# Wanderlust Tours — Booking Policies *A short, practical guide to how we work — from deposit to departure to everything in between.* --- We've tried to keep this short. If something here isn't clear, write to us at hello@wanderlusttours.example or ring the office on +351 21 000 0000 (Mon–Fri, 09:00–18:00 Lisbon time). --- ## Booking and payment **Holding a place.** When you ask to book, we'll hold your spot for seven days while you arrange flights and confirm. After seven days, we'll release the hold unless you've paid the deposit. **Deposit.** 25% of the tour price, due within seven days of your booking enquiry. The deposit confirms your place on a specific departure date. **Final balance.** Due 60 days before the tour starts. We'll send a reminder 14 days before the balance is due. **Late bookings.** If you book within 60 days of departure, the full amount is due at booking. **How to pay.** Bank transfer (EUR, SEPA preferred for EU accounts) or international wire. We don't take payments through the website or by card — this keeps fees down for everyone. Bank details arrive with your booking confirmation. **Currency.** All prices in euros. We don't lock exchange rates — if you're paying from a non-euro account, the rate at your bank applies. --- ## Cancellations and changes We don't enjoy this part of the policy and we hope you never have to use it. But the rules exist because we commit to small-group accommodation and guides far in advance, and we can't recover those costs at short notice. ### If you cancel | When you cancel | Refund | |---|---| | More than 90 days before departure | 100% refund minus a €75 admin fee | | 60–90 days before departure | 75% refund | | 30–59 days before departure | 50% refund | | 14–29 days before departure | 25% refund | | 0–13 days before departure | No refund | | No-show | No refund | Refunds are made by bank transfer within 14 working days of your written cancellation. ### Changing departure dates You can move to another departure date once, for free, up to 60 days before your original tour starts — provided space is available on the new date. After 60 days, a €100 change fee applies; within 30 days, treat it as a cancellation under the table above. ### Travelling with someone If you're booking with a partner or friend and one of you needs to cancel, the cancellation policy applies to the cancelling traveller. The other can keep their booking, but the single supplement may apply for the remaining nights. ### If we cancel We cancel a departure only when it's genuinely necessary — usually because we haven't hit the minimum group size (four travellers), or because of a force majeure event. We'll let you know at least 30 days before departure where possible. If we cancel: - We'll offer you a place on another departure of the same tour at no extra cost - Or we'll refund 100% of what you've paid us - We don't reimburse non-refundable flights or pre-tour hotels — this is what travel insurance is for --- ## Travel insurance — required We require every traveller to hold valid travel insurance for the duration of the tour. Coverage must include: - Medical expenses and emergency repatriation - Trip cancellation and curtailment - Lost or delayed baggage - Personal liability You're welcome to use any insurer you prefer. We'll ask for the insurer name, policy number, and 24-hour assistance phone number two weeks before departure, so your guide can act on your behalf in an emergency. **A note on activity coverage.** If you're joining the Azores hiking tour, please confirm your policy covers walking up to grade 3 (active hill walking, no technical climbing, altitudes below 1,200m). Most standard policies do, but a few exclude "trekking" without a supplement. --- ## Passports, visas, and entry You are responsible for ensuring your passport and any required visas are in order. We can't be held responsible if you're denied entry to Portugal or Spain. **At a glance:** - **EU / EEA / Swiss citizens** — National ID card or passport. No visa needed. - **UK citizens** — Passport with at least 3 months' validity beyond your return date. No visa for stays up to 90 days in a 180-day period (Schengen rules). - **US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand** — Passport with at least 3 months' validity beyond your return date. Visa-free for up to 90 days in a 180-day period. From late 2026, ETIAS pre-authorisation will be required — check the official EU site for current status. - **Other nationalities** — Please check the visa requirements for Portugal (and Spain, if joining the Andalusia tour) with your nearest embassy or consulate. We can supply a tour-confirmation letter if it's helpful for your application — please ask at least eight weeks before departure. We don't track visa rules continuously and the above can change. Use the official government source for your country as the authority, not this page. --- ## Group bookings and private departures **Group discount.** For groups of six or more travelling together on the same departure, we apply a 10% discount to each booking. Mention the group at the time of enquiry — we can't apply it retroactively. **Whole-group buyouts.** If you'd like the whole tour to yourselves (private departure for your group of 8–12), please get in touch. Pricing depends on the tour, the dates, and what you'd like to adjust. We don't list a buyout price publicly because no two requests are the same. **Custom itineraries.** We don't offer instant private-itinerary customisation. Bespoke trips are designed by hand by our team — typically over two or three rounds of conversation, with a planning fee that's deducted from the final tour price. Allow four to six weeks for a custom itinerary to be designed. --- ## Children, ages, and accessibility **Age limits.** - Sintra & Cascais Family Adventure — minimum age 8. - All other tours — minimum age 12. Children aged 8–15 on the family tour pay the child price. Children aged 16–17 pay the adult price. We don't currently run dedicated youth or solo-only departures. **Accessibility.** Our tours involve significant walking — typically two to four hours a day on city tours, and longer on active tours. Many of the streets and trails we use are cobbled, uneven, or include steps and gradients. We don't currently have a wheelchair-accessible itinerary. If you have a mobility consideration, hearing or vision limitation, or any medical condition we should be aware of, please let us know at the time of booking. We'll have an honest conversation about which tour might work — and if none of them do, we'll say so. --- ## On tour **Single supplements.** Listed per tour. They cover the cost of single-occupancy in our partner hotels, not a service upgrade. We don't pair strangers in shared rooms. **Dietary requirements.** Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and most allergies can be accommodated everywhere we go. Please tell us when you book. Strict religious dietary requirements (kosher, halal) we can usually arrange with notice, but please ask — some smaller villages have limited options. **What to bring.** A pre-departure pack with packing suggestions, weather notes, and your guide's mobile number lands in your inbox three weeks before the tour starts. **Tipping.** Not expected. If you'd like to tip your guide or driver at the end of the tour, that's between you and them — many travellers do, but it's never assumed. **Photos and videos.** We sometimes photograph our tours for our own materials (this catalogue, our website, social media). If you'd rather not be in those photos, tell your guide at the start of the trip and we'll keep you out of frame. --- ## Health, safety, and force majeure **If weather makes a planned activity unsafe**, we'll adjust the itinerary on the day. We don't refund individual activities that have to be skipped for safety reasons — the day will still happen, just differently. **If you fall ill or are injured during the tour**, your guide will help you arrange medical care. Costs go through your travel insurance. We don't pro-rate the tour price for missed days — this is, again, what insurance is for. **Force majeure.** If a tour can't run because of events outside our control — natural disasters, government restrictions, civil unrest, an airline grounding fleet-wide — we'll offer you a credit toward another departure equal to what you've paid us. We don't refund flights, pre-tour hotels, or anything you've paid third parties. --- ## Disputes and applicable law We hope you'll talk to us first. Most things can be resolved with an email or a phone call. If we can't reach an agreement, these terms are governed by Portuguese law. Disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of Lisbon. For travellers based in the EU, you can also use the European Commission's Online Dispute Resolution platform (ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr). --- ## Talking to us **Email** hello@wanderlusttours.example — fastest reply, within one working day **Phone** +351 21 000 0000 — Mon–Fri, 09:00–18:00 Lisbon time **Office** Rua das Flores 88, 1200-194 Lisbon — visits by appointment For anything urgent while you're on tour, your guide's mobile number is in your pre-departure pack. --- *Last updated 2026. These policies apply to bookings made from this date forward and may be updated for future tours; the terms in your booking confirmation are the ones that apply to your trip.*