Jutting out on the farthest point west in all of Europe is the UNESCO protected, historic area of Sintra. It took us approximately 20 minutes on foot and then 30 minutes (and 14 stops) by train to travel from our Air BnB in the Príncipe Real district of Lisbon to the small train station of Portela de Sintra. 

Upon arrival in Sintra you have to decide how you want to get around. We made the mistake of purchasing the Red Hop on Hop off Bus tickets, which cost 20 euros. We chose this option because I had a good experience with the Hop on Hop off Bus in Montreal, Canada but in Sintra, the passenger demand is too high. There is a Blue Bus and a Red Bus and I wouldn’t recommend either one because they are often full and you are unable to get on unless somebody else gets off causing you to waste time waiting for the next bus that will also be full. They are run by different companies too, so you can’t ride on both of them without purchasing separate passes.

Instead, I would recommend a private van tour, calling on Ubers drivers, or taking the cute motorcycle carts called Tuk-Tuks. We ended up calling an Uber at the end of the day which meant we did not get the full value of our bus tickets and it also made the day less enjoyable, which is never worth it. Most stops are far enough apart that you wouldn’t want to walk, so a mode of transportation besides foot is, in my opinion, necessary. Especially on the last day of a 12 day trip!

Once you actually get to one of the fantastic spots in Sintra it is an enjoyable place to spend the day exploring. We visited the following places in this order: Palacio da Quinta da Regaleira, Cabo da Roca, Castelos dos Mouros, and Palacio Nacional da Pena. 

Quinta da Regaleira

This place is like something straight out of a Nancy Drew book complete with hidden staircases, underground tunnels, stone bridges, and carved gargoyles. It was definitely my favorite place in Sintra to explore and well worth the 6 euro entrance fee and the uphill walk to the entrance. With the map in our hands we set out to explore the gardens which contain plants from every single growing zone around the globe and is said to have hidden references to the Knights Templar, the Masons, and dark alchemy! Quinta da Regaleira Website.

The Initiation Well was our first stop and it’s just like you see in pictures; a large dry well going straight down encompassed by a narrow spiral staircases that carries you to the underground tunnels, which are also large enough to comfortably walk through. How amazing is that?! The map doesn’t detail the underground tunnels very well, so it takes a bit of exploring, but we end up at a dead end with a waterfall that we can watch people through. We circle back and take a different tunnel fork that spits us out above ground on the far side of the park. 

We continue to adventure around the gardens taking in the cute mossy steps, well-trod forest paths, overhead stone bridges, and blooming vegetation. While an informative tour about the history of the place would have been very interesting, just exploring the hidden treasures of this place at your own pace is a marvelous adventure!

Cabo da Roca (Cape Rock)

The furthest point west on mainland Europe is Cabo da Roca, nicknamed “End of the World” and is perched on a high cliff above the Atlantic Ocean’s crashing waves. The journey to this point on the open-top Red bus was neat as we got to experience a large variety of vegetation and cliff formations along the way. As we neared the coast the weather shifted taking us from sunny blue skies to a very windy and foggy coast. For this reason we were unable to enjoy the long clifftop walk with ocean views or a view of the horizon at all for that matter! All we could see was a foggy coastline and the powerful ocean waves chipping away at the intrusive cliff walls. We had no idea the weather could change so dramatically from one side of the park to the other.  

Castelos dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors)

I’m not sure what was more superb about the visit to Castle of the Moors, the amazing views or the fact that you don’t simply get to see the ramparts, you get to walk them! Before entering the park, but after visiting the ticket office and purchasing your 8 euro ticket, you start to walk up a paved path that wanders around the most humongous moss-covered, grey boulders. As you gain height you reach the entrance and hand your ticket stub to a welcoming guard. He then points you up the one-way path that takes you to steep stone steps built right into the hill. A few zig and zags up and away and you will find yourself standing in a small courtyard surrounded by grey stone castle walls complete with lookout towers! 

This first lookout gives you a great panoramic of the cities below as well as a glimpse of the big city of Lisbon, hugging the coast in the distance. Pictures will never do justice to such a view as it is impossible to contemplate scale and distance but, in the present moment with the wind swirling around you, the view of everything between you and the horizon is something to behold. 

Then, when you think things cannot get any better, you turn around and see the great castle wall perched atop the ridge with awesome battlements peaking out at intervals. It is pure stone steps, arches, towers, turrets, and walls the entire way with little lookouts and courtyard areas for stopping to take pictures or enjoying the view.

But the distant city is not the only view, about half across the ramparts you are greeted with an eye-level view of the famous and colorful Penne Palace. This palace is perched at the very top of a hill and is often engulfed in clouds. It looks like something out of a fairy tale when spotted from afar! 

The trek through these picturesque ramparts accompanied by the jaw dropping views makes this my second favorite stop in Sintra and I wish we would have lingered longer than we did, maybe even doing a second loop through to fully appreciate every footstep and lookout view.  Castle of Moors Website.

Palacio Nacional da Pena (Penne Palace)

This crown jewel of Sintra is a renovated monastery, perfectly positioned on a lush mountaintop and often engulfed in passing clouds. Not only is the building itself grand, but everything surrounding it is too. The road up to the gated entrance of Penne Palace is lined with a tall stone wall which hides the great gardens surrounding this iconic hilltop scene. These great gardens are worth protecting as they contain exotic plants and over 500 different species of trees from around the globe.

We walked the road from the Castelo dos Mouros to the Penne Palace gates in less than ten minutes. From the street side gates, Penne Palace was rarely visible as it was so far up and the clouds were getting thicker. However, I really did want to see it despite the fact that it meant we had to climb another damn hill. In the end, we took the advice of the loitering taxi driver who was watching our dilemma before the ticket line. He said, “its a beautiful place but the inside, eh, it’s not that great.” 

My sister and I bought our 7.5 euro ticket to gain access to the Park and, as much as we wanted to ride the shuttle bus to the top of the hill, there was no way were standing in line for it. We hoofed it all the way to the top of the hill where we looked up and gazed upon the colorful palace. The hill was so steep and we were so close, that you couldn’t actually get a view! So, we just took in the drawbridge, small courtyard, and smooth winding paths, all the while wishing there was simply a path to walk around the outside of the building. Overall this effort was a bust. This place is most awe inspiring and best viewed from afar! The park grounds were certainly exotic, well kept and worth a stroll, just not for our yowling feet at the end of a very long day!

Visiting Sintra is undoubtedly a must-do day trip out of the city but I wouldn’t take this trip on a whim. Knowing how you would like to get around and the top sites you would like to see should be done ahead of time. I only did one of the two and, while the bus sucked, at least we knew what stops we wanted to get to!

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