Tour guide in Porto Susana A.

Olá! Hi! My name is Izzy! Thank you for coming to my page and hopefully soon to Porto! Originally from Lisbon, I moved to Porto in 1998 to study Biology. Whilst doing an internship in Food Safety, I discovered that working 24/7 in a Research Laboratory wasn't for me. I lacked human contact - communicating with people is my passion! For this reason, I decided to follow another great passion of mine, Fashion, and for a year I lived in Paris, where I trained in Image, Communication and Protocol in Politics and Business. While working in these areas, I was invited to organise and accompany private tours in central and northern Portugal, thus discovering a new passion: Tourism and Hospitality. Although I spend my time between Porto and Lisbon, it was in Porto that I chose to live (for more than half my life now). The city, its people, its food and wine, its rich and diverse history and its world-renowned cultural treasures are truly unique. With a deep knowledge of Portuguese history, culture and traditions, I aim to provide truly immersive experiences: mainly historical, my tours are also storytelling, bringing to life the main historical events of the places we visit (and some of their best-hidden secrets) with real and personal stories (with family on both sides of the dictatorship, I have no shortage of stories). I can assure you that on my tours you won't hear from me that Salazar, our dictator, was deposed with the 25 April Revolution (poor man, he'd already been dead for 4 years); that one of our bridges is closed to prevent suicides (this may come as a shock, but if this were the case, in a city with 6 bridges -on the way to 7 -, closing one wouldn't solve this problem); or even be dragged into tourist traps, so often publicised in blogs and online articles. If what you value is going beyond superficial experiences and getting into the heart and soul of a place - only by understanding the local history, heritage diversity and culture can we add depth and meaning to a trip - then MY tours are YOUR tours! If you think my tours are expensive compared to others, well... I remind you of the wise words of Warren Buffet: ‘Price is what you pay, value is what you get’. See you soon!