Portugal classified as green at last!

Oliver

Update: Unfortunately since this blog was posted, Portugal has been taken off the green travel list. We will keep this blog live to showcase the work the tourist board is doing to help the country’s tourism sector protect visitors in the hope that holidays can re-commence soon.

A favourite British holiday destination, Portugal is FINALLY open to holidaymakers and very much on sale…

Portugal has been ahead of most European destinations on the Covid-19 stakes for some time, having handled its regional spikes (mostly in non-tourist areas around Lisbon) arguably better than we’ve handled ours in the UK (around Leicester, Manchester and Birmingham).

Browse examples of the hotels and holidays we offer to Portugal here.

Key to Portugal’s tourism strategy has been Trust & Transparency – a document launched on 9^th August, explaining that:

Portugal’s tests for Covid-19 (for locals and visitors alike) are in the top 10 for Europe, with 1.53M tests carried out as at 9 August
Portugal’s CLEAN & SAFE STAMP, launched in April, has more than 21,000 travel and tourism businesses signed up and approved to date, and over 22,000 people trained, read more here
Portugal’s beach app, launched in good time for beach openings on 6 June, indicates to visitors whether any beach is fully occupied or not, and points them to nearby options from the many hundreds of miles of pristine beaches along the stunning Portuguese coastline, from private little bays to 80 km long stretches of glorious white sand…
Portugal offers holidaymakers access to the same health system as that enjoyed by the Portuguese for the same price paid by locals – just €5 per day
Portugal’s tourism authorities have supported the launch of an insurance policy that offers Covid cover relevant to each of its visitor markets (55% of Portuguese visitors in a normal year are British) for just £35 pp

Portugal offers a mix of simple pleasures – uncrowded, endless Atlantic beaches and bays, wide-open, little-populated countryside, first-class food and some of the best wines in Europe (at some of the lowest prices in Europe), plus experiences such watersports and the Dark Skies over Lake Alqueva, the largest man-made lake in Europe, not to mention a modest joie de vivre and very friendly approach from its people. It is quite addictive!

Autumn brings the grape harvests to a close – visit some of the wonderful wineries to see how Portuguese wines are produced (some still in Roman-style amphorae), and taste the bounty of the land along with local zesty olive oil, cured organic meats and home-made cheeses, not to mention many delectable desserts. You’ll find freshly-picked walnuts in every little town market as Autumn progresses, with weather that’s still very warm and sunny but not as hot, thankfully, as it can be in the height of the summer months.

Portugal has been linked with the UK for centuries via ancient treaties – Portugal is our longest-standing ally, since 1147, and introduced tea to the Court of St James via Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza, who married our King Charles II in 1662.

To plan and book your holiday to Portugal call us on 01543 258631.

Browse examples of the hotels and holidays we offer to Portugal here.

RB Collection is proud to be a member of AITO Specialist Travel Agents, offering a unique selection of specialist holidays all over the world.

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Explore Portugal

Great cruise, boat, taxi, hotel, meal (and more!) arrangements in Athens and Corfu. Oliver has this amazing ability to know what we would enjoy, which is why I've already booked my next trip with RB! To the Carribbean we go in November!! 🥳 Thanks Oliver and the entire team at RB!

Zain Qazi

‘As usual, Sam at RB Collection arranged our recent Iceland/Scotland cruise with attention to every possible detail. He remembered what had worked for us previously and used that knowledge to enhance our experience. No question was too much trouble for either Sam or his colleague Clare. We would not consider anyone else for our holiday arrangements; RB Collection are truly superb!’

Hilary Carroll

Wonderful way to book a wonderful holiday. Such a personalised & attentive approach to helping us find the perfect family holiday! Couldn’t recommend more!!!

Pandora Bahrami

They found us the perfect hotel for our London stay. Exactly the right balance of perfect location, incredible breakfast and they really listened to what we wanted. I even had access to one of London best gyms included in the stay!

Katie May Medley

RB Collections are a wonderful family run firm who welcome you into the family from the first holiday you book with them. My special thanks go to Clare who always ensures my booking runs smoothly and takes the stress out of the process of decisions by ‘knowing’ and implementing my preferences using information she has ascertained from previous bookings. I don’t have to remember…..Clare does it for me.

Janet Goodwin

Having just returned from a fantastic long weekend at Disneyland Paris, we had to leave a review for Sam and the team at RB Collection. They removed all the stress from organising the trip and ensured everything was in place for a truly memorable trip for all the family. We can’t thank them enough and we will certainly be back for future holidays. Our experience has been 10/10 👍🏻

Mike Boyden

Just returned home from a wonderful holiday in Madeira arranged by Sam from RB Collection. Every detail from flights, hotel, transfers, recommended restaurants and "must to do's" was excellent and all documents arrived by post in good time for checking before departing on our holiday. Due to the weather, our journey was delayed by two days. However after contacting RB on the emergency number in the holiday package, all was sorted by the team - an upgraded hotel room at the same hotel, flight, transfers, taking away all the stress from ourselves and allowing us to enjoy our extra two days. One cannot put a price on a phone call and text messages when something unfortunate happens and you feel vulnerable. On our return, the excellent service has continued by Sam and colleagues who are now dealing with the necessary correspondence with the airline company. My husband and I and children at home who were concerned when we were stranded, cannot thank the team at RB enough for their support and professionalism and we are looking forward to many more holidays using the company. Tom & Janet

Tom&Janet Marks

We came to RB Collection with an idea of some of the places we wanted to visit in Rajasthan, India - and they made it all happen, expertly and efficiently. Oliver and Clare were a pleasure to deal with, sorting every aspect and adding their own ideas to really enhance this wonderful trip. They checked in while we were away to make sure everything was going well (which it was) and I knew they'd be on hand if we needed anything. Thank you!

David Page

The purpose of this review isn't to confirm that our holiday was a 5 star experience (which it was, by the way) but it's a review to say that RB Collection's involvement in planning, booking and safety netting our holiday experiences has been truly 5 stars. Are people bothered if my wife and I had a great holiday - I suspect no...... Are people interested in the company that was instrumental in creating 5 star holidays - I suspect yes ......and so it's RB Collection's skills and involvement that get this 5 star rating. As a family we have booked our own holidays almost exclusively by ourselves for 35 years - until a year ago when we used RB Collection's services for the first time to book a holiday to the Ice Hotel in Sweden. We chose to book through them because we had no experience or knowledge of the Ice Hotel and their exclusive Ice Hotel Website was great. Their involvement made all the difference - in particular their personal commitment to making things work and since the first contact, they have been getting to know our travel "needs, wants and likes" more by each contact. Our next holiday was a Silversea Cruise - one that we could easily have booked ourselves, but RB's influence allowed us to save a significant (4 figure!) sum. Reason alone to recommend! Our third and most recent booking with RB was a safari which could not have been a better holiday experience. The reasons for this are as follows: 1. Up until raising the possibility, I knew nothing about safaris i.e. where to go / at what time of year / for how long etc. Within 72 hours of a discussion of a suggestion by me for a Tanzania trip (based on a google AI search), I was infinitely far better informed and after weighing up possibilities, we opted for a Kenyan trip to Amboselli and the Masai Mara. What a brilliant decision! 2. Whilst the travel options were perfect for our particular needs, RB's involvement to seamlessly arrange the multiple transfers on our journey came to the fore. This was particularly evident on coming back from Zanzibar (beach unwind) to Nairobi International, which would have presented a significant challenge had we opted for self booking, due to the (multiple) security & immigration stages. (Yes, of course - we would have negotiated the stages - we're grown ups - we can look after ourselves, but oh my. the loss of wasted heartbeats would have been significant!) Turns out that what was arranged for us was faster than "fast track" and I certainly became aware of lots of people looking enviously towards us and our safari representative as we whizzed by! 3. Photography is an important aspect of our holidays. Good photographic subjects / scenes are our means of ensuring that we're seeing good stuff, which - IMHO - is a main focus of a holiday. Our safari guides had been well briefed about my photography wishes and from the get-go, they discussed what we were looking for from our holiday and so every day we had a mutually planned itinerary for the wildlife that never disappointed. Our guides had been particularly selected from the briefing given by RB pre-travel to the safari people. In a nutshell, RB have changed our attitude to holidays and their associated experiences. In our time with them, we have undertaken holidays that we have never done before and we are now definitely thinking differently about what to do in the future. Add to this, the reassurance and safety net that travel agency booking confers and I think that RB Collection definitely deserves a 5 star review. By the way - we live distant to their location - all of our dealings have been by telephone and email so don't think you need to be locals to use their services.

Colin Scott

A big shout out for RB Collection ….they have done it again !!!! Made our World touring a pleasure AGAIN ….having done the cruising in various parts of the world …the Canada trip…..the India & Nepal trip…& just recently the Hongkong Australia New Zealand trip…it’s like being transported on a Dreamliner !every attention to detail from getting to the airport arriving at the destinations & being picked up & taken to the various types of accomadation ….Thanks Team RB & especially to Sam for this last one 🌴☀️😎

Linda Taylor

call: 01543 258631 email: vip@rbcollection.com

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