Hi,
I'm planning a day trip to Sintra from Lisbon and would like to buy my tickets to Sintra sites ahead of time.
Which order makes the most sense to visit these: Pena Palace, Moorish Castle, National Palace? How much time to roughly plan in between each, accounting for getting to each and not speeding through?
Will be taking public transportation to Sintra and are early risers. What time would be appropriate to book our first site?
Thanks!
When we excited the bus we were near the National Palace so started there. The National Palace ended up being our favorite site of all we visited.
Thanks, Suki!
I have found the answers to my questions and will share them in case anyone else wants to know as well. My first mistake was that I didn't take the time to read my Portugal RS guidebook. (forehead slap) On page 161, Rick gives detailed info on what and how to do a one-day trip to Sintra, including the sites I mentioned above. Start with Pena, walk down to Moorish Castle, then hit The National Palace. Then, on page 165, he says to account for about 10 min in between each site walking. I hope that helps others!
Crystal
I was just about to post the same questions, they have a bus but dont know what time it starts im getting mixed answers on different sites as i believe it like an 1hr walk from the train station to Pena Palace and its very steep. I would like to book the 10am tickets but needed to know I can get a bus up there before I book.
Look forward to seeing answers from anyone as well.
We were there in late September and we're going to take the bus but if I remember correctly it runs every half hour and based on the line we may have been waiting 1-1.5 hours. We ended up taking Uber for about €14 up and about €10 down. We started at the National Palace, then the Moorish Castle before walking to Pena Palace which was about a 10 minute walk through a trail in the forest.
I'm guessing we spent an hour hour at the National Palace. 2 hours at the Moorish Castle which included the 15 minute walk to and from it from the ticket office. We only spent an hour at Pena Palace but only went to the terrace. We could have spent more time in the gardens but it had started to rain.
If walking to Pena palace, this is the path that many take, not the road itself. It's a really nice path with great views.
https://www.parquesdesintra.pt/en/agenda/walking-route-vila-sassetti/
But then you need to pay attention when the Vila Sassetti's gate is open, which is not early enough for a 10:00 ticket at Pena.
We’re taking a private tour to Pena Palace and our guide suggested we purchase the shuttle tickets as well as the entrance tickets. I think it was an extra €3 per person for the shuttle ticket. And in case anyone wonders, I booked a day trip to Sintra with a private guide and the admission tickets we not included in the cost of the trip.
