We are visiting Sintra for a half day with a private guide and he gave us four choices to pick from as we have limited time. They are Peña Palace, Quinta de Regalaira, Moorish Castle and Monserate Palace. For sure we want to go to Peña Palace so which of the 3 sites should we pick? I’m hoping those of you who have visited can help me make my decision. Thanks so much.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
698 posts
Quinta de Regalaira. We really enjoyed our visit, especially on a nice day. We visited Peña palace on a previous trip and also enjoyed it.
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1869 posts
Quinta de Reguleira and Montserrate would be my choices. Pena is nice from the outside but the crowds have made it a pretty miserable place to visit. And, the inside is nothing special.
Posted by
SF Bay Area
78 posts
We went to Quinta, and I didn’t find the house all that interesting. The grounds are huge, and hold a lot, though are not formally landscaped.
I really loved the architecture of Monserrate. The rooms are not furnished, but the plasterwork, carving is great. We got there late, so barely saw the grounds.
Moorish Castle is mostly rebuilt ruins and the view.
Posted by
Lisbon, Portugal
2 posts
Regaleira and Monserrate ;)
Posted by
Canada 1st, not 51st.
4773 posts
We only saw Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle. The highlight for us was the Moorish Castle and we could have skipped Pena Palace.
Posted by
Maryland
47 posts
Whats the best way to get from Quinta de Regalaira to Monsserate Palace?
Posted by
120 posts
I would agree with Quinta de Regalaira ; there's more to see though on the outside grounds than on the inside. As stated above, the Moorish Palace is only worthwhile visiting for the views once you climb up on it.
Posted by
OP
Huntington Beach CA
1176 posts
Thanks all! This just made it harder to decide lol.
Posted by
Canada 1st, not 51st.
4773 posts
the Moorish Palace is only worthwhile visiting for the views once you
climb up on it.
I'm going to have to vehemently disagree. We loved everything about it, from the lush green forest we walked through to get to the castle, to walking along the ramparts to the highest point and looking back in wonder on how they built this 1000 years ago so high on a hill. Maybe it's because I'm like a 10 year old boy when I'm visiting castles and castle ruins but the view back downhill was secondary to me.