Experiences
Destination
Search destinations
Date
Add dates
Sintra
4 experiences and tours
Sintra | National Palace & Sweets – Meet at Train Station
2hFree cancellation
Sintra: Biester Palace Guided Tour and Pastry Tasting
2hFree cancellation
Private Sintra | Regaleira & National Palace
3hFree cancellation
Lisbon: Sintra, Pena, Regaleira, Roca Coast, & Cascais Tour
9hFree cancellation
More experiences in Lisbon
Explore other destinations
Sintra is where Portuguese kings went to escape the summer heat, and where 19th-century dreamers built whatever they liked on a green, misty ridge above the Atlantic. In one small area you find a Moorish castle on the rocks, a yellow and red palace on the highest peak, a royal palace with two giant kitchen chimneys and a garden estate with a well you walk down into.
Most people come for the day from Lisbon. Some join a guided walk through the old town with a visit inside one palace and a stop for pastries. Others book a private guide to set their own pace, or take a full day by road that adds Cabo da Roca and Cascais on the way back. Check each card for what entry is included and where you meet.
About Sintra
Sintra sits on the northern slope of the Serra de Sintra, about 25 km west of Lisbon. The hills catch cloud from the ocean, so the forest is thick and damp, and the town is often cooler and greyer than the capital.
The Moors built a castle on the ridge in the 10th century. Below it, the National Palace in the old town grew over hundreds of years into a summer home for the royal family. In 1838 King Ferdinand II bought a ruined monastery on the summit and turned it into the Pena Palace, mixing Gothic, Manueline and Moorish styles in bright colours. Wealthy families followed with their own estates, among them Monserrate, built for the English collector Francis Cook, and Quinta da Regaleira, with its gardens of grottoes and towers.
UNESCO lists the town, its palaces and the forest around them together as the Cultural Landscape of Sintra.
What to expect on a Sintra experience
Sintra is a day of climbing. The old town sits low, while Pena and the Moorish Castle are high above it, linked by steep roads and forest paths.
In the old town, the National Palace is easy to spot by its two white cone chimneys over the royal kitchen. Inside are painted ceilings with magpies and swans, and a hall lined with the coats of arms of noble families. Around it are narrow lanes, shops and cafés selling travesseiros, pillow-shaped puff pastries with an egg and almond filling, and queijadas, small cheese tarts. Biester Palace, a Romantic house a short walk away, opened to visitors in recent years.
Quinta da Regaleira is a walk through gardens full of grottoes, towers and symbols. The highlight is the Initiation Well, a spiral staircase that winds down into the ground and leads through damp tunnels to a lake. You may only go down the well, not up.
Pena Palace has painted terraces with views to the ocean, and royal rooms left as they were. The park around it is large, with lakes, a chalet and a high cross on the top of the hill. The Moorish Castle next door is a walk along stone walls on bare rock.
Wear shoes with grip and bring a layer, even in summer. Fog can roll in fast, and paths and steps get slippery. Pushchairs and wheelchairs struggle on many routes.
Best time to visit
Pena Palace tickets are sold for a set date and time, and you can only enter at your slot, so buy ahead in busy months. At Quinta da Regaleira you can enter up to an hour after the time on your ticket, with last entry at 17:30. The National Palace in the old town has no time slots.
Sintra is busiest from late spring to early autumn, at weekends and around midday, when coaches and cruise groups arrive. Starting early, especially at Pena, makes the biggest difference.
Spring and autumn are good for walking. Summer brings long days but crowds. Winter is quiet and green, but wet, and Quinta da Regaleira closes earlier. On any visit, a clear morning can turn foggy by lunchtime, so see the views when you have them.
Getting around
Trains run from Rossio station in central Lisbon to Sintra. The National Palace and the old town are a short walk from Sintra station. To reach Pena and the Moorish Castle, take the 434 bus, which loops between the station, the old town and the hilltop sites, or walk up the steep forest path. Private cars cannot drive up to Pena or the castle, and parking in town is hard.
Full-day trips from Lisbon use a minibus or car and usually head on to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, then down the coast through Cascais.