Visiting Sintra and Pena Palace
All photos by John O’Boyle/The Empty Nest Explorers Visitors stop to photograph the exterior of Pena Palace as they climb the path from the main gate.
Sintra is a fascinating and memorable stop during a trip to Portugal. But with world-class attractions like Pena Palace, the Moorish Castle, and Quinta da Regaleira come large crowds and long lines. Plus the unique geography makes getting around town difficult.
Before our recent trip, I did more research on visiting Sintra than any day trip we’ve ever taken.
The reason for all the research is to figure out which of the many attractions to see, and how to navigate both the heavy crowds and the challenging logistics of moving between the attractions.
I think all the research paid off since we had a great visit. Below is our common sense guide to having an enjoyable visit to Sintra.
The distinctive colorful exterior of Pena Palace in Sintra.
History of Sintra
There is evidence of humans inhabiting this area in the Paleolithic Era when humans first learned to make stone tools.
The Romans occupied the town starting in the second century B.C.
It was during the reign of King Ferdinand from 1367 to 1383 that the Sintra that we know today began to take shape.
Nearly every king and queen of Portugal spent at least some time at the National Palace of Sintra.
The 15th century saw the Castle of the Moors rise on one of the mountain peaks and the colorful and iconic Pena Palace was constructed on another peak in the 19th century.
In the 1930s with the waning influence of the Royal Family the National Palace of Sintra opened its doors to the public for the first time.
Looking down at a lower plaza at Pena Palace.
How to get to Sintra
Sintra is about 15 miles northwest of Lisbon so it’s an ideal day trip. The proximity to Lisbon and the iconic attractions also brings huge crowds.
Driving is probably the most challenging way to visit Sintra. The narrow roads are crowded or closed to private vehicles. The best bet is to park in one of the lots around town and use taxis or a tuk-tuk.
Multiple trains between Sintra and Lisbon leave from Rossio and Oriente train stations. The journey is roughly 40 minutes.
These are commuter-style trains so there are no reserved seats and you might have to stand if it is crowded.
Pro tip - Sintra has a bus (bus #434) that carries passengers on a roundtrip route looping between the train station, downtown Sintra, Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle. In an ideal world, this would be a perfect way to up the steep one-way road to Pena Palace but unfortunately, the bus is far from perfect.
Because of the unreliable schedule and large crowds, we’d absolutely recommend not using the bus.
The 434 bus in Sintra. We recommend Uber or taxi instead.
Normally we are huge fans of train travel in Europe but for this trip, we took an Uber from downtown Lisbon.
As you’ll read below it’s critical to get to our first stop, Pena Palace, as early as possible.
We wanted to be at Pena Palace at 8:30, a half hour before the gates open.
To take the train we’d need to walk to Rossio Station and take the 40-minute train ride to Sintra. The Sintra train station is nowhere near Pena Palace so you’ll have to get a taxi or Uber from the train station.
Instead, we took a 36-minute Uber ride that cost $30. It picked us up in front of our lodging and dropped us off directly in front of the Pena Palace gate.
It was a little more expensive, but the speed and convenience made it the ideal way to start the day.
Our son joined us on our Portugal trip.
Visiting Pena Palace
Pena Palace is arguably the most famous site in Portugal.
It is a unique and magical place that lives up to the hype but without a plan and the right mindset, you might leave disappointed.
We visited during Christmas week so Sintra was busy but not nearly as busy as summer.
There are two types of tickets available:
Pena Park Entrance Ticket: This ticket allows you access to the grounds and the outside plaza areas of the palace, plus the chapel, gift shop, and cafe. There is no access to the inside of the castle. With this ticket, you can enter anytime. Approximately $10 from Get Your Guide
Standard Entry Ticket: In addition to the grounds and the outside areas this ticket allows you timed entry to the interior of the Palace. With this ticket, you can enter anytime but entry to the palace interior is time and strictly enforced. Approximately $10 from Get Your Guide.
We love a good palace tour but we heard troubling stories about the long line and cattle herding experience inside the castle.
Other blog posts about visiting palaces:
To play it safe we purchased the ticket that allowed us timed entry to the palace interior and planned to decide on entering the palace when we arrived.
Purchasing tickets ahead of time is critical to avoid crowds and get the best entry time.
We love Get Your Guide because it makes the process easy and you can get all your tour tickets directly on the app. We are an affiliate and make a small commission from them but we used their service long before we were affiliates.
You can purchase your Pena Palace tickets here.
Note - This blog post contains affiliate links. This means that if we recommend a product, activity or hotel, we might receive a small commission if you buy or book from these links. This is done at no additional cost to you. We only recommend products we have personally used or have thoroughly researched.
We arrived 30 minutes before the gates opened and only a few people were in line ahead of us. By the time the gates opened, there was a long line behind us, and many people were purchasing tickets at the kiosks.
Once through the gates, it is about a 20ish minute walk uphill through the park grounds to the Palace. Many people sprinted past us to be the first at the palace but that looked exhausting and we wanted to enjoy the beautiful grounds.
Pro tip - If you have a timed ticket to visit the palace interior be sure to leave enough time to walk from the entry gate to the palace.
Exploring the palace’s plazas, and turrets, and climbing between all the nooks and crannies was loads of fun. We were lucky to have a sunny day so the palace’s colorful exterior was brilliant.
It soon became crowded but we never felt overwhelmed by the fellow visitors.
After about 45 minutes of exploring we needed to make up our mind about visiting the interior. The entry line was easy to find, it was the one that stretched a few hundred people long.
Keeping in mind that we still planned on visiting the Moorish Castle and Quinta da Regaleira we decided to skip the interior.
We don’t regret the decision one bit, the outside is the truly unique aspect and we had lots of time to explore it.
Part of the long line of visitors waiting to tour the inside of Pena Palace.
Visiting the Moorish Castle
The Moorish Castle is another of Sintra’s marquis attractions and it’s located right down the road from Pena Palace.
Sintra and the surrounding area far below the Moorish Castle.
There are plenty of taxis and tuk-tuks outside Pena Palace but the road is one way so you’d be forced to ride back to town then most of the way back up the road to reach the Moorish Castle. So the most practical way to get there is to walk against traffic in the protected pedestrian walkway downhill about 15 minutes to the Moorish Castle.
We had our tickets already on the Get Your Guide app but there was also a ticket booth at the entrance that was not very crowded.
One thing that is not very clear until you get there is a pleasant 15-minute walk from the entrance to the actual castle remains. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes because there is a lot of walking.
The walls of the Moorish Castle.
When you reach the walls and climb up the views are stunning. Climbing on the walls alone would be fun, but combining it with the views is a very memorable experience.
Unlike Pena Palace, there is no “inside the palace” to explore. After about an hour of climbing and taking in the views we headed back to the entrance.
Visitors walk the walls of the Moorish Castle.
When we reached the main road we negotiated with a taxi driver for a $5 per person ride back to town for lunch.
As we passed the entrance to Pena Palace we saw a huge line waiting for the #434 bus, absolutely skip the bus and spend a few dollars more on a taxi/uber/tuk-tuk.
Exploring the town of Sintra
While overshadowed by the major attractions surrounding Sintra the downtown area is charming.
Of course it’s crowded and a bit touristy it has a very nice charm.
When we drove through town in our Uber around 8:15 am the streets were empty but by lunchtime they were clogged.
If you drive to Sintra definitely park as fast as you can and walk or taxi around.
The winding streets of downtown Sintra.
During my research, I like to mark possible restaurants on Google Maps as a starting point. We decided to eat at Piadina's, Wine & Co. It got great reviews, looked nice, and had a nice menu.
I had a burrata appetizer and pulled pork on a flatbread. Debbie had excellent mulled wine that the very nice waitress recommended. A very nice lunch.
Visiting Quinta Da Regaleira
After lunch, we had timed tickets for Quinta Da Regaleira but we were exhausted. We made the tough decision to skip Quinta Da Regaleira and head back to Lisbon on the train.
Since I did all the research on Quinta Da Regaleira I thought I’d share some details.
Quinta Da Regaleira was built between 1904 and 1910 by António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro. The eclectic site consists of a palace, the Initiation Well, tunnels, lakes, and fountains.
Perhaps the best-known attraction is the 88-foot-deep Initiation Well. It was allegedly constructed for ritualistic purposes and many people believe it was used as the location of the Templar Knight initiation ceremonies.
The mysterious purpose of the unusual structure makes a visit even more intriguing.
The spiral staircase descends nine levels and ends in underground tunnels. The main exit from the Initiation Well is amazing. It leads to an underground lake, waterfalls, and stepping stones over the water.
You could then spend an hour or so wandering the grounds and gardens of Quinta Da Regaleira. You should leave from time to explore the palace. It’s not as grand as Pena Palace but it is unique and quirky.
Touring The National Palace Of Sintra
The distinctive chimneys atop National Palace of Sintra.
The National Palace of Sintra is located right in the center of town and maybe the best-preserved medieval royal palace in Portugal.
The most unusual feature of the palace is the two huge chimneys.
The palace opens daily from 9:30 am to 7 pm. It’s much less crowded than many of the other attractions so it’s a good stop at the end of the day.
Tips for visiting Sintra
You can’t see it all. We tried to see three attractions and didn’t make it to the third.
Our plan of visiting Pena Palace very early followed by the neighboring Moorisg Castle worked well.
Wear good shoes and be prepared to walk.
Book tickets in advance. These are major attractions and advance-purchased tickets will save you lots of time in lines.
The colorful exterior of Pena Palace.
Organized Tours of Sintra
If you are not interested in all the logistics of visiting Sintra then an organized tour might be perfect. We’ve had great luck with organized day trips in many countries.
Here are a few options:
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