Porto: Small-Group Walking Tour of the Historic Center

Brilliant!

A very good tour with an exceptional guide with a vast amount of knowledge!

via Tripadvisor

Meh, due to poor guide

I rarely write a negative review, however, this tour (Sept. 18th) was a bit of a disappointment solely due to the guide. Instructions of where to meet and how to recognize/find her were vague and she wasn't there a minute early. Perhaps she was having a bad day, but she really wasn't into the tour and repeatedly complained of how tired she was after not getting a good night's sleep- please just do your job or get a sub if you can't do it well, don't make excuses for phoning it in. I've done a number of tours and the guides have always been upbeat, energetic, and enthusiastic. She was none of these that day. The stops we made were par for the course as it was a highlights tour, but where she chose to stop and talk for 30 minutes or more at a time was often in the sun, with us all standing, and if there was only one place to sit on a step or something, she took it. Our crowd was in our 60's-70's, and not everyone can stand that long and it was a hot day- she could have found shade to stop in or benches for longer history lessons. For a 3+ hour walking tour, there was very little walking. She also had a generally bad attitude and although everyone is entitled to their opinion about their country's history- often offered as a tongue in cheek comment or with a sense of humor in this context, but she kept saying that she hated x,y, and z. She did offer a few good tips (going up the Clerigos Tower before sunset), but she didn't know as much as some of us whom had bothered to research or had already visited some renown places in Porto. Fortunately, I had just been to Livraria Lello that morning, so I was able to describe it to the group, how ticketing and admission worked, offer tips on when to go, and how much it cost for the different options. She'd never been, so had little to say about it- and it was a major highlight of our trip!

Response from the operator: Thank you for taking the time to give us such detailed feedback. This is certainly not the experience we want guests to have on an EFun Tours walking tour, and several of the points you describe deserve our attention. A guide repeatedly mentioning being tired, appearing disengaged, or allowing that to affect the experience is not the standard we expect. Equally important, on a three-hour walking tour — particularly on a hot day — the guide should be attentive to the group, choosing shade whenever possible and considering opportunities to sit during longer explanations, especially when guests may find prolonged standing uncomfortable. Your comments regarding the historical explanations, the general attitude during the tour, and the lack of familiarity with some of Porto’s major attractions are also concerning. A guide does not necessarily need to include every attraction in a highlights tour, but should be able to provide useful and accurate information when guests ask about important places in the city. We will review what happened on the September 18th tour with the guide involved, because your feedback is specific enough to help us identify where the experience fell short. We are sorry that your introduction to Porto with us was disappointing, and we appreciate that you still mentioned the useful recommendations you received during the tour. Thank you for giving EFun Tours the opportunity to understand what went wrong and improve. The EFun Tours Team

via Tripadvisor

Walking tour in Porto

It was a great walking tour to familiarize yourself with downtown Porto, starting at the cathedral. We had a wonderful guide! So knowledgeable!

Response from the operator: There’s no better way to get acquainted with Porto than exploring its historic streets on foot! 😊 We’re delighted that the tour helped you get your bearings while discovering the history and character of the city. It’s especially nice to hear how much you appreciated your guide’s knowledge — we’ll be sure to pass that compliment along. Thank you, Jerry, for exploring Porto’s historic center with EFun Tours. We hope the tour gave you plenty of ideas for what to discover next! The EFun Tours Team

via Viator

Great way to learn about Gaia

We had a fantastic Gaia walking and Port tasting tour with EFun, guided by Rafaella. She was knowledgeable, friendly, and made the entire experience genuinely entertaining rather than just informative. She took us to several excellent places and gave us a much better understanding of Port and the area. One of the stops she introduced us to was Quevedo, which we enjoyed so much that we actually went back again later on our own. That probably says everything about how good her recommendations were. Rafaella struck a great balance between history, wine knowledge, conversation, and fun. Highly recommend both her and the tour.

Response from the operator: The fact that you enjoyed one of Rafaella’s stops so much that you went back to Quevedo on your own really does say it all! 😊 We’re delighted that Rafaella made your time in Gaia so enjoyable, combining Port wine, history and local knowledge with plenty of conversation and fun. That balance is exactly what we want our guests to experience rather than simply following a standard tour. We’ll make sure Rafaella sees your wonderful comments — she’ll be thrilled to know that her recommendations continued to be part of your Porto experience even after the tour ended! Thank you for choosing **EFun Tours** and for such a fantastic recommendation. We hope to welcome you back to Porto again!

via Tripadvisor

Great Porto Walk!

Ricardo was very nice and informative! The churches and shopping were great and views of the city were amazing.

Response from the operator: Hello Ajay, Thank you so much for your time spent writting this review! We are really glad that you enjoyed this special tour with us, the city of Porto has incredible sceneries and a really rich history that we are very proud to share! We hope to see you soon!

via Viator