Silvia Novais

On all our holidays it’s very important to find the right person for this vital job. We need someone who is utterly reliable, punctual and committed to helping our customers, whatever the Gods of Travel throw at them (delays, cancellations, no-shows, strikes, etc – you know the sort of thing).

We want someone who knows how our holidays work and who can find a suitable replacement should the need arise (tick). We want someone who smiles a lot (tick), who knows the region (tick), who will go out of their way to be helpful (tick), and, as the first person many of our customers will speak to when they begin their holiday, someone who will offer a warm and friendly welcome to the region (tick).

In Silvia Novais, we have found that person.

But don’t take our word for it. Silvia has been transporting Inntravel customers and their luggage between the airports and the hotels ever since we started offering this holiday, and this is what some of them have said over the years:

“We enjoyed the luxury of travelling with her from the airport and to Lisbon”, said one; while another described her as “...very helpful, obliging and an excellent driver...” She’s now become something of an institution on this holiday, an unwavering fixture, making sure that everything runs smoothly. She even phoned one customer the night before they were due to leave to confirm that the clocks were changing and that they had remembered!

“Silvia is a very nice, reliable taxi driver! She drives very carefully, and also speaks good English”; she’s “very friendly and helpful – and always punctual”, “an excellent driver and a lovely person”. Just the sort of comments we like to hear as we know we can have complete faith in her – “cheerful, helpful and professional – brilliant!”

She will also happily wait for you even if your train or plane is late arriving, as another recent customer recalled: “The transfers were excellent by Silvia, a very nice lady. Not having been told about our arrival time at Funcheira station, she waited for us to alight from three trains before we finally arrived on the last train of the evening.”

Having been brought up in the area and now living in Odeceixe, she knows all the hoteliers along the route and all the drop-off points. As she takes you through her home town to start your first day’s walk, it soon becomes apparent that everyone knows her and she knows them. In fact, she waves so much that her son suggested she get a fake waving hand fitted to the dashboard of her car to save her from constantly waving!

So when you travel to southern Portugal and you step out of the airport or alight at a quiet railway station in the middle of nowhere, don’t worry. Silvia will be there waiting for you – she’s the one with the broad welcoming smile!