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Recently, I had the pleasure of designing a wonderful European journey for two very special clients.

Their trip began with five days in London, where they explored the major sights, soaked up the atmosphere and absolutely loved their time in the city.

Then came Porto.

Or, at least, that was the plan.

When things don’t go to plan…

On the very day they were due to fly from London to Porto, easyJet cancelled their flight.

To make matters more difficult, they hadn’t received notification of the cancellation in time.

This is exactly where having a travel advisor in your corner can make all the difference.

After a fair amount of frantic organising and a lot of phone calls, we managed to get them to Porto that same day. Their private transfer was rearranged, their driver was waiting for them, and by 7pm they were on their way to the hotel.

By 9pm, they were checked in and ready to enjoy Portugal.

Not quite the seamless travel day we’d planned — but a very satisfying recovery.

And importantly, they hadn’t lost a day of their holiday.

Porto, Lisbon & the Algarve

With their itinerary back on track, they had plenty of time to discover Porto before catching the train south to Lisbon.

And Lisbon delivered exactly what we’d hoped for.

Portuguese tarts — plenty of them.

Trams winding through the city.

Cable cars.

Beautiful architecture.

Fantastic food.

And those wonderful little moments that make you fall in love with a city.

From Lisbon, they continued south by train to Lagos and the Algarve, where the scenery completely changed.

They spent their mornings getting up early for clifftop walks along the Algarve coastline, taking in the dramatic rock formations, turquoise water and spectacular coastal views.

They also hired canoes and explored the famous Benagil Cave, one of the Algarve’s most recognisable natural attractions, where sunlight streams through the opening in the cave and illuminates the water below.

It was, by all accounts, spectacular.

A Small Travel Lesson

Interestingly, one of their reflections from this part of the journey wasn’t about where they went — but where they stayed.

After a long day of travel, they realised they would have preferred to arrive at a more comfortable property rather than the basic resort they had chosen.

Their words to me were essentially:

“We wish we’d spent the extra few hundred dollars.”

And it’s a good travel lesson.

Sometimes the difference between a good holiday and a great one can be the quality and location of your accommodation — particularly after a long travel day.

They still loved the Algarve. They loved the coastline, the walks and the experiences.

But next time, they’d happily invest a little more in where they put their heads down at night.

And that’s exactly the kind of feedback I love hearing as a travel advisor. Because every trip teaches us something that helps make the next one even better.

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