Arriving on May 20, 2023 to start a Rick Steves tour on May 21st. Get into Lisbon around 9:00am and hotel shortly(?) after. Do we have time to take a trip to visit Sintra or save it for another time.
Posted by
California 🦋
5298 posts
My daughter and I went straight to Sintra on our day of arrival, took a nap at our hotel, then visited the Pena Palace in the afternoon without the crowds.
You may consider spending your first night in Sintra, and that way you’ll have some time the following day to visit more of the sites.
I’ll share our trip report where you may find more detailed information.
Enjoy your time in beautiful Portugal!
Posted by
BC, Canada
47 posts
We visited Sintra from Lisbon in Oct. We planned before to do a day trip, but end of went Sintra the day before and stayed a night there after reading the strict visiting time policy on their web site and the tight and limited bus (403?) schedule there. It was very very busy then, and probably would be busier in May.
Please note Things are very difference after the pandemic that most indoor attractions, especially the popular ones, e.g. Sintra Pena Palace now all require time specific online pre-booking. Pre-booking existed before the pandemic for line-skipping, but now it has become a necessity for visiting (due to Covid indoor people number limit). Without the pre-booking, one may not be able to get in at all in the high season or couldn't get in at a time you desire in the low season. One way to get around it is to join a tour group (actually more than half of the visitors we ran into belonged to tour groups), but you would lose the freedom and enjoyment of your own pace and to your own liking.
So 2019 pre-pandenmic visit in Sintra would be very different than post pandenmic visits in 2022 and 2023.
Posted by
San Francisco
191 posts
I know this has been discussed before, but many people including me think it’s fine to skip this inside of the Peña palace. This makes the crowds and lines much more manageable as you can tour the grounds freely, once you’ve checked in at the appropriate time at the entrance gate.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
If this will be your own chance to visit Sintra on this trip, I would definitely try it. It's an easy train trip. But, the train stations in Lisbon can be a big confusing, since there are so many of them! You can get to Sintra from either Rossio station or from Oriente station. It's like a commuter train out there. Although you to use the Portugal trains website for planning, it may be easier to take other public transportation to one of the two stations e.g. subway. I stayed near Rossio so it was easy for me to walk to that station. Just figure this out ahead of time - how you will get there - instead of wasting time once you are there trying to work it all out.
I did no even bother going inside the Pena Palace. It's beautiful from the outside for sure. But I've seen more than enough palaces inside and they just don't interest me that much.
Don't miss the Quinta de Regaleira - it's down by the town not up on the hill. It was my favorite part of Sintra. Read the link below for more info about it. I did walk there from the town (but took the bus up and down the hill) to/from Pena Palace.
Posted by
California 🦋
5298 posts
Good point made by Emily and Al.
Pre-pandemic visits vs during the pandemic visits are definitely different.
Here’s the official website full of information about the palaces in Sintra:
www.parques de Sintra.pt
I also agree with SusanM, and Andrew H, the exterior of the Pena Palace is much more impressive than it’s interior.
If you decide to spend an overnight in Sintra, do consider making reservations for dinner at our favorite restaurant Incomum!
Enjoy!