Braga and Bom Jesus tour reviews: what the ratings are worth
I have written up 8 of the 22 tours on this site in detail. None of these reviews is about a ticket, because there is no ticket: the sanctuary grounds are free and open around the clock, and the basilica is free too, which I go through on the tickets page. What an operator sells you is transport, a guide and a schedule, and that is what I have graded.
How to read the numbers on this page
Two of the eight carry samples worth the name. The Porto day trip has 4,593 ratings and the four-hour Braga half day has 48. The other six sit between four and 166. A 5.0 from four reviews is not better than a 4.6 from 4,593; it is less information, and one unhappy customer would move it further than a hundred would move the big one. Where a sample is small I say so on the page instead of printing the number and walking away from it.
The other thing I read for is names. When three separate reviewers of the same short tour name the same guide, you have learned something concrete about what you are booking. When three reviewers name three different guides, you have learned that the guide is a rota rather than a person. Both of those patterns show up below.
Porto to Braga & Guimarães day trip
The most-reviewed tour here by a factor of three, and the cheapest way to see both cities in one day.
from €34Read the review ›
Braga walking tour & Bom Jesus
The only one of the 22 that includes the funicular ticket. Three hours, maximum eight people.
from €59Read the review ›
Historical Trail of Bom Jesus do Monte
Two hours with a guide at the sanctuary itself. The lowest score on the site, from five reviews.
from €30Read the review ›
Braga day trip, no Guimarães
No reviews and no rating, so this page reviews the listing instead of pretending otherwise.
from €65Read the review ›
Braga & Guimarães: history and local flavours
Two cities, a tapas lunch, and the shortest two-city day here. Ten reviews, three different guides.
from €45Read the review ›
The Soul of Braga
Roman baths, Biscainhos, both sanctuaries. Three of its four reviewers name the same guide.
from €97Read the review ›
Braga in four hours from Porto
Four hours from Porto with a driver-guide three reviewers name by hand.
from €60Read the review ›
Braga tuk tuk city tour
Cheapest of the 22. One reviewer calls it superficial and means it kindly.
from €20Read the review ›What I check on every listing
- Does it include the ride up, or only the walk? Exactly one of the 22 tours includes the funicular ticket, and it is the small-group walking tour. The fare is a couple of euros paid on the spot, so this is a convenience rather than a saving — see the funicular page.
- Does it get you there at all? The two-hour trail at the sanctuary does not include transport to the meeting point. That is a bus ride you have to plan: how to get there.
- What does the listing claim about entry? Several advertise an entrance ticket to Bom Jesus. Entry is free. I print both sentences and leave them next to each other.
- How long do you actually stand still? 11 of the 22 tours go on to Guimarães and 11 do not, and that single decision does more to your day than the price does: Braga and Guimarães in one day.
The ones with nothing to review
5 of the 22 products have no rating and no reviews at all. Four of those I have left alone until somebody comes back with an opinion. The fifth, the Braga-only day trip from Porto, gets a page anyway, because the question it answers — one city or two — is the question most readers arrive with. That page reviews the product and says in its first line that there is no feedback to summarise.
For the full field rather than the eight I have written up, all 22 are compared here, the private and per-group options have their own page, and the cost page starts from zero, which is what the sanctuary charges.
Where to start
Most reviewedFrom Porto: Braga & Guimarães Tour with Bom Jesus & Castle
Funicular includedBraga Small-Group Walking Tour & Bom Jesus
Sanctuary onlyHistorical Trail of Bom Jesus do Monte
Frequently asked questions
Which Braga tour has the most reviews?
The full-day trip from Porto to Braga and Guimarães, with 4,593 ratings at 4.6. That is more than three times the next one, and it is the only average on this site large enough that a handful of bad days could not move it. My review of it is here.
Are these reviews independent?
I am not a tour operator, and I am not the Confraria that owns the sanctuary. I earn a commission if you book through a link here, at no extra cost to you, and it does not change what I write — the affiliate disclosure spells out the arrangement. The reviewer quotes are real and I have invented none of them.
Why does one of these tours have no rating?
Because nobody has rated it yet. 5 of the 22 products here are in that position, and "no ratings yet" is the only honest thing to print about them. The Braga-only day trip review covers what the listing includes instead.
Does any tour include the funicular ticket?
One of the 22 does: the small-group walking tour, which I review here. The fare is only a couple of euros at the bottom station, so it is worth booking for the transfer and the group size rather than for the ticket. The funicular page covers the 1882 machine itself.