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Report: (Trying to) Visit Pena Palace in April 2022

We took a day tour with Lisbon Riders to Sintra. I was foolhardy enough to mess with Lisbon Riders’ standard tour to Sintra because I wanted to see about 5 buildings in/near Sintra, including Pena Palace, Quinta da Regaleira, Convent of the Capuchos, Sintra National Palace, and the Palace of Monserrate.

While the saga/sitcom of our attempt to see them all is better detailed in my other travel writing locale, I wanted to share these things I noticed about the Pena Palace:

On the advice of Lisbon Riders, Pena Palace was our last stop. We had timed entry for 5pm. When we arrived at 4pm and started walking up the pathway (note: this is a pretty steep and tiring climb) we passed a line of people at least a kilometer long. At 4pm, they were waiting for their 2pm timed entry.

We walked right into the courtyard area at about 4pm - this area is not time-controlled. We toured the exterior areas and then decided that we’d just head back to Lisbon, satisfied with the other sites we had successfully toured. But - and here’s the key thing - during the 40 minutes we were in the courtyard, that entire massive line disappeared. So that while the 2pm timed entry people had a huge wait, the 5pm timed entry people (other than our hysterically tired group) walked right in!

Lisbon Riders told us this is commonly how it plays out - terrible lines all day long and then a total lull at about 5pm. If you can schedule your day this way, you’ll be far smarter than we were:)

Posted by
67 posts

Valerie,
Thanks for this! We’ll be in Sintra in less than 3 weeks but staying for 3 nights, so I’m trying to make sense of how to minimize the crazy crowds.

Posted by
2613 posts

You’re welcome! One thing I was unprepared for was how long the drive from the cute Sintra town square to Pena Palace was. Then, I was also surprised at how long, bumpy, and steep the walk is up to the Palace. It might be worth Google imaging so you’re prepared.

It’s my understanding that the Palace is selling 400 entry slots for every 30 minutes. That could easily create quite a back log.

Posted by
9462 posts

Valérie -- thanks for this insight. Really useful for anyone planning. Wow !!

Posted by
9 posts

Your advice came just in time, I'm about to book Pena Palace. Will push back from 4:30 to 5