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Easily one of the most popular day trips out of Lisbon is a tour over to Sintra- by which people usually mean a visit to the Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira.
I love getting out of a city and exploring whenever I can, so I booked this small group combo-tour to take me to Quinta da Regaleira, Pena Palace, Roca and Cascais during my visit to Lisbon.
This tour conveniently picked us up at our hotel, and then we got our first taste of entertainment for the day, watching our guide maneuver the mini bus through the narrow winding streets of Lisbon as we made our way to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Pena Palace.
Pena Palace is one of the most gorgeously colored palaces I’ve ever seen. The bold yellow and red paint makes it feel almost like a child’s idea of a castle, and it’s definitely unique.
While this tour does not include admission tickets to Pena Palace, we were scheduled to arrive early enough that we were able to purchase our tickets right away.
One of the reasons that tickets are not included is to allow a certain flexibility in the cost of admission. Since you’re purchasing your tickets on arrival, you have the option to buy admission to both the Palace and the park grounds for 20€, or just admission to the Palace for 10€. I purchased just the Palace admission and paid a little extra for a shuttle to take me up to the Palace entrance. If you wanted to save yourself 3€, you can definitely walk up yourself, but the path up is very steep.
Pena Palace does utilize timed admission, so make sure to be ready to enter the palace at your allotted time.
Since the palace is so popular, be prepared for large crowds whenever you choose to visit. Although we were left to explore at our own pace by our own tour guide, I ended up trapped behind a large tour group for most of the interior of the palace. All I can say is that it really forced me to enjoy each room.
Don’t forget to check out some of the stunning examples of Portuguese tile displayed throughout the palace!
By the time we escaped the crowds, we had just enough time to explore the colorful exterior but not quite enough time to grab a coffee. We mentioned this to our guide and he brought us to a cute little coffee shop called A Mourisca de Sintra. I suspect that this was counted towards our “exploring Sintra” time, but I was happy to have a warm drink and some tasty treats before making our way to Quinta da Regaleira.
This incredible property is another UNESCO World Heritage Site with a Romantic style castle and grottos, wells, and fountains scattered throughout. The owner and his associates were Freemasons, so keep an eye out for the mysterious structures and symbols imbedded all over. The most famous of these Freemason structures is the Initiation Well- an inverted tower used for ceremonial purposes, not for drawing water. It’s pretty spooky even in the day time!
Our guide did offer the option to wander off on our own and meet up later, but we really benefited from having a guide here. He pointed out all of these different areas and symbols and their purposes- things that I never would have noticed on my own! Apparently the nine floors of the Initiation Well represents the nine hells of Dante’s Inferno and the nine founders of the Knights Templar.
From hell, we headed to the end of the world- Cabo de Roca. The westernmost point of continental Europe, we braved the crazy winds for some incredible views!
Although it was beautiful, we didn’t stay here too long since the winds were so strong- there’s nothing to slow them down in the Atlantic Ocean!
For our last stop of the trip, we head over to Cacais for a late lunch. Although our guide recommended either of two seafood restaurants located next to each other, I personally recommend skipping those and buying something quick to eat in one of the other shops.
Although our meal was delicious, it took absolutely forever to come out and then we had to shovel down the food to make sure that we could make our departure time. As it was, it took nearly an hour and half to get our food and we even had to beg for the check. Listen, I know I’m American and I’m used to very quick table service, but I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to see anything in Cacais simply because I wanted a pasta dish.
With everyone stuffed, sun kissed, and a little windburned, our drive back to Lisbon was quiet.
This tour does a really great job of balancing price vs service. While I didn’t love that the Pena Palace tickets weren’t included in the cost, I did appreciate having the flexibility to choose what type of ticket I wanted.
If you’re interested in taking the same trip, check it out here:
Not interested in Sintra? Check out my curated selection of Lisbon tours for more options.
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