Sintra itinerary question

I used Bolt all over Portugal and loved it! The app is very user friendly, showing the type and color of car, the name of the driver and license plate number and where the car is at all times. It's also very affordable. Most of the time, it only took minutes to be picked up once I placed the request.

To be honest, I struggled to find things to eat in Portugal because I don't like much meat or fish and definitely don't like to base a meal around them, but I found a nice Indian restaurant on a side street there.

Thanks so much! That’s reassuring to hear about Bolt! I used it in Paris and Italy I believe and found it convenient too.

Curious to hear what everyone thinks of my itinerary to Sintra! Also should I purchase the “transfer” ticket for bus from Pena Place and Park? Not sure how far it is when I was trying to look up on Google map.

Consider taking a bolt from your condo in Lisbon directly to the Pena Palace to beat the crowds before the entrance opens. According to google maps, an economy bolt is currently estimated to be €22, 1 minute wait, 55 minutes ride. Price will vary depending upon the size of the bolt that you choose and demand.

When you take the train, you will be in a crowd with hundreds of other tourists all vying for bolts, the bus or tuk tuks at the Sintra train station. If you arrive at Pina Palace after 10:00 a.m., there will probably be a huge line up.

If you are sharing a bolt from Lisbon with at least one other person, you will find that the cost per person is not much more than taking the train and the bus up the mountain. I think the bus pass for the mountain is €10 per person.

There are lots of bolts in Lisbon, less so in Sintra. At 8AM, we only had to wait a few minutes to catch the bolt in front of our condo. We paid €35 for a large bolt XL for six people. We arrived at Pena Palace by 9AM. We had pre-booked tickets for the first timed entry. We toured the interior and the terraces. By about 10:30, the crowds and line up were huge. We ate lunch in the restaurant; nothing special, typical cafeteria food. We then walked over to the Moorish Castle, bought tickets at the entrance and spent about 90 minutes there. This was not too crowded because everything is outside and spread out. By about 3:00 p.m., some of us were tired and wanted to go home, so we ordered a bolt back to Lisbon. We had to wait for about 20 minutes because there are fewer bolts in Sintra and they had to drive up to the mountain to get us. For the six of us, it cost only €28 to return to Lisbon.

Thanks so much funpig!
I am going with my parents in 60s and all things considered, it seems reasonable to take your advice and consider getting Bolt from Lisbon rather than thinking about multiple transportation and facing huge crowds like me. This was super helpful. Thanks again!

Pena Palace is walking distance from Moorish Castle (Castelo dos Mouros), so I would see one after the other, then get lunch in town. Besides Pena Palace, there are the grounds (Park of Pena) where you can spend some time walking around and seeing additional sites. Many skip this, but I thought it was worth the time. For the Moorish Castle, you will need to walk a bit before you get to the walls and then for climbing stairs for the views.

When you say National Palace of Pena do you mean Pena Palace or National Palace of Sintra? The National Palace of Sintra is in town. Quinta da Regaleira is walking distance from town, or you can take the bus, Bolt, tuk tuk. The grounds are the highlight of Regaleira, so I would allocate lots of time for this place. Many consider Regaleira their favorite.

Myec, you're welcome; glad it was helpful.

Definitely do Pena Palace first. Walking to Moorish ticket office from Pena Palace is not too hard. From the ticket office you still need to walk on a trail for about 20 minutes to get to the Moorish Castle. Plus you have to walk back after the visit unless you take the long steep trail down to town (we did not do this). If you walk from the Moorish Castle back to the ticket office, you can then catch a ride back down the hill to Sintra. You have about four options:

1. You can take the bus, but I recall that the bus will charge you 10 euros per person for an all-day pass, even if you only use it once to go down the hill.

2. You can request a bolt to drive you down the hill. This can be hit or miss and may result in a wait. The mountain is a curvy one-way circle and it takes time for a bolt driver to drive up the mountain to bring you down. A bolt driver may not want to do that if it is just a short fare back to Sintra (about €4). Our bolt ride was a decent fare back to Lisbon, but even then we had to wait about 15 minutes for the bolt. You may get lucky with a bolt driver dropping a fare and then picking you up. You may increase your chance for a bolt by walking back up to Pena which is the more popular destination for bolt drivers. A bolt driver dropping off at the Pena Palace cannot reverse backwards down the one-way road to the Moorish Castle. I suggest that you just request the bolt ride and see if you get a timely response. If the bolt driver agrees to pick you up, the app will let you know how long it will take before they can pick you up.

3. You can also hire a tuk tuk, but I believe this is a very expensive touristy option.

4. Finally, you may find local drivers hanging out in front of the Pena and Moorish ticket offices offering to drive you down to Sintra for €5 per person. They do not work for bolt or Uber. They are just local people trying to earn a few bucks by driving tourists. We probably would have chosen this option if we opted to go to Sintra instead of back to Lisbon.

Good luck.

Oh my goodness, I am just amazed by and grateful for knowing great travelers like you in the community! I really appreciate you all for taking your time to help out other travelers like me with all these pearls that I can’t easily get anywhere on YouTube or books!

Gail, thanks for letting me know there are two different palace! I bet I could have gone to the wrong palace and meant Pena Palace. Thanks for your tips!

Funpig- thanks again for different options and what it entails. I have better ideas and expectations about what option will be the most optimal for our family (Bolt with the first entry at 0930am 😎)!

You guys are amazing. Hope y’all are having great weekends! ❤️

Two of us visited Sintra November 2, 2023. Our itinerary for the day was this: Left Rossio early by train to Sintra (times are posted on line which I checked the night before); got to Sintra before 9:00 (can't remember the time); took a tuk-tuk to PP ticket entrance (pricey but fun ... we ARE on vacation); showed ticket at entrance (we pre-booked 9:00 entrance); walked up the steep hill to PP (this took a little longer than I anticipated and had to walk faster than we wanted ... puff, puff); arrived at our time slot; left PP and walked to the Moorish C (as mentioned, not far); passed all the people standing in line to purchase a ticket (we had booked on line in advance); toured the MC and had a picnic lunch at the MC; walked down the pathway to Sintra (we are in our 60's with no mobility issues) and enjoyed the walk (scenic in many places ... and got to meet all the people panting walking up the pathway); wandered Sintra but chose not to enter any other sites (I wld buy those tickets as needed); walked to the train station from Sintra (lovely walk) and took the train to Lisbon mid to late afternoon. It was a great day.

We are doing this day in March and I really really appreciate everyone’s reply on this subject.. great clues! Thank you!

Hi,
I just wanted to give you an update that our family had an amazing time at Peña Palace and thank you everyone so much for great tips. I decided to take Bolt from Sintra to Lisbon as advised considering my elderly parents and they found the trip both enjoyable and comfortable. It was surprisingly easy to catch bolt on the way back as well.
We were there at 0830 and am glad we did before crowds of families and tour companies were coming in and done by 11am so headed back to Lisbon for lunch. Highly recommended if you are visiting Lisbon for a day trip!