Update: Thanks for all the suggestions! You are all very helpful. We've decided to eliminate Option C, because staying in Lisbon offers more options (Uber, tour, train, etc.) and it is simpler for getting to the ship the next day. I'm going to look at your tour suggestions and also tours already mentioned elsewhere in this forum. Maybe one of the recommended ones with be perfect for us, but if not, we will definitely use UBER of Bolt to get to Sintra rather than crowd onto the early train and then walk to the palace. Thanks again.
This is not our first trip to Lisbon and we have previously spent several days there. This time, we arrive at the airport in Lisbon about 4 p.m. on a Friday afternoon in May, and board a cruise ship there on Sunday. We plan to spend Saturday in Sintra. Which of these options make the most sense?
A) Option A (our original plan) is to spend two nights in a Lisbon hotel, but on Saturday we would take the earliest possible morning train to Sintra. We would spend the day there exploring on our own. After returning to our hotel in Lisbon that night, we would board our cruise the next day.
B) Option B is also to stay in Lisbon, but take a guided tour to Sintra, such as the one offered by Lisbon Riders. However, these tours do not got to the Castelo dos Mouros, which interests us, and some tours (e.g., Lisbon Riders) visit the National Palace of Pena in the mid-to late-afternoon, which I assume is when the Palace crowds will be at their worst.
C) Option C is to go from the airport to lodging in Sintra. We would have the entire day to explore Sintra. The hotels are less expensive than what we had planned for Lisbon, so this is not necessarily more expensive than Option A.
Is Option C nuts? What am I missing about Options A and B?