Sintra, and especially Pena Palace, are extremely popular during the summer season. If you can’t visit off-season, try to go early in the day!
Pena Palace is the crown jewel of Sintra, a town twenty five kilometres west of Lisbon’s centre. It is frankly extraordinary, and gives Mad King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein in Bavaria a run for its money as the most outlandish castle in Europe, and possibly the world. It looks like something from Alice in Wonderland, or like it must be made of marzipan and gingerbread and candy cane, such is its stylistic exuberance.
Rising from a thickly wooded peak, its pink and lemon crenellated towers are often wreathed in mists, like whipped cream. The palace was a wild dream of Ferdinand of Saxe Coburg-Gotha, the artist-husband of Queen Maria, who commissioned the Bavarian-Manueline epic, complete with an armoured statute of himself on a nearby peak.
The statue looks over both the palace and its extensive gardens. The mystical Pena Park is full of trees and exotic plants from the former colonies of the Portuguese empire, along with ponds, fountains and sinister-looking black swans. Twenty minutes from the palace by foot there is the Cruz Alta viewpoint, the highest peak in Serra de Sinta, from which you can catch marvellous views of the palace, the Tagus estuary and the ocean beyond.
The interior of the palace is just as wacky and extravagant as you would expect, and has been restored to how it would have been before the fall of the Portuguese monarchy in 1910. It is packed with precious porcelain, trompe l’oeil murals and nude sculptures of buxom nymphs, all set among late Victorian and Edwardian furnishings. The effect is gloriously kitsch.
Experience a magical world of ancient castle forts surrounded by evergreen forests, spectacular fairytale castles, and breathtakingly beautiful views toward the sea on this private day trip from Lisbon to Sintra, Cabo da Roca and the golden sands of Cascais on the Atlantic coast.
Described as the Garden of Eden by Lord Byron, Sintra is a unique and beautiful town in the foothills of Portugal’s Sintra Mountains, home to the Pena Palace and just 20 miles from Lisbon. Cape Roca or Cabo da Roca is the cape that forms the westernmost point of continental Europe, with not to be missed dramatic coastal views, and Cascais is a charming coastal town known for its pretty sandy beaches and busy port.
On your private day trip, you will:
Your all-inclusive private day trip led by an experienced local guide starts early with pick-up from your hotel in Lisbon to ensure that you avoid the queues and crowds at Pena Palace, the colourful fairytale castle perched high on the hill above the charming town of Sintra.
Built in the 19th century, this was the summer country home of the Portuguese royal family and is set amidst a dramatic landscape of a hilly evergreen forest, with spectacular views over the surrounding landscape. It was built by King Ferdinand II who had a very flamboyant and larger-than-life taste, evidenced by the bright red and yellow domes, and opulent interior! It is an adaptation of 16th-century monastic ruins and an imitation of a medieval fortress.
After your morning tour, enjoy free time for lunch in Sintra, a pretty cobbled town with wonderful restaurants and views. Lord Byron called it the Garden of Eden on a visit. After lunch, enjoy a scenic drive through Sintra Natural Park to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of Continental Europe, with amazing cliffside views of the ocean. Then drive to Cascais for a guided tour of this historic and charming coastal town, home to the medieval Nossa Senhora da Luz Fort and the 15th-century Citadel Palace, a former royal retreat.
Lastly, enjoy a relaxing drive back to Lisbon.
Just 20 miles from the centre of Lisbon, you will discover Sintra, one of the most popular day trips from Lisbon, known for its spectacular setting and grand Mansions of the Portuguese Elite.
On your private day trip to Sintra, you will:
Set high up in the Sintra Natural Park, this palace boasts vast terraces with spectacular views as well as beautifully landscaped gardens.
After, travelling back to Sintra town with an electric TukTuk, enjoy free time for lunch after which your guide will take you on a walking tour through Sintra town and the Quinta da Regaleira, another incredible palace with even more spectacular gardens.
The resplendent gardens are even classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO within the "Cultural Landscape of Sintra! Commissioned and owned by a well-known Freemason, Antonio Augusto Carvalho Monteiro, the four-hectare property is famous for its enigmatic buildings and underground tunnels.
Monteiro filled the property with symbols linked to masonry, alchemy, Tarot mysticism and more. Your guide will expertly guide you through the extensive and puzzling system of tunnels, grottoes, and caves, as well as a waterfall and a labyrinth carved into the bedrock! You will of course not miss the Well of Initiation, a spiral staircase composed of 9 levels of 15 steps, often thought to symbolise the nine levels of Hell from Dante's Inferno.
Walk with your guide to Sintra train station for your return train to Lisbon.
The Pena National Palace is a Romanticist castle in Sintra, Portugal. It stands on the top of a hill above the town of São Pedro de Penaferrim and is the most popular tourist attraction in the town, as well as one of the most visited monuments in the country. The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995 and one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal.
On your private half-day tour of the Pena Palace, you will:
Your private tour of Sintra will start at Rossio Train station in central Lisbon. Today Portugal's most famous attraction, the Pena Palace was built in the 19th century as a summer home for Portuguese royalty. It was built by King Ferdinand II who had a very flamboyant and larger-than-life taste.
It is an adaptation of 16th-century monastery ruins and an imitation of a medieval fortress. The Palace boasts spectacular views over the natural park and Lisbon (on a clear day) as well as beautifully landscaped gardens. Enjoy a 30-minute walk through the gardens to see our favourite section: the valley of the lakes.
Your tour will end with a tuk-tuk ride either back to Sintra train station, where you will catch the train back to Lisbon with your guide, or you can stay in Sintra town where you can have lunch and continue exploring at your own pace.
If you chose to stay in Sintra, your guide will give you your return train tickets which will be valid all day.
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