Question on skip the line tickets in Sintra

Good info - thank you! I am planning to take an Uber from our hotel in Lisbon directly to the Pena Palace with a timed ticket as our first stop then leisurely hit the other sites by foot. We plan to take the train back. I saw this idea posted on another question and think it should work and be less stressful than taking the train and bus to Sintra but any comments/other suggestions welcome. Especially if are they really strict with the timing? If you are 15 minutes early or late will that be a problem?

We went to Sintra yesterday. I have been to Madrid, Barcelona, Porto and Lisbon so far this trip and the Pena Palace had the longest lines of anywhere I have been. It was a Monday which I guess is the most crowded day since all the museums are closed in Lisbon, but I imagine the weekends are pretty busy too. Definately buy your tickets to the Pena Palace online ahead of time so you can pick your time slot. We arrived at the ticket line around 11:30 am and tickets were sold out until 3:30 pm. There is an option to purchase the ticket with transportation/tour bus within the park/gardens to the palace for an extra 2.88 Euro. Once you enter the Palace gardens it is probably 1/4 mile hike uphill to where the tour bus would drop you off the climb another steep path up to the palace. But the bus will also take you all around the palace gardens. So if you don’t want to do much walking uphill, pay for the extra transportation and you may see more of the gardens quicker. There are great places in the gardens to explore, If you are up for a lot of hiking steep paths and roads. You can still hike a lot from the different bus transport spots. No

They are strict on your ticket time. If you get there late, they will not let you in. Most people were in line at the palace 30 minutes before. And give yourself 20-30 minutes to get to the line once you enter the park gates. But also be aware that to get to the gate entrance from town is a 30 minute or more drive up the mountain. You can get there on a city tour bus for 12.50 Euro each that is hop on and off. Bus 434 takes you to the Moorish Castle and Pena Palace. Bus 435 will take you to Quinta da Regalheira. I believe the pass will let you hop on and off both buses, but check to be sure. Or you can take a taxi straight to the Pena palace from town for 5 Euro each. Driving up the road from town, you will reach the Morrish castle first. If you have enough time, you can see it first and then walk or get back on the bus to the Pena palace, but it’s not far, so if you go to the Pena palace fist, you can walk back down the road to the Moorish castle (you won’t be able to take the bus back down because it’s one way). Also note that once you enter the Pena palace gardens, you cannot leave and re-enter. Because of this we ran out of time and did not get to go to the Moorish Castle. Once you get back down the hill, the Quinta da Regalheira is closer to town. The last entrance is at 5:30 pm and the chapel and palace close at 6pm, but you can wander the gardens until 6:30pm. Or you could do it first in the morning if you have tickets for the Pena Palace in the afternoon.

In summary, start early and give yourself extra time to get to each location! I would give yourself 1.5 hours from the time you arrive in town before your ticket time at the Pena palace to get there in time, and an hour or two more if you want to do the Moorish castle first. I hope this helps you be more efficient than we were! But it’s beautiful and all worth it. The views to Lisbon on the east and the ocean on the west are amazing!

If you take an uber straight to the Pena palace, that would definitely be easiest (We drove from Lisbon and had to find parking in town and a way to get up the mountain because there is not much parking up there). I would get there 45-60 min before your scheduled time. Then you can walk down to the Moorish castle. Then take a taxi to the Q de R.