We are planning a trip to Sintra Portugal to see the Pena Palace from Lisbon. Sounds like, upon doing some reading, it is a hard sight to get to. Any suggestions to make it easier to see? LIke, best way to get to the palace ticket booth. Do we take the train , bus or private guide(like Viator) to get to the palace from Lisbon?
Posted by
Chicago
3367 posts
I had the same concerns as you when I was in Lisbon last March. I ended up taking this day tour and it worked out great:
https://lisbonriders.com/group-tours/sintra-cascais/
This is what I said about the tour in my trip report:
This is another tour I debated taking. Do I take the tour? Do I see
Sintra and Cascais on my own? The more I read about some of the issues
with the buses in Sintra, I thought it would be easier to just take
the tour. Plus, the stop at Cabo da Roca looked like a nice photo
stop. What a great decision, because this tour was just fantastic!!!!
Tania was the tour guide, and it’s too bad they can’t clone her and
have her do all tours. She was warm, engaging, and informative. Plus,
the tour members (8 total including me) were just a great group to
spend the day with. This tour was part guided, with free time in both
Sintra and Cascais.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/solo-in-lisbon-portugal-my-trip-report
Posted by
258 posts
2nd vote for Lisbon Riders. We did it last June. Fantastic and so much easier to let someone else do the logistics.
Posted by
Vancouver, BC, Canada
1397 posts
This is what we did.
We bought the tickets online for the first morning timed admission to beat the crowds.
We requested a Bolt ride share which picked us up in front of our apartment and drove us directly to the entrance of the Pena Palace Park (40 minutes, about €30). From the entrance it took us about 10-15 minutes to walk up to the palace. We toured the palace and then we walked about 20 minutes to the Moorish Castle and bought tickets at the entrance (no line ups). After that, we requested a bolt and returned to Lisbon (about €30). Splitting the cost of the bolt between 2-4 passengers is very inexpensive.
PS. Walking back to the entrance of the Pena Palace may make it easier to catch a Bolt. The route is one way driving. There is a better chance of a Bolt dropping off passengers and being available at Pena Palace than at the Moorish Castle.
Good luck.
Posted by
Canada
6 posts
You definitely don't need a private guide or anything complicated. It is not a hard sight to get to at all, it is heavily touristed and the majority of visitors get there by public transit.
- Take the direct train from Rossio station in Lisbon to Portela de Sintra station.
- Get either the 434 tourist bus or the 516 bus from Sintra station to Pena Palace.
- Walk 10-15 minutes to the palace entrance. It is an uphill walk, fairly steep but not terrible and I did not find the walk difficult at all. This will certainly depend on your mobility, but if you are mobile and relatively fit you should have no issues.
Posted by
Maryland
47 posts
What are thoughts on touring inside of Palace vs just the outside and Palace grounds? Ive read mixed reviews of touring the inside. Have been to many palaces before in France, Italy, St. Petersburg - is Pena Palace inside worth the time/cost with a limited amount of time in Sintra?
Posted by
Chicago
3367 posts
What are thoughts on touring inside of Palace vs just the outside and
Palace grounds?
For me, the exterior and the views were the highlight. I did go inside as it was included in my tour, but it was not very memorable. I didn’t even keep any pictures from the interior.
Posted by
Canada 1st, not 51st.
4773 posts
We did it on our own. We took the train to Sintra and from there we were planning on taking the bus as mentioned above, however the lines were so long we figured we might be waiting for an hour or more. We ended up taking an Uber for €14 up and €9 down. We had thought about an Uber from Lisbon instead of the train but for some reason we never did do that. Quite honestly, we could have skipped the Palace, we enjoyed the Moorish Castle considerably more. Here's my Trip report if you're interested.