My flight to Lisbon was just moved up a day by TAP airlines. Luckily this is not an issue for me, as I'm retired. Any suggestions for a place to stay one or two nights in Cascais or Sintra? I will be by myself. Also, is it easy to travel between the two using public transportaion?
Chalet Saudade in Sintra is very nice and the included breakfast at their nearby restaurant is very good. The B&B is an easy walk from the train station and if I remember correctly it is about a mile walk, slightly uphill into town. It is owned by a couple - he is Portuguese and she is American and has a Boston connection.
The bus up to the castle in the morning starts at the train station. We took the first bus up in the morning, visited the sites and walked back down to town on a beautiful path that the B&B told us about.
We went straight to Sintra after arriving in Lisbon on TAP from Boston. We took the airport bus which stops about a block from the train station in Lisbon, walked to the train station and then took the train to Sintra and walked to the B&B. I bought a SIM card at the Lisbon airport so we did have google maps to navigate although it could probably be done with printed maps.
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My daughter and I also spend our first few nights in Sintra upon arriving to Lisbon. Sintra is a beautiful place to get over jet-lag.
We enjoyed our stay at the Tivoli Sintra Hotel in the city centre, on Praça de República, across from the National Palace.
Here’s our trip report for more details: Portugal! Our trip in progress... Sintra
Enjoy your time in beautiful Portugal!
Another enthusiastic vote for both Sintra and the Chalet Saudade. There are various terrific sites, restaurants and bakeries in and around Sintra, and Chalet Saudade is comfortable, affordable and staffed by very friendly and helpful staff. When I stayed there in 2017, I was given a voucher for an excellent and complete breakfast, any time of day, at their nearby Cafe Saudade.
In Sintra, I especially recommend visiting the Pena Palace including the tour of the estate grounds (by large golf cart type vehicle), Quinta da Regaleira (walkable from the center of town) and the Incomum ( = uncommon) restaurant very near the Chalet Saudade.
Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. Very helpful. Wishing safe and healthy travels.