City Tailors and Taste Porto have merged into one company since I believe April of 2022. I began attempting to create a customized trip starting with Ricardo in early January 2022 for a trip in June. We discussed some ideas and I ended up requesting a trip of 6 days with a private tour guide - 3 days, a break day, 3 more days, then a concert festival the following day on my own. Apparently, 6 days is unintentionally the longest number of days for time spent with a tour with the same private guide at this company at the time of writing this review. A lighthouse tour was 5 days and it was 3 days at most before that.
Within the 6 days, 2 were within Porto and 4 were in suburbs of Porto with history of its own and hidden food gems that one would not be aware of unless one grew up in this area.
I have just completed the 6 day tour and it has become one of the most heart warming confidence building trips of my life.
If you want a customized tour with this company, you need to come as an adventurer and not a typical tourist. If you want a typical tourist trip, there are many other companies and guides for this. If you are more of a traveler, foodie, adventurer, then this may be the Porto company for you! If you are not a planner and if it fits into a guide's schedule, you could be asked to pay a premium price. Remember, you're paying for 35+ years of experience done more on the company's terms. They can work with you on some ideas, but it is important to come with an open mind. If you have many extreme allergies, there are certain tours or parts of tours that may need a premium price or the company might not be able to serve extreme, unusual situations but they will try to do so. When you tour with CityTailors, do not expect mainstream.
Also, plan ahead if you can. If you aren't a planner and need to be thrifty, look elsewhere. Remember, you get a unique brand of quality here like no other.
Some mainstream things may be included, but other more unusual spots will be created as well.
Local people or southern Portuguese are not likely
to hire a tour guide company, but they really should or at least consider a private tour guide. Not only would you be supporting your own, but you would be enhancing your trip in ways you thought not possible.
I also told my tour guide after the tour that his girlfriend was tired of hearing him talk to her about his 11,147th tour and showed the graffiti picture of angry woman with her roll away suitcase.
Oh, don't forget to "look for signs in Porto"! read more