“Private Tour – Cristo Rei, Palmela, Setúbal, Arrábida & Sesimbra

Paolo was incredible! Very nice guy and excellent driver. He allowed us to deviate a bit from the planned itinerary without any issue at all. He also gave us information at the key points then allowed us time to explore for ourselves as well. Overall wonderful day trip from Lisbon!

We had an amazing private day trip to explore the Setubal peninsula with our driver, Paulo, who was very courteous and knowledgeable. The Cristo Rei monument had fabulous views over Lisbon and the river. Castelo Palmelas had great views and even knights practicing their sword skills the Sunday morning we went. Paulo recommended and made a lunch reservation for us at a seafood restaurant by Setubal harbor that was truly incredible - we picked the fish from the ice case display and then they grilled it for us. The grilled cuttlefish and dorado were fresh, simply grilled and fantastic. The famous Moscatel de Setubal at the end of the meal was divine. Hearing how much we enjoyed pastries, he brought us to a cafe in Azeitao where we could try that village’s namesake torte (a sponge cake filled with soft egg yolk custard creme) and cinnamon cookies. Our 4yr old was a big fan. Then a wine tour at Baccalhoa Vineyard, which was ironically more of an art museum tour, but interesting nonetheless. The brief drive through the Arrabiada National Park offered lovely views outside of Setubal, and a quick stop at Sesimbra Castle before heading back to Lisbon. Having had lovely wines at lunch, we would next time elect to spend time at Sesimbra’s beach rather than the wine tour. It was a comfortable way to see this area for the first time in a snapshot, enough to know we want to come back and spend at least a couple of days.

Our guide Paulo was wonderful! He was very accommodating with our interests. As a result of reading the recommendations about the trip we asked for an alternative lunch restaurant and loved it! The views were spectacular. We walked a total of two miles to the various sites and it was spread over 8 hours. Perfect day!

We did this tour with our guide Paulo, and it was an absolutely fantastic day! I’ve never seen views this stunning in my life, and Paulo was so great at sharing the history and waiting for us to explore each stop. He took us to an incredible all you can eat lunch place that was a little pricey but so worth it (especially if you are travelling with all adults, we had teenagers with us and they didn’t really eat enough for it to be worthwhile for them, I thoroughly enjoyed it though! They walked around bringing all kinds of fish and seafood and everything tasted incredible! How they get the potatoes to taste so good, I have no idea!). All in all, I would HIGHLY recommend this tour. It is so much nicer than being in a huge group, you can take your time and really personalize the experience.

We took a private tour with Paulo and it had everything we could ask for - old castles, history and beautiful vistas. We saw two different castles, a market, spent some time at a beach in Setubal (water is cold but refreshing), saw incredible views up Arrabida, and had a drink in the beautiful town of sesimbra overlooking the water. Paulo was perfect and made sure we saw all of it and was very accommodating of all of our requests, and provided us with lots of information about the areas we were in without being overwhelming. It was an absolutely perfect day - even our teenagers loved it. The only thing we would have changed was where we stopped for lunch. We went to a fixed price fish restaurant, and the food was good, but everyone has to get the all you can eat fish option and the service was slow and it took up a much longer part of our day than we wanted it to, and was a bit pricey. Everything else was perfect.

Had a beautiful trip with Paul. From the incredible market in Setubal to the Arribada Nature Park to the beach in Sesimbra, we all were amazed at the scenery. And Paul stopped where we wanted for as long as we wanted. It was our schedule! A wonderful day had by all. Thanks Paul!