My wife and I are on a RS tour starting May 22nd. We get into Lisbon May 21st and will spend that day exploring Lisbon. For Monday we have to meet up with our tour at 5pm, so I was wondering do we have time to catch an early train to Sintra, see some of the sights and get back in time? Would we really enjoy Sintra? Or just stay in Lisbon and enjoy what it offers. This an observation only but I was perusing Resturant options in Lisbon on TripAdvisor and I thought millions read these write ups, am I going to a place crowded with tourists like me rather than one enjoyed by locals.
Posted by
Paris
6920 posts
You don't have to do it my way (sorry, I had to, love what autocorrect did to your thread title), but I would spend that day in Lisbon, because Sintra is really a full day trip, and you will still be tired from the flight - in my experience, day 2 is worse than arrival day in that regard.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32912 posts
the Rat Pack lives 🤣
((love it))
Posted by
Charleston & Birmingham
4370 posts
I assume your tour will see some of the sights in Lisbon? I think Sintra is worth the trip but I would only try to see one palace in that amount of time. Also, the aquarium in Lisbon is my favorite aquarium of any I've ever visited.
Posted by
WA USA
1111 posts
If you like whimsical palaces, go for it. Just to add, you can always get up early in the morning and see how you feel. To go or not to go doesn't have to be decided in advance. The only place with timed tickets is to enter Pena Palace. The rest you can buy online the day of using your phone or at a ticket machine.
Another place to consider visiting is Belém.
Posted by
48 posts
Sintra is very nice, but you will struggle to see any of its sites and get back to Lisbon before 5 PM. Sintra needs a full day and even after being there for a day, I felt like we needed a little more time. While the train ride to Sintra is easy, the train station in Sintra is not that close to any of the better sights and there will be intra-Sintra travel time that you need to account for. There is so much to see in Lisbon that I would stay in town and explore more of Lisbon. Unless you have been there before, you are not going to see that much of Lisbon on your arrival day and then however many days on the RS tour. If you manage to get up early on Day 2 (which you would need to do to get to Sintra at a decent hour), go ride a trolley car before the crowds grow. We had no wait for famous Trolley 28 at 730 AM. Check out the Tile museum, Belem, the waterfront and the Gulbenkian museum.
Posted by
WA USA
1111 posts
If you do decide on Sintra, I would recommend Quinta da Regaleira and the National Palace of Sintra. Both can be walked to from the train station and so you will not need to worry about having to take a bus and being caught in Sintra traffic. Regaleira when it 1st opens and perhaps the National Palace after lunch since it's located right in the city center. In my opinion, those two palaces are really nice and very manageable with the time you will have.