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Day Trip to Sintra from Lisbon or Cascais

Posted by on

Hi!

My family of four (parents and two adult daughters) is traveling to Portugal in August. We are planning to fly into Lisbon, train to Porto, rent a car, drive to Cascais and stay there a few days, and then end up in Lisbon for a few days.

We want to visit Sintra during this time, and are debating whether to do this as a day trip from Cascais or Lisbon. I have heard that there is a bus from Cascais to Sintra, there is a train from Lisbon to Sintra, and that parking is difficult. Which option would you recommend? Where would you recommend we drop the car off on our way back to Lisbon?

Thank you in advance!

Posted by
982 posts

For a day trip to Sintra, either option will work. It is probably a full day trip, so to me
the decision of which depends on how how you're allocating the rest of your time in
each place.

If you take the train from Lisbon, don't get off at Portela de Sintra; you want to go
one more stop to Sintra, the last stop on the line.

Posted by
1923 posts

Yes, there is a bus from Cascais, but it’s a regular intercity bus and stops many times. I found it very frustrating. If you want to go it alone from Cascais, I recommend Uber or Bolt. It wouldn’t cost more than the bus fares for four people.

Sintra is a challenge due to the crowds. I enjoyed the trip I made with a tour better than the other times doing it on my own. For a small group tour, you would need to take it from Lisbon as there are no group tours from Cascais. If you are willing to spend the money, a private guide is the way to go IMO. I know a couple of people I can recommend if you want to send me a private message.

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