Angela and her associate Paloma at Carameltrail did an amazing job for us! I wanted a completely…read morecustom 12 night tour of Spain and Portugal. This was late August & early September of 2024. I went in with no particular ideas. After a series of questions to get to know what my family did and didn't like, and only about 4 exchanges back and forth, Angela had created a completely custom, amazing and unforgettable trip for us! The trip included hotels, transfers, train tickets, entry tickets, tours, guides, and so much more!! Every person that represented the company did an amazing and very professional job. We did not have a single issue! Here is the bulk of what we did: Land in Barcelona for three nights and stayed a great hotel in an amazing location. We did wine tasting, food tasting (ask for David! He had us in stitches!), flamenco show at the concert hall, and an Gaudi tour (with guide and driver) in Barcelona. They booked us the high speed train (around 5 hours) to Seville. Once again, amazing hotel in a great location for 3 nights. We did a guided walking city tour, a different flamenco show, and day trip to Costa de la Cruz (with guide and driver). Seville was just wonderful! Then one of their drivers drove us to our next destination in Cascais (a beautiful beach city just outside of Lisbon). We stopped at lovely Evora on the way. Once again, the hotel in Cascais was topnotch! The next day we had a driver and guide take us around Lisbon. So lovely and so much to see! If Florence Italy and San Francisco had a baby, it would look like Lisbon. I love that city! Next day we had a driver and guide for Sintra. You DO NOT want to miss the palace in Sintra! It is just breathtaking!! And that evening they booked us a private sailing on a catamaran in Cascais. Sooooo relaxing and beautiful!!! Leaving Cascais, we had a driver that took us to Porto with a religious stop in Santarem (for the eucharistic miracle there) and Fatima. Both were my request, and they fit it in wonderfully! If you are Catholic, you have to visit those two places in Portugal! Final stop that day was Porto. Again, loved he hotel in Porto for the 3 night stay. We were right in the hubbub near the train station. We did a lovely city walking tour with a guide in Porto. We enjoyed an AMAZING cooking class there and did a full day of wine tasting too. You CANNOT miss the wine tasting in the Duro Valley. These are views that are some of the most outstanding vineyard views you will ever see (puts Tuscany, Italy and Napa, CA to shame). We loved learning about the port wines too! I think that's a wrap. It was an absolutely amazing and unforgettable trip. Carameltrails made all the dreams come true, and only in handful of messages and phone calls. They are professionals through and through. I would highly recommend their services.

We just came back from a 3-week trip to Spain and Portugal arranged by Angela Virgil Martinez at…read moreCarameltrail. It was amazing trip from start to finish, thanks to Angela. She listened to our priorities and interests, designed a trip that met our needs (and our finances), and stayed involved even to the point of helping us with reservations and questions during the trip. In advance of the trip, Angela sent us helpful materials and she provided suggestions for both dining and free time activities when we weren't with the guides she arranged. The guides and hotels were excellent, as was Angela's advice on a myriad of topics. If you're going to Spain, Portugal, and/or Morocco and looking for a travel agent, I'd recommend Carameltrail and Angela without reservation.

¡Experiencia inolvidable!…read more Esta experiencia fue completamente increíble. Tuve la suerte de ser la única cliente, y el guía, Oscar, era tan atento, paciente, y súper informado de la historia de España. El precio es muy cómodo y la compañía bien profesional. Recomiendo con mucha confianza esta experiencia y oportunidad de conocer la ciudad de Madrid en una manera muy divertida.

Ebike Tour was awesome. The electric bikes make the hills fun. The tour through the park was really…read morebeautiful, and our guide was very knowledgeable.

My travel agent booked this for Sagrada La Familia and says 4.5 hours... it was basically 2 hrs and…read more2 hrs of bus drive and walking to the bus and to the destination. We were suppose to have1.5 hrs at church and it was barely 1 hr and he had to speak Spanish and English at each location. Book your own tour with site and you will also get to do Towers. We did not get any time to roam or see anything else but main room and exteriors. Park Guell was same way - it said 1 hr but had 45 min and didn't get to do to museum or any of the buildings. Not worth money and no way 4.5 hr tour!!

Do not! We paid for a small English-speaking tour and got a giant squeezed bus full of people with…read morea guide with an accent so thick you couldn't tell if he was speaking Spanish or English. Had one foot between my face and the seat in front of me. The guide (George?) would not engage with his clients, kept a tight schedule and had no other interest. My partner left her hat at a prior stop and had to take the chance to go back on her own because we could not get his attention even standing next to him. He was unintelligible to many English- speaking passengers. Biggest waste of my time and money and I have been on tours all over the world.

I'm very sad to be bucking the trend on the Madrid & Beyond reviews. But our experience was less…read morethan stellar. We found them through a domestic travel agency and booked a Portugal trip with them in 2022, which we cancelled due to COVID. The trip had been prepaid in full. Madrid and Beyond would not return any of the funds remaining after non-refundable hotel cancellation fees. They would only hold the unused funds for a future trip. Eight months later, we asked them to rebook the same trip, at the same time of year and were informed that the price to do so would be greater than 40% more than the year prior. So, at that point we had a choice to either forfeit the funds being held, or ante up many more unexpected thousands of dollars. When I requested a reasonable explanation and transparency in the form of a cost breakdown for the original and current itineraries I was told that the increase was due to "inflation" and that transparency would not be provided as a matter of policy. We definitely feel as though we were held hostage and the communication from M & B management after that, including the remaining planning, was very terse and very unsatisfactory. We were given the impression they just didn't care and that the held funds had been a ruse. We ended up succumbing to the hostage situation and taking the trip in 12/22. In fairness, the accommodations, guides and drivers arranged by M & B were all very good to excellent, and the trip was wonderful. But, they made zero effort beyond that to assist with our trip and left us with a sour enough taste over the hostage situation and their indifference that we would not use them again, nor recommend them. Unsurprisingly, as of the date of this post, they have yet to contact us about our trip to see how it went. I think that is clear testimony to their level of indifference.

Wow what a travel agency. 13 days trip with another couple…read morewant without a glitch. We were taken care of far and beyond our expectations. Alondra was the most gracious and knowledgeable agent. The hotels were exceptional, the guides and drivers were excellent. I must say our trip was memorable. Thank you Madrid and Beyond.

My experience with Destinia was extremely disappointing and, from a consumer perspective,…read moreunacceptable. The accommodation differed significantly from the description at the time of booking and showed serious deficiencies. These issues were thoroughly documented during the stay (photos and videos) and properly reported. Neither the hotel nor Destinia provided any effective remedy. Particularly concerning was Destinia's handling of the complaint. For an extended period, Destinia was practically unreachable despite numerous attempts to make contact. Substantively, we were repeatedly referred back to the hotel, even though Destinia acts as the contracting travel agency and remains responsible for the proper performance of the booked services. From my perspective, no genuine review of the complaint or independent solution was undertaken. Instead of a proper resolution, responsibility was repeatedly shifted between the hotel and the agency. No meaningful assistance, no adequate alternative accommodation, and no effective remedial measures were provided. In response to the substantiated complaint, Destinia offered only a symbolic compensation of EUR 50, which was clearly disproportionate to the extent of the deficiencies. At a later stage, another EUR 50 was offered, but only on the condition that a confidentiality obligation be accepted. No refund or adequate compensation was granted. Overall, I was left with the impression that complaints are handled in a way that avoids refunds by redirecting customers to the service provider, rather than taking responsibility as the contracting party. In light of this handling, I am now preparing to escalate the matter to the competent Spanish consumer protection authorities. In parallel, I reserve the right to pursue legal remedies against Destinia as the contracting travel agency. As a legally trained professional, I consider this step necessary given the lack of adequate response and resolution. This review reflects solely my personal experience and assessment and is intended to provide factual information to other travelers.

Horrible. I booked and paid a 24 hour reservation fare guarantee. Upon recieving the fare guarantee…read more, I followed the prompt confirming booking, And received a confirmation email with a confirmation booking number saying my tickets will be with me within 24 hours. This is about 10 minutes after paying for my " fare guarantee" . With my booking confirmation, I started booking car rental, hotel, and excursion. 24 hour pass and no tickets. I check on my booking at it says "processing" . Atvthis point my 1st email is sent and response stated they needed more time to book and my tickets will be with me soon. 24 hours later, no ticket. I call to be told I didn't confirm my booking, to which I present my booking confirmation email and booking confirmation number. Guess what, the fare has jumped significantly. I provide 6 more emails proving confirmation and fare guarantee aswell as proof of confirmation within 10 minutes of my 24 hour guarantee window. Customer service has been absolutely useless, they are refusing to honour their price, they want me to pay significantly more than my confirmed booking price. And as of now have offered me only my booking guarantee refund. Horrible. Unhelpful. Incompetent.