Welcome to my Travel Blog: Your Tourist Guide in the Algarve
My name is João, known as Johnny from Johnny´s Tours, and I am an official certified and passionate tourist guide who has spent the last six years sharing the beauty, culture, and soul of southern Portugal with travellers from all over the world.
Before embracing guiding as my full-time path, I spent three transformative years working in the tourism industry, years that changed me profoundly. Those early experiences gave me the confidence and courage to take a leap of faith, start my own business, and design tours with the freedom and flexibility that large companies often cannot offer.
Many years ago I studied Tourism at the University of Algarve and a few years ago I decided to evolve a little more, so I attended and completed the Regional Tourist Guide course, thus becoming a certified tourist guide.
However, there is one person I cannot thank enough, because she gave me the greatest strength, encouraged me six years ago to take this leap, and deeply believed in my dream... my wife.
My mission and my main goal is simple yet deeply meaningful: to create smiles and happiness at every stop, to turn clients into friends, and to help them build lasting memories of their time in Portugal.
Today, every tour I create is fully tailored to the needs, desires, pace, and personality of each guest. No rigid itineraries, no standardised speeches, no “one-size-fits-all” approach.
I often say that nothing gives me more pleasure in my daily work than seeing my guests leave with a piece of my country and my region in their hearts. That feeling, the moment I realise that I helped spark a connection strong enough to make them want to return to Portugal and to my Algarve, is what inspires me every day. That´s why I wake up every morning with a smile on my face.
With a profound love for my country and its rich history, gastronomy, culture, architecture, and traditions, I dedicate myself to crafting unforgettable experiences that reveal the very best of Portugal’s cultural and its natural wonders.
A few years on and I can’t imagine doing anything other than being a tourist guide. This is more than a job for me… it is a way of life.
Choosing a guide is essential. In a world where many decide to become guides without proper training or a true understanding of how to welcome and lead travellers, the experience can sometimes fall short.
Too often, visitors explore Portugal following the same social-media inspired itineraries, visiting the same places, taking the same photos, and repeating the same experiences that everyone else does. While these spots are beautiful, travelling this way can make people feel like just another tourist, just another number in a commercial tour.
But travelling doesn’t have to be like that.
Travel can be personal, meaningful, emotionally rich, and truly yours.
That is the kind of journey I strive to create… authentic, flexible, memorable, and guided with heart. Welcome to my world, and welcome to Portugal.
I have been a guide-interpreter for about six years and before that, I had three years of a professional experience in the tourism industry that changed me and which gave me the confidence and courage I needed to start my own business and fully customise my tours according to the needs and desires of my guests/clients, without the restrictions of large companies, such as inflexible itineraries, repetitive speeches for all visitors, or inflexible tour durations or itineraries.
My main goal is to create smiles and happiness at every stop, turn clients into friends, and help them create lasting memories of their stay in Portugal.
I often say that nothing gives me more pleasure in my daily work than feeling that my guests/tourists take a little bit of my country and my region in their hearts. I love feeling that I have created feelings that, when they return to their countries, make them want to visit Portugal and my Algarve again.
With a deep love for my country and its rich history, gastronomy, culture, architecture, and traditions, I dedicate myself every day to creating unforgettable experiences that showcase the best of Portugal's cultural and natural wonders.
A few years on, I can't imagine doing anything other than working as a tour guide.
Choosing a guide is extremely important because, in a world where many decide to become guides without having any training or knowing how to guide travellers, the experience for those visiting my country can prove disappointing.
Many travellers explore my beautiful country, Portugal, almost always in the same way and almost always with the same itineraries, always with a wish list inspired by popular TikTok, Reels and Instagram videos, which list the best or most popular activities to do and always the same places to visit.
Visiting the same places to take the same photo that everyone else has taken or doing the same experience that everyone else has done or commented on can bring a feeling of a simply commercial tour and even the disappointment that they were just another tourist, just another number.
But travelling doesn't have to be like that.
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