Getting from Lisbon to Sintra
· Updated · BootsnAll
Sintra is a hill town 30 km north west of Lisbon where the Portuguese aristocracy built summer palaces in a damp microclimate because it was cooler than the city. Byron called it a glorious Eden. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most popular day trip out of Lisbon by a wide margin.
That last fact is the one that should shape your planning.
The train
Trains run from Lisbon's Rossio station to Sintra in about 40 minutes, roughly every 20 to 30 minutes through the day. They also run from Oriente via Entrecampos if that is nearer your accommodation.
Rossio is the pleasant option: a neo-Manueline station right in the middle of the Baixa with a horseshoe-arched front that is worth a look on its own.
Use a Viva Viagem card, load it with the fare or with a day ticket, and do not queue for a paper ticket. The card costs a small amount and works on the metro, trams and buses too.
Do not hire a car for this. Sintra's roads are narrow, steep and congested, and parking near the palaces ranges from difficult to impossible in season.
Book Pena Palace before you go. This is the whole trick.
Pena Palace, the yellow and red confection on the hilltop, sells interior tickets as timed entry in 30 minute blocks. From April to October it sells out almost daily, and on weekends year round.
If you turn up in Sintra in July without a ticket, you will not get into Pena. And if you book a slot and arrive after it, you will not be let in and you will not get a refund.
So: book online, through Parques de Sintra, days or weeks ahead, and pick an early slot. Then build the rest of the day around it.
Getting up the hill
The palaces are well above the town and the walk up is steep. Bus 434 runs a loop from the station through the historic centre to the Moorish Castle and Pena, and bus 435 covers the other palaces including Quinta da Regaleira and Monserrate.
In high season the 434 queue can be forty minutes. Tuk-tuks and taxis wait at the station and cost more but move. Walking up takes about an hour on a wooded path and is genuinely pleasant early in the day.
What to actually see
Most people do Pena and run out of time and legs. If you only add one more thing, make it Quinta da Regaleira, which is in the town rather than up the hill and has the Initiation Well, a spiralling inverted tower going nine storeys into the ground, built by a Freemason with money and imagination.
The Moorish Castle, the 8th century walls along the ridge, gives you the best view of Pena and a fraction of the crowd.
Monserrate, further out, is the one visitors skip and gardeners love.
Go early, and consider staying
The day trip crowd arrives from about 10:30 and thins after 16:00. Take the first train, do Pena at opening, and you will see it in something close to peace.
Better still, stay a night in Sintra. The town in the evening, once the buses have gone, is a completely different place, and it is the only way to have the palaces to yourself in the morning.