What to See in Sintra

Tips for visiting Sintra

A visit to Sintra is a must on the itinerary of any traveller staying in Lisbon. The little town of Sintra has plenty of castles and parks, but not all of them are worth visiting. You also need to plan your visit sensibly so that you can see the right places in 2 days or even in 1. To visit everything described below you will have to leave Lisbon as early in the morning as possible. It takes about 40 minutes to drive to Sintra. It is better not to take your own car into the historic part of the town itself. There are many one-way streets with constant traffic jams, and lots of road signs such as the white circle and the brick. And most important of all, there is veeeery little parking!!! How many days should you spend in Sintra? It depends on what you want: 1, 2 or 3 days... Some things are a must, and some are optional, if you feel like it.

You can get to Sintra by train (for travellers without a car) or by your own car. In Sintra there are two decent parking options for your own car:

• Sintra station - paid parking 38.798409, -9.386584. However, the car park is very small and the chance of finding a space there is low.
• free parking at weekends (Saturday from 1 pm, all day Sunday) - 38.801452, -9.376795 (Parque Estacionamento P3). If you need to pay for parking on a weekday or on Saturday morning, the EasyPark app will help. From here you can call a taxi through the Uber app and ride to your first castle, or take a taxi to Sintra station (coordinates 38.799224, -9.385779). Hop-on hop-off buses leave from there, no. 434 and no. 435, which are two different routes; the map is in the photo below. A 24-hour ticket costs 13.5 euros per person (bought from the driver). For that price you can get on and off as many times as you like on routes 434 and 435, and so move between the castles. One catch: the buses run without a timetable, and although they are fairly frequent, you may have to wait 15-30 minutes.

Recommendations:  In Sintra there are many car parks that are not recommended for safety reasons. That is why the detailed description of how to choose a car park is given above. From Parque Estacionamento P3 we recommend taking a taxi straight to whichever castle you visit first, because the fare to a bus stop differs by only 5 euros (10-15 euros to Regaleira Palace), while the travel time is cut significantly. After that, move around by bus. Or there are always taxis and tuk-tuks near every castle)

Palaces, castles  and parks of Sintra: in what order to see them

1. Palácio Nacional de Sintra  - we did not visit it, as it is similar in type to Pena Palace, which we really disliked.
2. Quinta da Regaleira ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - a thrilling walk through the park and the legendary Initiation Well, as well as other tunnels.
3. Parque e Palácio de Monserrate ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - a wonderful unhurried walk through a blooming park and a look at a small but very beautiful palace.
4. Castelo dos Mouros ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - the best panorama of Sintra, with views of Pena Palace, Quinta da Regaleira and the Sintra National Palace.
5. Palácio Nacional da Pena ⭐ - the visit goes back to back through the whole palace in one single endless queue, in a stuffy, smelly space full of sweaty people... In essence it all comes down to poor folk marvelling at the castle's riches...

Recommended route around Sintra:

From the car park  Parque Estacionamento P3 we take a taxi to Castelo dos Mouros (no. 1), and from there we admire the panorama of the whole of Sintra with its main sights. Allow 1 hour to visit the fortress walls, then you can walk down to the Historic Center + Palácio Nacional de Sintra (steps, about 1.5 km downhill). There is also a stop there for the hop-on hop-off buses no. 434 and no. 435. From the Moorish Castle to Pena Palace it is 0.5 km, but the whole way is uphill. You can take the same bus or a tuk-tuk. Or from the Moorish Castle you can take bus no. 434 to the Sintra Palace stop, change there to bus no. 435 and get off at the next stop, Quinta da Regaleira (no. 2). Allow 1 to 1.5 hours to visit the palace and park of Quinta da Regaleira. Then take bus no. 435 or a taxi / tuk-tuk to Monserrate Palace. Allow 1 hour to visit the park and palace of Parque e Palácio de Monserrate (no. 3). So in one day you can definitely visit 3 palaces of Sintra.

Below is a more detailed description of the palaces, because the ratings given in online reviews are ones we do not agree with) That TOP list was compiled by lovers of museums and palaces, judging by the exhibits inside. Our emphasis is on nature, panoramas and architecture outside. Frankly, we are not interested in interior decoration at all: we are not "museum" people, we are travellers!

1. Palácio Nacional da Pena - 0
2. Palácio Nacional de Sintra - after visiting Pena Palace, we did not even want to go here...
3. Quinta da Regaleira - by our rating this is TOP 1
4. Castelo dos Mouros - by our rating this is TOP 2
5. Parque e Palácio de Monserrate - by our rating this is TOP 3

What to see in Sintra

• The estate of Quinta da Regaleira ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Quinta da Regaleira is rather a park with underground labyrinths and the legendary Initiation Well. The palace itself is basically a souvenir shop inside. What matters most at Quinta da Regaleira is its architecture outside, as well as the beautiful tower, arch and so on; in other words, what is found on the grounds of the park.

There is no point in buying tickets in advance, as they let people in 15 minutes before the appointed time, and the queue for tickets moves quickly. We had this situation: we arrived at 13:50 with tickets bought beforehand, with entry at 14:30, and stood waiting until 14:15. Meanwhile the people who came with us and bought their tickets at the box office on the spot got in before us) A ticket costs 15 euros per person. You must visit this castle in Sintra, 100%!

Coordinates of the ticket office: 38°47'45.2"N 9°23'50.3"W. The map below shows the approximate walking route through the park. There are many hidden passages and places in this park... You can read the history of the estate beforehand and everything becomes clear: Masonic gatherings, the Initiation Well, which is either the 9 Circles of Hell, or purification, or a joining of the conscious and the subconscious... There are hidden symbols on the grounds. All in all, it will be interesting)

Note that everybody heads straight for the Initiation Well, and you should do the same. However, you will have to stand in line for about 7 minutes to go down the magic steps)

• Castelo dos Mouros ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Moorish Castle is 500 m below Pena Palace. There is no need to buy tickets here in advance: 12 euros per person. The map below shows the ticket office, the route along the fortress walls and the descent, a path to the historic centre of Sintra and the Sintra National Palace (1.5 km on foot, yellow arrows). Visiting the Moorish walls means first a walk through the forest of up to 10 minutes, and then about 30-40 minutes to enjoy the panorama of the whole of Sintra from the fortress walls (red arrows). In the video below the camera zooms in on Pena Palace, Quinta da Regaleira and the Sintra National Palace in turn. 

• Palácio Nacional da Pena ⭐

Palácio Nacional da Pena is 500 m above the ticket offices of Castelo dos Mouros. But the road goes uphill all the way. Some people walk, some take a tuk-tuk, if they decide to visit Pena Palace after the Moorish Castle after all. Or you can take bus no. 434, if it happens to pass when you come out. Waiting for a bus here is a lottery, anything from a couple of minutes to 30.

Tickets to Pena Palace must be booked in advance (at least a couple of hours ahead): 17 euros per person. Entry to the palace is strictly by time slot, because a queue forms 15 minutes before and at the appointed hour everyone is let in, "like sheep to be sheared, back to back". Note that from the ticket offices to Pena Palace you have to cover 500 m uphill on foot (about 10 minutes), or you can take a special bus that does it in 5 minutes for 3 euros per person. This stretch is called a park, but in fact it is an ordinary forest with a path going up, with nothing to look at.

And the visit to the palace itself is "a pleasure of its own". In summer a crowd is let into a stuffy, tightly closed space full of old smelly things, and the visit goes "back to back", breathing in the sweaty, smelly visitors... It is more like torture: the path is narrow, there is no way to step aside, and overtaking the person ahead, who is stuck on some bed or painting, is an art in itself! There is essentially no panoramic view from the palace itself, everything interesting is hidden by trees. So only museum lovers should come here) You can walk back down or take the same little bus, which runs every 10 minutes (the time to go down + come up).

• Parque e Palácio de Monserrate ⭐⭐⭐⭐

There is no need to buy tickets in advance here. The price is 12 euros per person. Most of the time here, about 40 minutes, goes on the walk through the park. Monserrate Palace itself is small, but with very beautiful architecture both outside and inside! You can reach the palace the quick way in 10 minutes, but the walk through the park is rather lovely. In total, park + palace takes about 1 hour at an unhurried pace.

Sintra is so interesting to travellers that people fly into Lisbon from all over the world because of this little town alone.