REVIEW - Wingbuddy Tour Portugal and Madeira

 May 2025 - Toronto ON

This is my review of our Wingbuddy tour Portugal and Madeira.

This was our first experience with Wingbuddy, a Canadian travel company and they were extremely professional and helpful to deal with. 

Their packages typically include your economy flight to the destination as well. We opted out of that as we like to book our own flights to get our own points and credit card trip insurance.

INCLUDES:

- Internal flights between Lisbon / Madeira

- Welcome and transfers between the airports and the hotels in Lisbon and Madeira

- 12 nights hotel accommodations

- All breakfasts + 1 lunch DOURO WINERY

- Transportation in a deluxe motorcoach during the tour

- Multilingual English-speaking guide during the tours and visits 5 DAYS (2 HD + 4FD)

- One-hour boat tour on the Douro

- All taxes, fees, and OPC

Here are links to our daily posts.

Portugal 2025 Itinerary

Day 1 Toronto to Lisbon AIRPORT TRANSFER Turim Marquês Hotel

Day 2 April 20 Lisbon  EASTER SUNDAY Turim Marquês Hotel 

Day 3 April 21 Lisbon  EASTER MONDAY Turim Marquês Hotel

TOUR Day 4 April 22 Lisbon City Tour Turim Marquês Hotel 

TOUR Day 5 April 23 Lisbon– Sintra – Cascais – Lisbon Turim Marquês Hotel 

TOUR Day 6 April 24  Lisbon – Tomar – Fatima – Batalha – Porto  HF Ipanema Hotel

TOUR Day 7 April 25  Porto city tour  DIA DA LIBERDADE HF Ipanema Hotel 

TOUR Day 8 April 26 Douro Valley - Porto  HF Ipanema Hotel 

TOUR Day 9 April 27 Porto - Aveiro - Nazare - Obidos - Lisbon Turim Marquês Hotel 

Day 10 April 28 - Lisbon - Madeira AIRPORT TRANSFER FLIGHT AIRPORT TRANSFER      Orca Praia Hotel 

Day 11 April 29 - Madeira Orca Praia Hotel

Day 12 April 30 - Madeira Orca Praia Hotel

Day 13 May 1    - Madeira  DIA DO TRABALHADOR Orca Praia Hotel 

Day 14 May 2 Madeira - Lisbon  AIRPORT TRANSFER FLIGHT AIRPORT TRANSFER        Hotel Marquês de Pombal 

Day 15-16 May 3-4 Lisbon - Amsterdam - Toronto AIRPORT TRANSFER  HOTEL Amsterdam booked separately NOT INCLUDED

It was very easy to book additional days with this tour group.

The tour part of it was outsourced to a Portuguese company.

This was described as semi-organized and offered a pre-planned itinerary with transportation and accommodation booked, with a guide for some of the time, in this case, 5 days.

 Half day city tour in Lisbon and Porto, and a full day from Lisbon, then departure from Lisbon to Porto and a full day from Porto and then a full day back to Lisbon. 

EXCLUDES :

- Travel insurance

- Fees for checked baggage MADEIRA 60€ and 50€

- Tips: Guides, bus drivers and hotel staff 5 DAYS (2 HD + 4FD) X guide and driver

- Meals and beverages unless otherwise mentioned

- Entrance fees to the sites (total of 45 euros per person, to be paid at destination) SINTRA PALACE/TEMPLARS

- Personal expenses and optional activities

- Hotel tax in Lisbon & Porto (approx. 2 to 4 euros per person and per night, to be paid at destination) PAID

Other optional fees offered - FARO DINNER 60€ per person

Other than breakfast (provided at the hotel) that was only one lunch included.

You are responsible for getting your luggage to and from your hotel. 

You also do your own check-in at the hotel which can be a long process when you have 46 (23 or more rooms). TIP I go into the hotel while John collects the luggage. 

No entrance fees were included. Again this slows down the process. In one case, he collected cash from the interested participants, charged it to his credit card and booked online, which meant we didn't have to line up.

In another case, we had to line up but could use our own credit card instead.

On the positive side, you are not paying for something you are not interested in. Some people did not bother with the Templars, or only 1 person from a couple wanted to go.

AIRPORT TRANSFERS

All airport transfers were perfectly executed, on schedule, helpful.

HOTELS 

Lisbon Turim Marques was excellent and in a great location. Water was provided daily. Breakfast was excellent and the location in the lobby was lovely. 

Porto Ipanema Hotel was a lovely hotel with an excellent restaurant, bar and breakfast. But it was away from the city centre which meant we had to Uber back and forth. Would have preferred a closer location. Water was provided daily.

Madeira Orca Praia Hotel our room was lovely. But we were not impressed otherwise. We were asked for a hotel voucher when we checked in. Location was away from Funchal in the middle of nowhere. If it had had a decent restaurant/bar it would have helped. However, we ate dinner once and it was awful. Water was provided at a cost. 

Shuttle bus was too small and only ran twice in the morning and afternoon. 

Lisbon Marques Pombal was less impressive than Turim. Breakfast was served in the lower level, not impressive. Water was not provided.

ESCORTED TOUR

Transportation in a deluxe motorcoach during the tour - I wouldn't call it a deluxe bus. It didn't have a bathroom or Wi-Fi.  No water provided unless you bought it from the driver!!!

We saw other deluxe coaches. Also the bus broke down in Fatima and we required a replacement.

TOUR DAY 1 CITY TOUR 

We met our guide, Pedro. Personable. Very passionate and knowledgeable. Requires better time management and organizational skills.

Belem took much longer than necessary. The bathroom break took 30 minutes as there was only one. We also had to wait for another passenger who's flight had been delayed.

City tour included Jerónimos Monastery which has an entrance fee. However, according to Pedro, the lines were so long due to the Pope dying and people wanting to pay their respects, he asked if we minded skipping this? 

He then collected 1.50€ for each Pastéis de Belém and then went bought them and then brought them for us to eat on the bus...

TOUR DAY 2

Lisbon – Sintra – Cascais – Lisbon 

This was a full day tour starting and ending in Lisbon.

 (Italics tour description)

Following breakfast at the hotel, you will drive along the road surrounded by ancient aristocratic estates and picturesque villages before reaching Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of the European continent. 

You will continue to Sintra, a medieval royal residence that became a favourite vacation spot for the aristocracy in the 18th century. 

You will see from afar the romantic Pena palace, a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, known for its elaborate and ornate architecture, which features a mix of Gothic, Renaissance, and Manueline styles.

Lunch at leisure in Sintra before taking back the road. 

You will stop at the legendary Devil's Mouth cave and Guincho Beach before taking a stroll in the fishing town of Cascais. On your way back to Lisbon, you will pass by Estoril, a spa town where several noble families lived during World War II.

 Dinner at leisure and overnight in Lisbon. (Breakfast)

Pedro switched around the order which is fine. Sintra was our first stop. Pedro decides we should visit the Palace since we missed out on the Monastery yesterday. He polled the passengers and all said they agreed so he collected the entrance fee of 13€ cash each and booked it on his credit card. 

This shortened our wait time. We also had time to wander the town.

However, the tour description said we would see "from afar, Pena Palace" which is the main highlight of Sintra, and we did not even drive by it. 

Lunch was moved to Cascais, which was fine with us. Lunch took up most of the time allotted.

TOUR DAY 3

Lisbon – Tomar – Fatima – Batalha – Porto 

Full Day as we head to Porto.

We stuck to the schedule. In Tomar we opted to visit The Convent of Christ, home to the Templars. We lined up to pay the entrance fee, which took quite a while. In fact, Pedro ended up paying for the back of the line to speed it up.

Those who didn't want to visit, had time to explore the town, we did not get a chance.

Lunch in Fatima where to bus broke down. They did a good job of switching out buses with almost no impact to the schedule.

Those who wanted to go to the dinner gave the cash (no cards) to Pedro for the booking.

TOUR DAY 4 PORTO

It is a national holiday in Portugal.

This meant that the market was closed which was supposed to be a highlight of the Porto half day walking tour.

Optional Faro dinner at 60€ per person was a rip-off. The bus was 30 minutes late which meant the food had been sitting. There was no welcome to the overbright room. We were unceremoniously poured a glass of port. Then our meals were quickly served. The appetizers were 

The fish was bland and served with lukewarm watery rice. The veal was a better option. The wine did not flow. Dessert was good. 

The show was very amateur, although the performers were good. The stage looked like a school arena.  Port was not offered with the coffee.

TOUR DAY 5 PORTO

An excellent day and the included lunch was far superior to last night's faro dinner.

TOUR DAY 6 

Porto – Aveiro – Nazare – Óbidos – Lisbon

Following breakfast at the hotel, you will head to Aveiro, often called the " Venice of Portugal", renowned for its charming canals and traditional culture. Your first stop will be in Costa Nova village, a picturesque village famous for its colourful striped fishermen's houses. Then, you will arrive in Aveiro city center where you will see the canals and the iconic boats. You will continue to Nazare, a picturesque Portuguese beach town famous for its fresh seafood, cliffs, and fort. You will have some time at leisure for your lunch and to explore the city. Early afternoon, you will move towards Óbidos, a preserved medieval town. Upon arrival, enjoy free time to stroll through its cobblestone streets, visit quaint handicraft shops, and admire the whitewashed houses adorned with flowers. Later, you will head back to Lisbon. Dinner at leisure and overnight in Lisbon. (Breakfast)

A very disappointing start to the day as Aveiro was hosting a marathon so we had to skip it. Pedro should have known this and the schedule could have been rearranged.

While on our way to Nazare, Pedro warned us that the town would be very busy as it was a Sunday and we would have difficulty finding a restaurant without a line up.

So he suggested he book a reservation at a place (great view and food) he knew that could handle a large crowd (46 people) easily and quickly. He took a head count of interested people. We opted out as did a few others.

When we got to Nazare Pedro tried to make up for missing Aveiro by adding a quick stop at the top of Nazare.

We headed off on our own and had no trouble finding a place for lunch and time to wander.

The group and Pedro were late for the scheduled meet up. Once we boarded, he apologized to the group that went to lunch, as service was very slow as the restaurant wasn't staffed as promised.

The tour also included airport transportations and flights to and from Madeira.

All in all Wingbuddy did an excellent job on the arrangements.