Sintra

Worth seeing in and around Sintra

10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

1. 01
   Pena Palace

   The Pena Palace is a Romanticist palace in São Pedro de Penaferrim, in the municipality of Sintra, on the Portuguese Riviera. The castle stands on the top of a hill in the Sintra Mountains above the town of Sintra, and on a clear day it can be easily seen from Lisbon and much of its metropolitan area.

   1.3 km · palace in Sintra, Portugal · Wikipedia
2. 02
   Quinta da Regaleira

   Quinta da Regaleira [ˈkĩtɐ ðɐ ˈʁɨɣɐlɐjɾɐ] is a quinta constructed from 1904 to '10 and located near the historic centre of Sintra, Portugal. It is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO within the "Cultural Landscape of Sintra".

   700 m · culture heritage estate near Sintra, Portugal · Wikipedia
3. 03
   Castle of the Moors

   The Castle of the Moors is a hilltop medieval castle located in the central Portuguese civil parish of Santa Maria e São Miguel, in the municipality of Sintra, about 25 km northwest of Lisbon. Built by the Moors in the 8th and 9th centuries, it was an important strategic point during the Reconquista, and was taken by Christian forces after the fall of Lisbon in 1147.

   700 m · cultural heritage monument in Sintra, Portugal · Wikipedia
4. 04
   Monserrate Palace

   The Monserrate Palace is a palatial villa located near Sintra, the traditional summer resort of the Portuguese court in the foothills overlooking the Atlantic Ocean north west of the capital, Lisbon.

   2.9 km · building in Sintra, Lisbon District, Portugal · Wikipedia
5. 05
   Sintra Mountains

   The Sintra Mountains, is a mountain range in western Portugal. Its highest point is at 529 meters near Sintra.

   1.4 km · mountain in Portugal · Wikipedia
6. 06
   Palácio e Quinta do Ramalhão, também denominado «Paço Real do Ramalhão» (actualmente Colégio de São José das Irmãs Dominicanas Portuguesas)

   The Palace of Ramalhão is a neoclassical Palace in Sintra, Portugal. The palace has its origins in a small farm that was enlarged into a palace by Luis Garcia de Bivar in 1470.

   2 km · neoclassical palace in Sintra, Portugal · Wikipedia
7. 07
   Carlucci American International School of Lisbon

   The Carlucci American International School of Lisbon is a not-for-profit private international school in Linhó, Sintra, Portugal. Founded in 1956, CAISL is the oldest American school in the Iberian Peninsula and the only U.S. State Department sponsored school in Portugal.

   3.4 km · building in Lisbon, Lisbon District, Portugal · Wikipedia
8. 08
   Chalet da Condessa de Edla

   The Chalet and Garden of the Countess of Edla, also known as the Casa do Regalo, are in the Municipality of Sintra, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. They are situated on the western side of the park that surrounds the Pena Palace, and are part of the Sintra Cultural Landscape, classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site since 1995.

   1.8 km · building in Sintra, Lisbon District, Portugal · Wikipedia
9. 09
   Igreja de Santa Maria (Sintra)

   Igreja de Santa Maria is a church in Sintra, Portugal. It has been classified as a National Monument since 1922 and is part of the Cultural Landscape of Sintra, a World Heritage Site since 1995.

   700 m · church building in Sintra, Lisbon District, Portugal · Wikipedia
10. 10
    Sintra Natural History Museum

    The Sintra Natural History Museum is a museum of natural history located in the historic center of the village of Sintra. The museum has both at national and international level due to the quality and rarity of many of its exhibits.

    200 m · museum in Sintra, Portugal · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What Wikivoyage says to see

Admission prices and opening times of the sites can be found on the Parques de Sintra website, where you can buy tickets. Buy online to avoid a long queue. You get a 15% discount for buying 3 days in advance, and small discounts for buying tickets for more than one site. Sintra can be extremely busy, particularly in summer, and especially at weekends.

1. 01
   Pena National Palace

   Beautiful example of pseudo-Moorish Romantic architecture.

2. 02
   Moorish Castle

   One of the highlights of Sintra not to be missed.

3. 03
   Sintra National Palace

   The summer estate of the Portuguese royal family from the middle ages until the 1910 republican revolution.

4. 04
   Quintinha de Monserrate

   An old estate with a farmyard, giving you an opportunity to learn about traditional local farming.

5. 05
   Convento dos Capuchos

   A secluded abbey where monks used to live in close contact with nature.

6. 06
   Quinta da Regaleira

From Wikivoyage: Sintra, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Things to do

Praia das Maçãs is a small, and surprisingly calm, seaside resort about 30 km to the west of Lisbon and about 13 km from Sintra. Flanked by restaurants, it has a salt water pool, sports facilities and children's playground. Take the tram (the stop is next to the Museum of Modern Art) and ride downhill 13 km. The ride takes 45 min and is delightful.

From Wikivoyage: Sintra, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Where to eat

Queijadas mainly the ones from "Casa do Preto" Travesseiros da Periquita

1. 01
   Cyntia

   Next to the bus and rail stations on the downside of Sintra, there is this small but fine restaurant where you can taste a marvelous codfish (Bacalhau à brás or Bacalhau à grelha).

2. 02
   Dom Pipas

   Features daily specials, fish, meat, and other Portuguese traditional fare.

3. 03
   Lab by Sergi Arola

   Estrada da Lagoa Azul, Linhó (Penha Longa Resort), LAB@penhalonga.com.

4. 04
   Midori

   Estrada da Lagoa Azul, Linhó (Penha Longa Resort), restaurants@penhalonga.com.

From Wikivoyage: Sintra, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Getting to Sintra

Airports

Lisbon Humberto Delgado (LIS), 22 km · Faro - Gago Coutinho (FAO), 234 km · Francisco de Sá Carneiro (OPO), 279 km

Stations

Sintra train station, 300 m

• Faro → Sintra

  236 km · quickest by road, 4h 11m · €30–42
  GuideToday
• Porto → Sintra

  269 km · quickest by road, 4h 28m · €33–46
  GuideToday
• Seville → Sintra

  335 km · quickest by road, 6h 35m · €48–65
  GuideToday
• From anywhere

  The planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
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Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

No local-transport research exists yet for Sintra

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Sintra. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

If you know how people move in Sintra – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.