how much it adds to your travel experience. Sometimes the focus might be in an activity that can only be done with an specific accommodation, so location is what will guide the election. Other times the accommodation will be the experience, a special place to be enjoyed with enough time and calm.
This means that we can use from a top quality boutique hotel to a tent, but the majority of our tours will be based in small hotels, locally owned, with a special character and good quality equivalent to a 3-4 star hotel. Many times there are options to adapt the type of accommodation for the same itinerary, so this is one of the things that we would work with you during the design process of your holiday.
paradores and pousadas
Well known brands, Paradores and Pousadas offer accommodation in large hotels placed in unique historical buildings. Castles, monasteries and some times modern buildings in remote locations, offer a classic type of accommodation with a varied quality, in our opinion. Some of them offer great quality experiences in a unique setting, but some of them are a bit tired and offer little but the site or historical building.
city hotels
Big cities such as Madrid, Barcelona or Lisbon offer such a big offer of accommodation of all levels and with such a variable price system that for us is more about location and offer at the specific time of booking. We like to visit cities on foot and therefore we like hotels that allow this. We have a collection of nice small hotels in cities too, interesting if you are planning to stay for a few days in town and will want a place to rest in between excursions, but eventually we will use larger chain hotels if price and location make them worth for a short visit when the hotel will be used just to have a good rest at night.