01
ABOUT PORTOLAN
A small studio with a long view.
Founded in Lisbon in 2011 by two guides who were tired of rushing. We still answer every enquiry ourselves.
EST. 2011
LISBON STUDIO
9 GUIDES
38°42′N 9°08′W
02
OUR STORY
We started with one route and a long lunch.
In 2011 we led eleven strangers along the Algarve coast for eight days. Nobody wanted to go home, and three of them are still close friends. That walk became our first route, and the long lunch on day four became a rule.
Fifteen years later we have nine guides and thirty-eight routes, but the model is the same: small groups, people who live where they lead, and fewer stops so there is time to actually be somewhere.
Inês Almeida & Tom Hart
CO-FOUNDERS
03
WHAT WE HOLD TO
Four rules we never bend.
RULE 01
Twelve, never thirteen
Small enough for one table, one boat, one quiet museum room.
RULE 02
Guides who live there
Every route is led by someone who calls it home, not a script.
RULE 03
Fewer, longer stops
Two nights minimum anywhere. Time to unpack is part of the trip.
RULE 04
Hosts over hotels
Family-run stays, paid fairly, chosen for the people who run them.
04
THE GUIDES
The people who walked it first.
N 37°05′
Inês Almeida
CO-FOUNDER · ALGARVE
N 35°00′
Kenji Mori
LEAD GUIDE · KYOTO
N 40°38′
Sofia Ricci
GUIDE · AMALFI & CILENTO
N 68°12′
Erik Lund
SKIPPER · LOFOTEN
YEARS ON THE ROAD
TRAVELLERS HOSTED
ROUTES CHARTED
TRAVEL WITH US AGAIN
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TALK TO A GUIDE