golden days
Portugal Family Camp Summer 2027
June 28 to July 11
What you're actually joining
Underneath the estate, the private chef, and the horses, it comes down to one thing: time. The unhurried kind, your whole family in one place with nowhere to be and nothing to manage. It used to be what summer was, but it has become one of the hardest things to hold onto, crowded out by the screens, calendars and the low hum of everyone managing everyone else.
So we take a real place, lift off every last thing you'd normally plan, carry, or worry about, and give you two weeks of it. These are days where your family learns with their hands instead of a screen, where you all feel small under a sky with no city in it, and show up to dinner full of a story. These are the years you don't get twice. We built Golden Days, a space designed to lovingly call us back to the present, because the lifelong memories and deep family connections waiting here are worth crossing an ocean for
Golden Days has room for up to twelve families, no more. The waitlist currently sits at about eighty, so the room will fill fast. Once the first families are in, you'll see the shape of the group right here: how many are confirmed, the ages of the kids, the mix of them, so you know who yours will be running with before you commit. The shape of the table is loading, and will fill in as families are accepted.
A dozen families, and a line out the door.
Camp by the numbers
Testimonials
Family Camp is new, but Kristin's trip planning isn't.
The trips that came before this one are why the waitlist exists.
"I'm definitely a Type A planner, always feel like I need to control every aspect of vacations. I was able to trust her in handling all of that for me and have it all meet my expectations."
- Josh & Family
"We agreed that this was the best trip we have ever been on."
- Jamie & Family
"All the details were handled for us... without being too much or overwhelming. The trip was everything we wanted."
- Diana & Family
The food
A stable of Lusitano horses and someone patient enough to have the nervous ones riding by Friday. Two pools, one in and one out, with a certified lifeguard on duty whenever there's water. A spa for the adults to relax. A winery that makes its own from seven grapes you've never heard of. And the tower, where everyone drifts at dusk, because the Alentejo has some of the darkest skies in Europe and a kid finding the Milky Way for the first time is a sound you'll want to be nearby for.
The kitchen at Torre de Palma is Chef Eduardo Grilo's, an Alentejo native famed for his creative farm-to-table fare. Breakfast every morning and one proper meal a day come out of it, the Alentejo cooked the way it should be: black pork from the cork forest, bread with a crust you can hear, olive oil pressed a few valleys over, figs and almonds and whatever the garden gave up that morning. One meal per day is eaten out in the community.
Torre de Palma sits deep in the Alto Alentejo, far enough from Lisbon that the last stretch of road is all cork oak and open sky. People have farmed this ground since the Romans put a villa on it, and the estate grew up around the ruins: whitewashed walls, worn stone, a central tower you climb for the last of the light, a courtyard that fills with kids about four minutes after you arrive. It's a working wine estate and a Member of Design Hotels, restored with the kind of care that doesn't announce itself. For two weeks, all of it is yours.
The Place
On the grounds
Torre de Palma
The only things on the schedule are the things you choose
Most days start slow and stay near the estate. Across the two weeks we do go further out, a full day in Évora or on the lake, a few hours in the local town, but never a forced march and never far, an hour or so each way, with a shuttle back at midday for anyone whose nap is non-negotiable.
The rest is a menu. Ride before breakfast, or don't. Sit by the pool while the kids throw pots in the craft room. Take a whole afternoon off. Nobody's counting heads at 7:45, and nobody's making you do anything. It takes most families a day to stop waiting for the whistle. Then they settle in.
How the days go
The best of the two weeks
Some of what the two weeks hold. None of it required, and all of it is for the whole family.
The cooking afternoon. An Alentejano grandmother takes over the kitchen for an afternoon and teaches everyone, kids up on stools, to make one real thing with their hands. She has opinions about how it's done. You'll do it her way, and you'll be glad you did.
The makers. Three Alentejano artisans that you visit for an afternoon each for instruction in local pottery, cork, and weaving. Learn how the craft has evolved over centuries, and then practice it yourself, coming away with a finished product you can be proud of.
A day in Évora. The whole camp drives out to the old walled town: a Roman temple still standing after two thousand years, streets too narrow for cars, and a long lunch somewhere with no menu in English.
Water Day. A whole day in Montargil, on the water and in it, the kind of afternoon that ends in wet towels and somebody asleep in the van on the way back.
The olive-oil estate. An afternoon at a family mill where you taste the oils the way you'd taste wine, and the kids paint their own bottles to carry home.
Up before the sun. A hot-air balloon at sunrise for anyone willing to set the alarm. The plains go from grey to gold underneath you, and the lost hour of sleep stops mattering somewhere over the vines.
The welcome and the farewell. Cante Alentejano, the region's old unaccompanied harmony singing, to open the first night. Rancho Folclórico, the local folk dancers, to close the last. Be immersed in the destination from beginning to end.
What you do together
Their own special things, run by grown-ups who are there just for them.
Some mornings the whole family will be together. Some mornings the kids will be three clues into a treasure hunt with a couple of new friends while you are off with the other parents. We make room for both, and there's a known adult with them the whole time either way.
Their two weeks have their own shape: a treasure hunt that runs the length of the trip, horseback riding lessons, a storytelling night under the stars, and a couple of sleepovers for the ones old enough to want them. The teens get their own track, their own counselor, and activities designed just for them. None of it is drop-off daycare. It's the good part of summer camp, with you still down the hall.
Just for the kids
Some time that's just yours, with the kids in good hands.
A few moments across the two weeks are set aside for the adults. The centerpiece is an evening at an old palace, talha wine poured the old way and Fado in the dark, the kind of night you don't plan and couldn't repeat. While you're out, the kids are having the best day of their week with the team they already know, and everyone's back at the same table by morning. It's the one part of the trip that isn't about togetherness, but it brings you back to your family feeling refreshed and invigorated, and happy that you made time for yourself.
Just for the adults
Who's looking after the kids?
Every family with a child under six gets its own nanny for the trip, the same person all two weeks, so by the third day your four-year-old has a favorite adult who isn't you, and you have someone you'd hand the car keys to without thinking. Kids 6 and over will be in a group with other kids around their age, with a staff to child ratio of 1:4. There's also a certified lifeguard whenever there's water time in the schedule, and a nurse who knows the nearest clinic and the name of the doctor on call.
You always know exactly who is watching your child. You'll feel the relief right away, when you catch yourself not scanning the room for your kid, because you already know exactly who has them.
What actually comes home with you.
A kid who can make something new with their hands and won't stop talking about it. A kid who rode a horse by the end of the week. An evening in a stranger's home that quietly changes how your children think about people who are different from them. And the thing you came for: two weeks where your whole family was in one place, unhurried, with nothing to manage. That's harder to buy than it sounds, and easier to remember than anything else you'll do next year.
→ Join the Waitlist
Your Host
Kristin Winkaffe hosts this one herself. She's on the ground for all thirteen nights, with her own husband and kids in the group. She's the one who read every application and chose the families, one at a time. She knows the chef, the horses, and which night has no moon for the stargazing. She's who you'll recognize upon arrival.
Before she built Winkaffe Global Travel, she spent years in human rights and international development, more than sixty countries, with a master's in the field. That's the part that makes the community and the impact of this trip real and not a slogan. She has also spent a good chunk of her life responsible for other people's children: years directing youth after-school and camp programs in Washington with a staff of thirty, a year teaching teenagers in Peru, more years teaching all ages in the US, and a school she helped build in a neighborhood that needed one. Keeping a lot of kids and a lot of grown-ups happy and safe is not a new trick for her, it's most of her resume.
The travel side has its receipts too. She's a 2024 and 2025 Virtuoso Sustainable Leadership Award winner, the 2025 Virtuoso Sustainability Community Mentor and a 2025 Travel & Leisure A-List member, she runs a hundred percent recommended across her reviews, and her work has been written up in The Washington Post, Forbes, Travel + Leisure, and USA Today, among many others.
Family Camp is new. Designing incredible travel and family experiences is not.
The person who'll actually be there.
The Investment
Eleven other families, chosen one at a time to fit yours, the ones your kids will still be texting in October. A grandmother who comes to cook in the estate kitchen, not for tourists, for this, because someone she trusts asked her to. A family who opens their home and their table for your family, no one else. Makers who come to the estate to teach you a new skill, learned from their parents, and their parents' parents before that. And a care team already thinking about your four-year-old's nap before she is. None of it is for sale anywhere, because none of it exists until this group does.
What Golden Days Costs:
Thirteen nights; every experience (with the exception of the sunrise hot air balloon ride which must be purchased separately); every breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack; the entire care team, with a dedicated nanny for your family if you have a child under 6; the photographer; the transportation; the wine at dinner; all of it.
- Starting at €50,000 per family for 2 adults and 1 child in a Double Superior (max occupancy 2A+1K) OR €51,500 per family for 2 adults and 1 child in a Junior Suite (max occupancy 2A+2K)
- Have more than one child? Add €4,400 for each additional child
- Need some more space? Add €14,500 for an additional Junior Suite or €13,000 for an additional Double Superior
- Not traveling with a second adult? Take €5,800 off the price.
- Traveling with another family? Please register separately. Two families cannot be combined on one registration.
Payment:
A 25 percent deposit holds your family's place the moment you're accepted. The balance follows in three equal payments, on November 1, 2026, January 5, 2027, and March 1, 2027.
Golden Days is priced in euros. Your card will be billed in USD based on the conversion rate on the day it is charged.
What it costs, and what that actually buys.
What's Not Included
- Thirteen nights at Torre de Palma, no other guests on property
- High-speed Wi-Fi at the hotel
- 13 breakfasts, 13 lunches, 13 dinners
- All wine, beer, soft drinks, juices, and select cocktails
- Special entertainment at select meals
- At least five days out as a family: Évora, Montargil, Estremoz, Arraiolos and Mainova
- Two days just for the adults (and just for the kids)
- Two evenings out for the adults (and special evenings in for the kids)
- More than fifteen optional on-estate experiences: the cooking afternoon with the avó, three artisan sessions (pottery, cork, textiles), the olive-oil estate with bottle-painting, riding on the Lusitanos, tower sundowners, stargazing with astronomers, and more
- The full kids' program: the thirteen-day treasure hunt, Roman-for-a-day, Kids Olympics, pizza-and-cinema night, and more, with a separate track for teens
- A dedicated nanny for every family with a child under six
- A kids' lead, a teen counselor, a certified lifeguard, a nurse, and sleepover supervisors
- Kristin and Winkaffe Global Travel staff
- A professional photographer all trip, a family photo session, and an edited gallery, yours to keep
- Private minibuses for every day out
- Midday shuttles back for anyone whose afternoon nap is non-negotiable
- Private airport transfers, both directions
- Round-the-clock support while you travel: flight-disruption help, insurance guidance, and planning for anything you add before or after
- International flights to and from Lisbon
- Gratuities
- Required travel insurance (we'll help you book it or offer guidance)
- Any pre- or post-trip extension (we'll plan it at no extra charge, but the travel costs are billed separately)
What your trip price includes
What's Included:
How to apply
If you've read this far, some part of you is already packing. So put your family forward. Applying is simple, entirely in writing, and done on your own time: tell us who you are, who your kids are, and why this is your summer. Write it honestly. We read every one ourselves, one family at a time, because who ends up in the room is the whole point, and we take real care getting it right.
You'll choose your room and see your family's exact price as you go, and leave a card to hold your place. The deposit is charged only once you're accepted, so the moment we say yes your spot is secured and everything after is handled.
The waitlist has the first window: applications are due by August 25th, 2026 to make the first round of acceptances. We review those together, send our yeses, and start building the twelve. If places remain, applications open to everyone, reviewed as they arrive, in the order received, until the group is complete.
Twelve families will spend next summer at Torre de Palma. If yours is one of them, this is where it starts. Join the waitlist by August 16th at 8pm EST to get in on the first round of applications, before they open to the public.
and how we choose
→ Join the Waitlist
How old do the kids need to be?
Any age. We've built for toddlers through teenagers. Every family with a child under six gets its own nanny for the trip, and the older kids will be supervised at a ratio of 1:4, so each age has somewhere to belong and someone looking after them.
The practical questions, answered.
FAQs
How do you decide which families get accepted?
Kristin reads every application herself, and she's mostly solving two problems: who fits in which room, and whether the families seem compatible. Beyond that there’s no bar you’re being held to. It depends on who else applies.
What if my child is shy, or has never done anything like this?
That's most kids on the first day. The pace is gentle, nothing is required, and the same nanny stays with your family all two weeks, so your child has a familiar adult from the start. The families are chosen to mesh, and by mid-week they'll have found their people. You'll see it happen.
How do you choose the families, and is this really the first one?
We read every application ourselves and build the group one family at a time, because who's in the room is the whole point. And yes, this is the first Family Camp. What isn't new is Kristin, who has hosted travelers and run programs full of other people's kids for years, and who will be on the ground with her own family the entire time.
What about allergies, dietary needs, or a picky eater?
All handled. Once you're accepted, you'll tell us everything on a camper-details form, and the kitchen plans around it, including the four-year-old who only eats beige. If you are concerned about whether or not your dietary needs will be able to be accommodated, please email us at familycamp@winkaffeglobal.com and we can discuss.
Can we bring grandparents or a caregiver, or take more than one room?
Yes to all of it. Families are welcome to book more than one room, and grandparents and caregivers are welcome in the group. Tell us who's coming and what anyone needs, including mobility or accessibility, and we'll plan the rooms and the days around it.
What happens if someone gets sick or hurt?
There's a nurse on call the entire trip who already knows the nearest clinic and the on-call doctor by name, and a certified lifeguard at every scheduled water activity. If something comes up, someone qualified is already a few steps away, and we handle getting you where you need to be.
What does a day actually look like?
A day is a menu, not a schedule. Mornings out to beat the heat, lazy afternoons on property, and a lot of choose-your-own in between. Join the morning, skip the afternoon, nobody's counting. The estate has Wi-Fi if you need to check in on work, then put it away.
How do we get there, and do you handle our flights?
You fly into Lisbon, and we arrange your family's private transfer from there, about two hours to the estate. We can assist you with booking your flights, or you can book your own and send us the details, and we support them the whole way, including any delay or cancellation, even flights we didn't book. You'll need a valid passport, and we'll flag any entry requirements for Portugal well ahead. Want to come early or stay on for Lisbon or the coast? Our expert travel advisors will offer their services free of charge.
How do payments and insurance work?
A 25 percent deposit holds your place the moment you're accepted, then three equal payments on November 1, 2026, January 5, 2027, and March 1, 2027. Pay in full by bank transfer within 14 days of acceptance for 3 percent off. Travel insurance is required and arranged separately within ten days of your deposit so the strongest coverage is available. We'll point you to a policy, purchase it for you if desired, and help you file a claim if you ever need to.
What's the cancellation policy, and what if you have to cancel?
- If you cancel before November 1, 2026: Refund of the amount paid less 10 percent of the total cost of your trip.
- After November 1, 2026 but before January 5, 2027: Refund of the amount paid less 25 percent of the total cost of your trip.
- After January 5, 2027 but before March 1, 2027: Refund of the amount paid less 50 percent of the total cost of your trip.
- After March 1, 2027: No Refund.
Travel insurance (purchased separately) is required. The right coverage can reimburse up to 100 percent of your non-refundable costs for a covered reason. If you need to cancel, we will help you file the claim. If we have to cancel the camp for any reason, however, you will get a full refund or a credit toward a future trip, your choice. If a force majeure event makes it impossible, we postpone to a new date or give you a credit.
