Madrid 5 Day Tour (from Lisbon to Madrid)

Customer Reviews

• PB

  Patricia

  · September 29th, 2023
  I would never use this tour group again. The guide day one was rude. After the first day touring, my companion and I were dropped off 2 blocks from the hotel. We were alone. 2 others went to a different hotel at the same drop off point. When we arrived to the hotel, the reservation date was made for 2024. So we had to pay for the night ourselves. (We were reimbursed.) the next 2 nights were payed for in a different room at the hotel. Breakfast was not included as stated. (we are supposed to be reimbursed)
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  VPT Tours commented on this review

  Dear Patricia, Thank you for your feedback. We regret any inconvenience you may found during the trip. Your review will help us to improve. Kind regards
  Trip date: August 2023
• M

  Maria

  · September 28th, 2023
  Absolutely horrible experience. The operator booked us for a hotel for next year and they were extremely unhelpful. It wasn't until Tourradar jumped in that they actually reacted. Additionally, the guides were extremely rude and rushed the entire group during each stop. This was my first trip to Europe and they ruined my experience in Madrid completely. Save your money.
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  VPT Tours commented on this review

  Dear Maria, Thank you for your feedback which of course will help us to keep offering the best services. Kind regards
  Trip date: September 2023
• 

  Mark

  · June 7th, 2022
  Hi, I was on the 9am tour to Torledo yesterday 6th June 2022 from Madrid. I enjoyed the tour but unfortunately I missed the bus back at 4.30. The little map I received was not clear that there are two sets of escalators going down. I went to the wrong bus stop and by the time I finally made it to the correct bus stop, 30 minutes past and I missed my bus. The ticket says there was a return bus at 7pm so I waited but no bus arrived. Your map needs to be clearer plus if there is no bus at 7pm there should have been prior warning of this at the bus stop or on the ticket. Luckily I found the public bus and after 5 hours and 7.50 I finally made it back to my hotel. It would be nice to see better clarification on the given map and return times.
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  Trip date: June 2022
• 

  Natalie

  · March 14th, 2022
  This 5 day tour of Madrid wasn't quite what I was expecting, and I am a bit disappointed and have mixed feelings about it. The itinerary was Day 1: Drive from Lisbon to Madrid with a stop in Caceres. Day 2: Sightseeing tour of Madrid, afternoon at leisure. Day 3: Tour to Toledo, afternoon at leisure. Day 4: Free day in Madrid. Day 5: End of tour at 9am. My primary issue was that there was no clear communication for when and where I would be picked up for the tours, and none of the hotel staff or even other VPT tour guides knew either, so I had to try and find out what I was supposed to do. It was confusing, and since I was traveling alone and no one else was doing the same tour as me I felt abandoned. For more detail, after I booked the tour I was told when and where to meet the group on Day 1. I met them without any issue, and the guide spoke in both English and Spanish which was great. I joined a much larger tour that had already been traveling for some time together. We drove to a town in Spain, and the guide provided information and told stories which I enjoyed. After the small town in Spain is when things became very confusing. Since they were part of a larger and different tour, myself and 2 others were put in a van to go to Madrid while they continued to Seville. The driver didn't speak English, so I was worried that the rest of my tour I wouldn't be able to understand, and he wasn't able to confirm any information about the Sightseeing Tour the next day. He dropped the 2 others at a different hotel than mine. There's was in central Madrid, and my hotel was a 35 minute walk outside of the town in Madrid. The couple also told me they had already done the Sightseeing tour of Madrid, and wouldn't be joining me. The check in at the hotel was smooth, but they also didn't know about the Sightseeing Tour when I asked them. They did give me a letter though, which was a copy of an email trail indicating that I would be picked up at 7:30am for the Sightseeing Tour of Madrid. I tried emailing and phoning the tour company to ask to be put in a more central hotel with the other 2 people but no one responded or could help. The next day I was in the lobby at 7:30, but no one came to pick me up. I asked the hotel staff and they didn't know. I luckily found a representative from VPT tours who was picking up another group, and he called the office and they told me that I was actually being picked up at 9:00am. So I went to my room to wait. At 8:30am, I got a call in my room and it was the driver looking for me. When he transferred me to the pick up spot for the group tour, apparently everyone was looking for me and didn't know where I was. I am glad they knew I would be joining them. At first, the guide only spoke Spanish, but once she knew I couldn't understand then she switched to both. The sightseeing tour of madrid was good. It is essentially a half-day tour so I was with a new group of people for this tour. During the tour, the guide mentioned that we could also do a half-day tour to Toledo that afternoon. This is a part of the itinerary for this 5 day tour, but I wasn't provided information for where and when I would be picked up. When I asked her about it, she didn't know and when she called the office they told me it wasn't included. So confusing! I decided to avoid the hassle that I had experienced that morning that I would pay and join the Toledo tour that afternoon. The tour of Toledo was great, it was the same guide so she was wonderful. We had a walking tour of the town as well. After lunch, she told me that my tour of Toledo was actually included so I could either get a refund or pay the difference for a day tour for the next day. I decided to get the tour for the next day. She would also be the guide for that day tour so it was even better, since she knew I only spoke English. In summary, this 5 day tour could easily be done on your own. If you are starting in Lisbon like what I did, just take a tour up to Porto and spend a couple days there if you have time, and then get a train to Madrid from there. Or get a direct bus from Lisbon. Book a hotel in Central Madrid and do day trips from Madrid. That is essentially what this 5 day tour was, except I felt abandoned and confused by where and when I was supposed to be picked up each day, and there was no one to reach out to if I needed help or had questions. The day tours themselves were great, and the big couch tour that I had started off with was great too (although the optional masks at the time made me a bit nervous). Maybe it's because I was the only one who booked the tour is why? To improve this tour, I would recommend keeping us in the Central Hotel, and communicating the pick up times and locations in advance so that I don't have to ask a bunch of people that don't know the answer, which only makes it more stressful and confusing.
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  VPT Tours commented on this review

  Dear Natalie, Thank you very much for helping us improve with your comments. We work hard to offer you the best services. As you could see, we have the best guides at your disposal. However, we regret any type of misunderstanding that may have... Show more
  Trip date: March 2022