QUOTE
Portugal Adventure
Prepared for:
Langstaff Secondary School | Sharon Romero and Sheri Epstein
Proposal Date: March 29, 2024
Valid until: April 29, 2024
Thank you for the opportunity to prepare your trip to the mystical hilltop towns and urban charm of Portugal
Activities & Attractions
- Complete a walking tour of Lisbon and take in the views from a miradouro
- Tour the Castelo de Sao Jorge and learn about the various historical influences over the past two millenia
- Explore the Alfama district of Lisbon
- Visit the 500-year-old Mosteiro dos Jeronimos
- See a fado show
- Enjoy a day trip to Evora
- Explore the Roman Temple
- Shopping around the Praca do Giraldo
- Visit the Igreja Real de Sao Francisco and see its haunting bone chapel
- See the Aqueduct
- Enjoy a day trip to Sintra
- Visit the Palacio Nacional
- Explore the Moorish Castle
- See the distinctive and vividly-coloured Pena Palace
- Visit the lighthouse at the Atlantic lookout, Cabo da Roca
- Complete a street art tour of Porto
- Explore the Cais da Ribera neighbourhood
- Visit the Palacio da Bolsa
- Climb 240 steps for views from the top of Clerigos Church
- Explore the Foz do Douro neighbourhood and seaside promenade
- Do a river boat cruise down the Douro
Trip Details
Accommodations
- 6 -Nights’ accommodation in centrally located hotels
- Twin Accommodation for students,
- Twin Accommodation for Chaperones
- Night 1 – Overnight Flight
- Nights 2, 3, 4 – Lisbon
- Nights 5, 6 – Porto
- Night 7 – Lisbon
Meals
- All breakfasts and dinners are included while in Portugal
- Lunches are not included.
Transportation
- Return economy airfare: Toronto to Lisbon, Portugal
- Private coach bus transportation while in Portugal
Additional Personnel
- 1 Evolve Tours Director for duration of tour
- Additional local guides as needed
Exclusives
- Creative trip programming and leadership activities
- Optional Videography and Photography
- “Forever Green” by Evolve Tours—carbon offset this whole trip (ask for details)!
Insurance
- Travel Insurance, Medical, cancellation and lost baggage coverage is INCLUDED in the tour cost.
Package Price is based on
Students
32
Chaperones
4
Price per student
4300
- Prices subject to availability and change until contract signed
- Total Package price may vary if number of paying customers changes
- Happy with what you see? Sign a 2-year contract with Evolve and pay the same rate for two years. Ask us for more information. *Based on same group size
TICO #: 50017336
Itinerary
Day 1:
| Afternoon | Meet as a group at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. |
| Evening | Depart on your overnight flight to Lisbon, Portugal. |
Day 2:
| Morning | Arrive in Lisbon, Portuguese capital with Old World Medieval charm and bright coastal colours. Transfer to the hotel and freshen up, before heading out on an Evolve-led walking tour up and down the hilly streets and cobbled laneways of the city. See Baroque churches and cathedrals and ascend to the various miradouros, or look-out points, dotted up the slopes of distinctive red terracotta roofs and white walls. |
| Afternoon | Head to the top of the hill from which Lisbon tumbles down to the sea. Here, enter the Padrão and the Castelo de São Jorge, the iconic castle looking out over Lisbon’s overlapping and densely packed roofs. The construction of the castle betrays the multifaceted history of the city; it was originally constructed in 5 AD by the Visigoths, and then expanded upon by the Moors in the 11 AD. Explore the multiple towers and the nearby Lisbon Cathedral. |
| Evening | Visit Lisbon’s oldest and most pedestrian friendly quarter, the Alfama. Meet for group dinner at a traditional Portuguese restaurant. Settle in for a good night’s sleep. |
Day 3:
| Morning | This morning, visit the impressive Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, built by King Manoel who sailed from Portugal in 1497 along a sea route to India. Enjoy the exhibition on this 500-year-old monastery and take time to explore the cloisters and other parts of the vast complex. |
| Afternoon | Go down to Lisbon’s picturesque seafront to enjoy lunch by the ocean, then visit the largest indoor Aquarium in Europe. Enjoy a guided tour of the 500 species and learn about the ways in which the aquarium is raising awareness about ocean conservation and environmental protection. |
| Evening | Attend a traditional music and dance show of the Portuguese genre, fado, and learn about “saudade”, or nostalgia. Afterwards, have dinner in the Bairrio Alto before heading back to the hotel for the night. |
Day 4:
| Morning | After breakfast at the hotel, head out for a day trip to Évora, a UNESCO World Heritage Site packed with landmarks and historic sites. Enjoy the drive through the beautiful rolling hills and vineyards of the Alentejo region and then get set to explore the Roman Temple of Evora, which dates back to the 2nd or 3rd Century.
Across the road is the grand cathedral with its distinct domes. |
| Afternoon | For lunch, enjoy free time around the Praca do Giraldo main square with its picturesque fountain and many local stores selling cork products made in the region.
After lunch, prepare for Gothic immersion in the Igreja Real de Sao Francisco and its Capela dos Ossos, or Bone Chapel, which is filled floor to ceiling with 5000 bodies’ bones and skulls dating back centuries. Just outside of the city, the Aqueduto da Agua de Prata built in 1530, is a unique landmark with shops and cafes incorporated into its large arches. Feeling truly initiated into Portugal’s prominent medieval and Gothic history, say farewell to the delightful city of Evora and return to Lisbon for the evening. |
| Evening | Back in Lisbon, enjoy a group dinner together and an evening stroll in the neighbourhood. |
Day 5:
| Morning | Enjoy an early breakfast at the hotel, before checking out and transferring to Sintra, a dream-like town built into pine-covered hills with brightly-coloured palaces and Moorish castles. Known for its many 19th-century Romantic architectural monuments, is is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We will begin in the historic center of Sintra and the Palacio Nacional de Sintra. At the heart of the town is the Gothic-Renaissance styled Palacio Nacional, with its distinctive coned chimneys that extends from the palace’s kitchens. We will also visit the picturesque Igreja de Santa Maria. The next stop is the restored ruin of the Moors Castle. The castle was constructed by the Moors in the 9th century to protect the fertile lands of Sintra but was unable to defend itself against the Christian crusades. We will also visit the Pena Palace – designed by the artistic King Fernando II, the palace is an extravagant mixture of vivid colours and fine stone carvings. |
| Afternoon | We will enjoy lunch in the historic centre before travelling on to the coastline, where imposing cliffs face the wild waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Walk down to the lighthouse at Cabo da Roca and feel the wind on your face as you take in seemingly endless views. After a refreshing break here, we will spend the rest of the afternoon in transit to Porto, Portugal’s second largest city and a tumble of old buildings and narrow streets full of stories and the ever-present smell of the sea. |
| Evening | Check in to the hotel and then head up to one of the miradouros to look over the banks of the Rio Douro and the spires, urban density, and overlapping terracotta roofs of the town. Enjoy dinner in the area before returning to the hotel after a long travel day. |
Day 6:
| Morning | Enjoy breakfast at the hotel before heading out for a street art tour of Porto. Learn about local graffiti culture, which is largely celebrated in Porto as part of its distinctive urban renewal in which old and new coexist and harmonise. The tour ends right down by the Douro River, at the iconic Dom Luis Bridge. |
| Afternoon | After lunch in the Cais da Ribeira riverside commercial hub, take in the Neoclassical and Moorish Revival architecture on a tour of the distinctive Palacio da Bolsa.
For even more memorable views over this eclectic city, climb 240 steps to the top of the Clerigos Church, which at the date of its completion in 1750 was the tallest building in the country. |
| Evening | Spend the evening in the Foz do Douro district and enjoy a relaxing sunset along the promenade, by the lighthouse, or on the windswept beach. |
Day 7:
| Morning | Check out of the hotel and then head back down to the Douro for a river boat tour, to learn more about Porto’s famous fortified wine and the port warehouses that still line the southern riverbanks. Take in the sights we have explored on foot over the last couple of days and enjoy the distinctive vantagepoint from the mouth of this 900-kilometre long river, now almost at the point where it meets the ocean. |
| Afternoon | Enjoy free time over lunch to revisit favourite spots in the Ribeira area, before loading onto the bus and heading back to Lisbon for one final night in the capital city. |
| Evening | Celebrate the end of a truly memorable trip by seeing a live show in the imposing Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos, or similar. Head back to the hotel for the night, ready for the journey home the next day. |
Day 8:
| Morning | Transfer to Lisbon Airport and board the flight back to Toronto. |
| Afternoon | Arrive back in Toronto ready to share with families and friends all the memories made and experiences had in Portugal. |
