Palácio da Pena, Sintra

The enchanting UNESCO World Heritage landscape of Sintra is an understandably popular destination. Although it’s less than an hour from Lisbon, it’s a world apart. We’re talking forested hills filled with fanciful palaces, romantic gardens, centuries-old castles and convents, all contained within a natural park fringed by beautiful beaches.

In fact, there are so many things to do in Sintra that, after countless visits, I highly recommend you plan ahead to make the most of your time. Or take a tour and let someone else take care of the logistics for you.

Note: See my Sintra hotels and accommodation tips if you intend to stay overnight.

GUIDED TOURS TO SINTRA FROM LISBON
Explore the UNESCO World Heritage sights of Sintra including the mansion of Quinta de Regaleira. LEARN MORE

Enjoy palaces, gardens and more on this full-day private guided tour of Sintra from Lisbon.  MAKE AN ENQUIRY  

Rent an e-car for a self-drive tour of Pena Palace, Quinta da Regaleira and some of the beautiful coastal areas such as Azenhas do Mar and Cabo da Roca. LEARN MORE

Best things to do in Sintra

These are the most popular sights in Sintra but you won’t have time to see them all in just one day so either choose a couple of them or stay overnight.

1. Be wowed by the fairy tale excess at Pena Palace

Palácio da Pena, Sintra, Portugal
Palácio da Pena, Sintra, Portugal

The multicoloured icon of Sintra is Palácio da Pena. Never mind icing on a cake, it actually looks like an extreme wedding cake with its bright colours, teeming with turrets and extravagant architectural details like the famous window (see photo below).

It is worth the journey uphill but, being one of the most popular things to do in Sintra, expect to find tourists crawling all over the palace and long queues to see into roped-off rooms. If sounds like your idea of hell, choose a quieter palace, such as Queluz, Sintra National Palace or Biester.

Tip: If you visit very early in the morning or late afternoon you should miss the worst of the hoards. Otherwise, at least try to avoid weekends and preferably come during the winter months. Or visit with an organised tour, like this one.

Try to create space in your Sintra itinerary to allow you to explore the surrounding park and woodland at a more relaxed pace.

You’ll need at least 2 hours to visit Pena Palace plus travel time. At the moment, you need to buy a timed entrance ticket so make sure you allow plenty of time to get to the actual palace before your visit is due to start. Give yourself 30 minutes between the park gate and the palace entrance. Open daily from 9:30, park only is €7.50, palace and park €14. Buy tickets online.

2. Explore the folly-filled garden at Quinta da Regaleira

Quinta da Regaleira and trees in Sintra, Portugal
Quinta da Regaleira in Sintra, Portugal

What happens when you give an extremely talented and visionary designer unlimited funds and a free rein to renovate a property?

Go to Quinta da Regaleira and you’ll find out.

Luigi Manini, an Italian artist, set designer and architect, landed the job of transforming the property at the beginning of the 20th century. He spent the next nine years detailing every aspect of both the gardens and the house.

The grottos, caves and secret tunnels that are scattered throughout the grounds bear a striking resemblance to his theatre sets. Follies include a Dante-inspired inverted well, various fountains, turrets and bridges and a neo-Manueline chapel, providing immense fun for children and adults alike.

The house may not hold great appeal for kids but it definitely merits more than a quick peek.

My favourite room is the Sala da Caça (the Hunting Room), which was used as the family dining room. I’m no fan of hunting but the workmanship of the sculpted mantelpiece and doorways is awe-inspiring. Best of all is the brightly coloured mosaic floor, decorated with scenes from nature and hunting.

Each room has a unique floor and ceiling, as you’ll see when you get to the upper floor which is filled with Manini’s designs and more information than you can possibly take in during a single visit. To be fair, this is probably of most appeal to architects and designers but the ground floor rooms should not be rushed.

There’s a café in the grounds if you need a break between house and gardens.

Detail, ceiling, Music Room, Quinta da Regaleira, Sintra
Detail, ceiling, Music Room, Quinta da Regaleira, Sintra

Buy this skip-the-line ticket with a guided tour.

Expect to spend around 2 hours at Quinta da Regaleira. Open daily from 9:30 am.

3. Discover centuries of history at Sintra National Palace

National Palace, Sintra, at night
National Palace, Sintra, at night

One of the oldest and certainly the most central of Sintra’s monuments is the National Palace, which is also one of my favourites. Its iconic double chimney stacks belong to the kitchen and are impressive from inside and out.

Other special features of the town’s oldest royal palace include the ceilings painted with swans, magpies and ships and the fabulous array of original azulejos (painted tiles) which span the 15th to the 19th centuries. You’ll also find some splendid examples of Mudejar and Manueline architecture.

Allow at least an hour for visiting Sintra National Palace. Two if you like to take your time over details. Open daily.

Buy your skip-the-line ticket here.

4. Conquer the rugged battlements at Castle of the Moors

Moorish Castle walls, Sintra
Moorish Castle walls, Sintra

As an antidote to all this ostentation, the coarse ruggedness and unadorned simplicity of Sintra’s Castelo dos Mouros works well.

Originally built in the 10th century, the Moorish Castle has been added to many times over the centuries that followed and used in strategic defense.

I enjoyed clambering around the ramparts and taking in the stunning views, although you have to work for them!

You’ll need to factor in transfer times as it’s away from Sintra town centre but once there, I’d say you’ll want up to an hour.

Book your skip-the-line ticket to the Castle here or maybe combine the Castle with the park and Pena Palace.as they are very close to each other.

Open daily from 9:30 am.

5. Visit Queluz National Palace & Gardens for 18th century splendour

Polychrome tiles on every wall, Queluz National Palace, Sintra, Portugal
Polychrome tiles, Queluz National Palace, Sintra, Portugal

Thanks to its location a few kilometres outside of Sintra, Queluz National Palace often gets overlooked by visitors. This is a shame because the recently renovated 18th century royal palace is a magnificent example of Rococco architecture and finery, surrounded by manicured gardens.

It’s also full of amazing azulejos, both inside and out, and home to the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art.

If you do go there, you won’t have to worry about crowds, which is a real bonus compared to other Sintra monuments.

Practicalities: The Royal Palace of Queluz is about a 15-minute walk from the Queluz-Belas train station, which is on the Lisbon-Sintra line, departing from Oriente or Rossio station every 20 minutes or so. You could break your journey to Sintra here, visit the palace and then continue to old town Sintra to see another monument.

Open daily from 09:00 to 18:00, last admission 17:30. Palace and gardens €13.

Allow a good couple of hours to explore Queluz Palace and gardens, more if you want to catch any of the equestrian activities.

6. Escape the crowds at Chalet da Condessa d’Edla and Pena Farm

If you’d rather avoid queues at Pena Palace and be content with viewing it from the outside, you could aim straight for this small but beautifully restored chalet inside Pena Park.

Chalet da Condessa d’Edla

The Swiss-German origins of the Countess of Edla may explain some of the decorative features of the “House of Delights” that she and her husband, King Ferdinand II, had built in the forest. The building was severely damaged in a fire but has since been reconstructed with replicas of the original interior decor and imaginative use of cork.

Though mostly unfurnished, the items on display, such as the royal picnic basket, and information panels give fascinating insights into their lifestyle at the end of the 19th century.

A visit to the chalet itself will probably take up no more than half an hour (plus travel time) but allow another hour or more to explore the surrounding park, which encompasses and offers great views of Pena Palace. Open 9.30 am to 7 pm in high season, €9.50 full price, which includes access to the Pena Park.

Tip: If you intend to visit Pena Palace and/or the Moorish Castle, buy a combined ticket at the chalet and walk through the woods to reach the other entrances via the lakes. If you’re not up to walking far, there is a hop on hop off bus that does the rounds of the Pena Park for an extra €3.50.

Pena Park, farm and equestrian activities

Pena Park holds many treasures such as the Valley of the Ferns, restored greenhouses and a small ornamental farm with vegetable plots, sheep, chickens and horses that was built in the 19th century along the lines of the one that Louis XVII had.

You can take a look behind the scenes of the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art and watch the training and rehearsals required for their special galas and shows. More details here.

7. Hike the Villa Sassetti trail

Villa Sassetti, Sintra, Portugal
Villa Sassetti, Sintra, Portugal

If you’re reasonably fit, you can hike between Sintra old town and the hilltop monuments of Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle. The steep forest path takes you past the restored Villa Sassetti and Penedo da Amizade, a huge boulder that climbers like to tackle.

Mike and I were pushed for time and are not keen on climbing hills so we opted to take an Uber to the Chalet da Condessa D’Edla and then walked back downhill through Pena Park and via Villa Sassetti.

We got a little lost once we reached the cobbled road at the Lakes Entrance to Pena Park but eventually located the start of the Villa Sassetti trail. It is a worthy walk and offers plenty of shade and great views so I’d recommend doing it at least one way if you have time (allow about 45 minutes to 1 hour each way).

See this post for more wonderful hikes in Sintra Cascais Natural Park

Tip: The trail downhill starts at the end of the car park opposite the Lakes Entrance to Pena Park. In other words, cross the road and walk through the car park. The other end is beside the Parque das Merendas (picnic area) marked on this map.

Tip: Although full on hiking gear is not necessary, the terrain is uneven so you need sensible shoes.

8. Experience simplicity and nature at Convento dos Capuchos

For a complete contrast to the excessive grandeur of Sintra’s palaces, head a few kilometres out of the town centre to the 16th century Convento dos Capuchos.

This jumbled maze of low-level buildings is nestled in woodland, providing a relatively peaceful respite from the heavily touristed sites.

It’s easy to see why the Capuchin monks chose this location, surrounded by natural beauty with views that extend to the coast.

As you’ll see from patchy, peeling plaster, mossy boulders and cork-clad walls, the convent fell into disrepair during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Nevertheless, it provides a fascinating insight into the austere lifestyle of the Capuchin monks who lived and trained here. Enter the convent itself through the Door of Death and poke around the tiny dormitories, the kitchen, chapel and cloisters.

Although I walked along the road from Sintra to the convent, it’s quite a trek and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, especially in summer. There’s no public transport, so the only alternative would be to drive or take a taxi /Uber.

Once there, you can easily while away an hour or more.

9. Romantic Monserrate Palace and gardens

Monserrate is another one of Sintra’s lesser-visited sites but well worth the extra effort involved in getting there. After all, it’s only a short bus ride (bus #435) or drive from the town centre.

Monserrate Palace itself is smaller than I expected and has only been open to the public for a few years. Although still beautiful enough to inspire Lord Byron to write a poem, Monserrate’s original neo-Gothic palace was already in ruins by the time he visited.

The subsequent rebuilding, interior decoration and ingenious infrastructures plus much of the landscaped gardens you can see today were down to Sir Francis Cook who took over the property in 1858. The ceilings alone are worth straining your neck for, especially the one in the main atrium between the colonnaded galleries leading to each end of the palace.

There’s little furniture in the house now but the information boards have black and white photographs of how each room looked while the Cook family lived there. If that’s not enough, you can have a go on Edgar, the interactive butler, to find out more about the family and the history of the property.

It was raining when Mike and I visited Monserrate Gardens but that didn’t stop us following the walking trail through the romantic and exotic gardens that separate the palace from the road.

With waterfalls, lakes, ferns growing out of trees and tropical plants from around the world, it’s a wonderful sanctuary to roam. It too has follies, including a neo-Gothic chapel, deliberately ruined to create a whimsically romantic atmosphere. These days, it’s partially covered by a strangler fig and one of the ponds is home to a salamander lizard.

You can choose Monserrate Palace on this full-day private guided tour of Sintra from Lisbon, which covers gardens and palaces.

Factor in a couple of hours for this visit, plus travel time. Open from 9:30 am.

Buy your skip-the-line ticket for the palace here.

Time in Monserrate and at the Capuchos Convent are included in my 2-Week Portugal Discovery Tour.

Or arrange a one-day guided hike to these off-the-beaten track sights by completing this enquiry form.

10. Neoclassical features at Seteias Palace

Seteias Palace was originally built in the 18th century for the Dutch Consul and is now a luxury hotel, part of the Tivoli Group.

High on the hill overlooking Sintra, its noble neoclassical facade is matched by the period decor inside, including frescoes and beautiful wooden furniture.

Even if you’re not staying at the hotel, you can treat yourself to lunch or dinner in the elegant restaurant. We did none of those things but the staff very kindly let us have a nosy around the public spaces for a few minutes.

11. Biester Palace and Park

I haven’t managed to make it to Biester Palace yet but I want to pass on the reports I’ve heard about it to you. It’s not on the ‘Sintra must-sees’ but it’s only a question of time. The photos and descriptions show a beautiful palace set in gorgeous grounds. A (very big) plus side is there are no crowds! So take this opportunity to explore this fascinating place- I will soon!

Check out the site for details and the chance to look at photos. Open April to October 10am to 8 pm, November to March 10 am to 6.30pm. Cost €10 and with a 90 minute guided tour €18.

12. Taste Colares wine

Portugal has many microclimates and terroirs and the unique growing conditions in the tiny Colares wine region produce some of Europe’s oldest rootstock wines.

Grown in sand, in proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, the local vines were protected from the devastating phylloxera plague that destroyed many European vineyards in the 1900s. The resulting wines have a curious mineral flavour and are something of an acquired taste but worth trying if you get the chance.

There are a few wineries close to Sintra. I visited the small Adega Viúva Gomes, although the larger Adega Regional de Colares is probably easier to visit (closed Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday). Both require vehicle transfers from Sintra so factor in travel time plus and hour or so for the tour and tasting.

For other wineries to visit in the Lisbon area, check out this post.

13. Walks in and around Sintra

As well as the Vila Sassetti trail, you’ll notice lots of markers around town for PR (Pequenas Rotas = Short Routes) walks painted with yellow and red stripes but having tried unsuccessfully to follow a couple, I would not rely solely on these markings.

Within the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, you’ll find the GR-11 Atlantic Route which takes you along spectacular coastline and through small villages, including the picturesque Azenhas do Mar.

See this article about hiking in and around Sintra for more details.

If you’re interested in a guided hike, let me know and I will connect you with a suitable tour operator.

14. Visit Sintra old town for souvenir shopping

The town has cashed in on the never-ending flow of tourists that visit Sintra each day. The narrow cobbled streets leading away from the National Palace are littered with souvenir shops, cafés named after famous poets and port wine tasting outlets.

While some of these shops sell pure tat, there are still gems to be found.

My two favourite shops in Sintra are Páteo do Titão, a treasure trove of gorgeous, quality Portuguese arts and crafts and Olaria S. Pedro, a ceramics shop that I first discovered in the medieval town of Óbidos.

FAQs about visiting Sintra

These are the most common questions people ask me. (Click the question to see my answer.)

Can you see Sintra in one day?

Many people come here on a day trip from Lisbon to Sintra but one day is not long enough to see all of its attractions.

If you really can only spend one day in Sintra, it’s wise to plan ahead to create an itinerary that maximises whatever time you’ve got. If this sounds like too much work, there are several guided tours that will take care of the decision-making and logistics for you.

Ideally, you’ll need two, if not three or four days to fully appreciate Sintra’s charms, especially if you want to do any walks in the surrounding Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.

Alternatively, let my partner travel agent take care of everything on one of my Portugal Itineraries. My 8-Day Introduction To Portugal Itinerary includes a day trip to Sintra while the 2-week tour gives you two nights here and the chance to explore the natural park.

Do I need a guide in Sintra?

A visit to Sintra at the height of the tourist season can be overwhelming. You could be standing in queues for hours or packed like sardines on a bus.

Taking a guided tour can take care of all of the logistics and provide you with someone who has an insiders guide to the monuments.

You can tackle Sintra without a guide but you’ll need a carefully planned itinerary and lots of patience.

Alternatively, let my partner travel agent take care of everything on one of my Portugal Itineraries. My 8-Day Introduction To Portugal Itinerary includes a day trip to Sintra while the 2-week tour gives you two nights here and the chance to explore the natural park.

Is Pena Palace worth it?

Bear in mind seemingly everyone who spends time in Sintra has to visit Pena Palace. Understandably, it can get VERY crowded.

Because of this, when you purchase your ticket to the Park and National Palace of Pena, you must now choose the day and time at which you want to visit the Palace. And they are VERY strict. If you’re late turning up you won’t be allowed in and tickets are non-refundable.

Be careful with your planning. It takes 30 minutes to get to the Palace once you’ve entered the Park so make sure you factor this in.

Maybe avoid the crowds and visit Biester or Queluz Palace instead.

How to get to Sintra?

By train: If you’re based in Lisbon it’s an easy, direct train journey from Lisbon’s Rossio station to Sintra, although it’s a 20-minute walk from Sintra train station into the historical centre. It’s downhill on the way there but you might want to Uber your way back up after a long day of sightseeing. See train timetables here.  

Take a guided tour from Lisbon: You can relieve the stress by letting someone else organize the travelling. There are many tours on offer from small group to private.

Driving: Don’t drive! Driving into Sintra itself is something I wouldn’t recommend, especially in high season as the narrow roads quickly get clogged. I got so fed up with the traffic jams when I tried to visit one September, I gave up and drove back to Lisbon.

The local council has now barred all but essential traffic from the historical centre so getting from one side of Sintra to to hilltop monuments involves quite a circuitous one way system, which is at least less scary than having to deal with two-way traffic on narrow roads.

Parking is also a nightmare unless you visit off-peak. There are park and ride facilities at Portela de Sintra and a couple of car parks on the edge of the old town.

Having said that, having a car will give you the freedom to explore the natural park, nearby villages and to head to the coast so if you can visit off-season, it’s worth considering.

I recommend booking a hire car from Discovercars. Try to find a Sintra hotel with parking facilities if you’re staying overnight.

 How do I get between Sintra attractions?

There are many ways of getting around Sintra once you’re there.

On foot: If you’re fit and have plenty of time, you can walk to the main attractions, including the hilltop Moorish Castle and Pena Palace – see the tips about the Villa Sassetti trail.

Go green: You could feel good about getting around Sintra by hiring a two person electric car. You can explore at your own leisurely pace, navigate the winding roads easily and go on to visit some of the beautiful coastal areas. And there’s free parking at designated spots.

Public transport: Scotturb bus 434 will take you to both sites from the train station or town centre. For Monseratte and Seteias palaces plus Quinta da Regaleira, take bus 435. There’s a Scotturb ticket office opposite the train station if you want to buy a pass or you can pay on board for single journeys. These buses get quite crowded at peak times.

There are also taxis, Uber and plenty of tuk tuks eager to drive you around.

Should I buy tickets in advance?

You may lose a little spontaneity but I recommend planning your itinerary carefully, choosing which places are must sees and book tickets in advance.

If you’re visiting Pena Palace select your time to visit and plan around that.

Check here for a selection of Sintra tickets you can get in advance.

The Parques de Sintra website has lots more information about each monument and helpful tools.

What’s the best time of day to visit?

Basically, as early as possible before the crowds turn up. The park opens at 9am and Pena Palace 30 minutes later. Try to avoid peak midday. It eases off gradually throughout the afternoon. 4pm should be a good time to visit. The Palace closes at 6.30pm.

For exact opening and closing times, plus cost, of many of the monuments, see parquesdesintra.pt

When is the best time of year to visit?

If you can be flexible try to avoid the summer months. The parks and monuments in Sintra are open throughout the year, with the exception of Christmas Day and New Years Day.

We’ve spent hours strolling around palaces and gardens with hardly anyone else there purely because it was out of season. It’s not only less congested but cooler!

Note: During summer 2022 many of the palaces and parks had to close for a few days by legal imposition, due to extreme risk of rural fire. You can’t plan around this apart from avoiding that time of year.

Eating and drinking in Sintra

Some of the bakeries have queues out the door for the famous Sintra queijadas (sweet cheese cakes) and travesseiros (sweet pastry) and a day in Sintra is not quite complete without trying one of these, especially when they’re still warm. That said, my favourite café for cakes is Café Saudade, near the train station. They serve light meals, too.

However, if you’re after a more substantial meal, it can be a bit hit and miss.

Mike and I experienced the highs and lows of eating out in Sintra, the low being a plate of slop, sorry bacalhau com natas (cod with cream and potato), something I normally enjoy but resent being overcharged for when it’s way below standard.

Thankfully, the other meal we had was the other end of the spectrum if a little pricey. I had high hopes as the restaurant is called A Raposa (The Fox). It’s small, family run, elegant and in a room with beautiful fresco ceilings.

The food was excellent although don’t go there if you need to eat in a hurry. Dishes are made from scratch and take time to prepare so relax and be prepared to linger over a meal. They also serve interesting-looking sandwiches and teas earlier in the day.

Places to stay in Sintra

Sintra has a wide range of accommodation from luxury palaces to modern design hotels, traditional guest houses and cute, trendy hostels.

Check out all my suggestions for places to stay in Sintra

If you plan to go self-catering, note that we haven’t come across even a small grocery store during any of our stays in Sintra historical centre so if you haven’t got a car, you might find it tricky to stock up on supplies.

More information about visiting Sintra

The Parques de Sintra website has lots more information about each monument and helpful tools such as travel planners and ticket calculators. Download audio guides on an app for the following monuments:

  • National Palace of Sintra
  • National Palace of Pena and Chalet of the Countess of Edla
  • National Palace and Gardens of Queluz
  • Park and Palace of Monserrate
  • Convent of the Capuchos

You can also find out about cultural events being held in Sintra’s monuments as well as temporary closures for restoration works.

Check here for a selection of Sintra tickets you can get in advance.

Tip: Save money by purchasing combined passes – the more monuments you visit, the greater the % discount. Discounts apply for youths, families and seniors.

Quinta da Regaleira is managed by a separate foundation so you’ll need to visit its own website for more information.

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Deep well. Sintra is bursting with magnificent architecture, from rugged castles to fairy tale palaces, and some of its buildings are delightfully quirky. This charming town is within easy reach of a day trip from Lisbon, Portugal, but the chances are that, after reading this insider guide, you'll want to stay there longer!
Guide to planning your perfect Sintra itinerary
Rugged castle. Sintra is bursting with magnificent architecture and some of its bu
How to plan a Sintra itinerary


50 Comments

  1. Saving this information for when we are ready to visit. Very helpful, thanks.

  2. Great information! We are going to be in Portugal for ~8 days in the summer; we’re staying Obidos but planning at least one day to Sintra.

    1. Happy to help. Have a great time!

  3. We will be driving in from the north, Oct .7th, stopping in Sintra before going on to Lisbon. Will arrive mid morning hopefully. Which sights should we see first. I am thinking making Pena Palace our last stop and doing town, lunch and Quinta de Regaleira, which I hear is a better choice than the Palace?, first. Thanks for any tips.

  4. Hi Julie
    Thanks for your interesting posts. I’m just finishing my research for our trip to Portugal, leaving next Saturday! Your posts have provided unique tidbits that I haven’t seen anywhere else!

  5. Hi Julie,
    It has been a week since I got back from my three week vacation in Spain and Portugal. I spent 4 days in Sintra. I found it interesting that tourists I ran into questioned why I was spending several days there and my intuition told me to go there and reading your website helped as well. I have fallen in love with Sintra and I was grateful to how peaceful and relaxing it was even with the tourists. I ate at some restaurants away from the city centre. I was traveling solo and had the best time in Sintra. For transportation I bought the viva viagen card to get around which allowed me to do Cabo da Roca, Cascais, Estoril, etc. I had to buy a separate transport to Pena and Moorish castle but it was worth it. I was so impressed with the bus drivers driving those narrow roads. I stayed at an airbnb near train station. I am definitely planning to go back to Sintra. Thanks for all your valuable information that helped with my trip to be most memorable. I seriously dream about moving to Sintra.

  6. Thanks, this is so helpful! I found it while researching whether or not to spend my 2 night stopover in Lisbon or Sintra. I think Sintra with the last afternoon in Lisbon. Thanks for the help 🙂

  7. we will visit Sintra next month.
    We want to take buses 434 and 435. I am wondering if it is easy to change buses when they meet at a stop.

    1. Yes, but you may have a wait in between

  8. Sintra is great, but can be a headache.

    Here are my tips:

    1. Whatever you do – DO NOT BUY A CITY SIGHTSEEING TICKET from the couple right next to the train station because
    (a) It is a waste of money if you are only going to go for half a day and/or plan only to visit a few places (probably Quinta de la Regaleira, Pena Palace, and/or the Moorish castle).
    (b) They are the rudest couple on the planet and will lie to you that the bus is “coming in 5 minutes” to lure you into buying that instead of the much cheaper public bus because the lines for that will be intimidatingly long. We waited for 2 HOURS in the scorching heat. And when I approached them to get a refund they started screaming at me in front of their children — even though I later found out from another vendor that they are obliged to give me a refund. Their names are Joāo and Claudia. AVOID AT ALL COST.

    2. Instead, get a tuktuk to Pena Palace (which you should buy tickets for in advance online to avoid long lines), and then another to the Quinta de Regaleira. It is 5 euro per person, MUCH faster, more fun, and the drivers are nice and will tell you history if you ask. From there, you can walk to the city center where the train station is in a fast 10 minute walk or a leisurely stroll because along the way there are artists and vendors set up which is also fun.

    3. EAT A QUEIJADA!!! They are unique to Sintra and so so so good. We had some at Piriquita II, a nice spot with an outdoor terrace for a quick lunch. But there is one place especially well-known for them: queijadas de sapa.

    4. If you’re going to see just a few places, I’d go earlier rather than later to avoid the crowds, but you will be able to get back to Lisbon by mid-afternoon.

    Bottom line: DO NOT BUY CITY SIGHTSEEING PASS FROM JOĀO AND CLAUDIA. The other City Sighseeing vendor told us that Joāo and Claudia have a terrible reputation and even once got into a physical altercation with a customer.

  9. Hi Julie we are going to be in Sintra in March we will have a car, can we use it there or should we just use the buses, the guest house we are staying at has parking

    1. Author

      Hi George, If you’re there on a busy weekend, you probably won’t want to drive around Sintra itself – the streets are narrow and you could be stuck in traffic – but on weekdays it’s not so bad. Having the car will give you the flexibility to visit the Capuchos monastery, Monseratte and other ‘out of the way’ palaces as well as the Colares wineries and even the beaches.

Over to you. Please share your thoughts in a comment.