Things to Do in Sintra Portugal
A town, a mountain and thirty kilometres of Atlantic coast, all within half an hour of the palace queue.
Sintra is more than a palace with a queue, which is why a sintra city tour covers the town as well as the monuments. There is a working town underneath the monuments, a mountain behind it and thirty kilometres of Atlantic coast within half an hour. This is what a day here actually holds.
The six things most visitors come for
Stand on the Pena terraces
The ochre and vermilion palace on the highest point of the Serra, with the Atlantic on one side and the plain toward Lisbon on the other.
Descend the Initiation Well
Nine flights of spiral steps 27 metres into the ground at Quinta da Regaleira, then out through a tunnel beside a waterfall.
Walk the Moorish ramparts
An 8th-century wall along the ridge, with the best single view in the region on a clear morning.
Find the twin chimneys
Two white cones 33 metres over the kitchens of the National Palace, on the main square and free to look at.
Reach the end of Europe
Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of the continent, 140 metres above the Atlantic and half an hour from the palaces.
Eat a travesseiro
Puff pastry folded seven times around an egg-and-almond cream, from a shop that has been making them since 1862.
The historic centre on foot
The old town is small, steep and genuinely lived in. It takes about an hour to walk properly: the main square in front of the National Palace, the lanes climbing behind it, the tile shops and the cork sellers.
It is also where the day's practical business happens — lunch, the bus stop, the tuk-tuk rank. Most guided tours build in free time here rather than a meal, which is the right call given what is available.
Travesseiros at Casa Piriquita, and the queue for them
Piriquita has been on Rua das Padarias since 1862 and makes two things worth crossing town for: the travesseiro, and the queijada de Sintra, a small cheese tart that predates the pastry by centuries.
There are two branches a few doors apart. The queue at the original moves faster than it looks, and Piriquita II round the corner is usually quieter. Buy the travesseiros warm and eat them within the hour.
Where the Serra opens up — viewpoints and walks
The mountain itself is a protected landscape and it is walkable. The path from the town up to the Castle of the Moors takes about 40 minutes through woodland, and it is the best way to arrive at that monument.
Further west, the road to Peninha climbs to a hermitage with a view over the whole coastline, and the Convent of the Capuchos — cork-lined cells cut into the rock — sits in forest that feels a long way from a palace queue.
The coast: Cabo da Roca, Praia Grande and Azenhas do Mar
Cabo da Roca is 18 kilometres from the town: a lighthouse, a stone marker and a cliff edge at the western limit of continental Europe. It takes 20 minutes to see and the wind is part of the experience.
Praia Grande is the wide surf beach where several tours stop for lunch. Azenhas do Mar is the one people photograph — a white village stacked down a cliff above a tidal pool. Guincho, further south, is the serious surf beach and the windiest place on this coast.
Cascais in an afternoon
A former fishing town turned resort, and the natural end to a Sintra day because the road back to Lisbon runs through it. The old centre is compact, the marina is pleasant, and Boca do Inferno — a sea arch collapsed into a blowhole — is a ten-minute walk from it.
Most combined day trips give Cascais 60 to 90 minutes, which is right for a walk and a coffee and not enough for the beach.
Rainy-day Sintra, and why it still works
The Serra makes weather, so plan for it rather than around it. The National Palace and the interiors at Pena and Monserrate are all indoors, and Quinta da Regaleira's tunnels are better wet than dry.
What does not work in rain is the Castle of the Moors, where the stone gets slick and the view disappears. Swap it for the National Palace and lose nothing.
Where to eat beyond the pastry shop
The historic centre carries more tascas than its size suggests, and prices drop sharply one street back from the main square. Portuguese standards — bacalhau, grilled fish, arroz de marisco — are what to order.
On the coast, Praia Grande and Azenhas do Mar both have restaurants above the water, and several tours stop at one of them for lunch. Cascais has the widest choice and the highest prices.
What to do with half a day, one day or two
| You have… | Do this | Skip this | Getting around |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half a day | Quinta da Regaleira and the historic centre | Pena — the hill eats the time | Train in, walk, train out |
| One day | Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira, lunch in the centre | The coast, unless you are driving | Train plus the 434, or a guided day trip |
| One day with the coast | Pena, the centre, Cabo da Roca and Cascais | A second palace | A guided day trip — the buses do not link the coast |
| Two days | Day one the palaces, day two Monserrate, the Serra and the beaches | Nothing | A car, or the 434 and 435 on day one |
Fitting the coast into one day?
The combined day trips reach Cabo da Roca and Cascais as well as the palaces, which is the one itinerary public transport cannot do.
The palaces and castles of Sintra covers each monument in depth, tickets and hours has the prices and the timed slots, and Sintra Portugal Tours compares every guided day out of Lisbon.