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Sintra: Overnight stay, or day trip from Lisbon?

Posted by on

Hello,

I'm hoping to get advice on whether we should cut a day from our Lisbon stay to overnight in Sintra. We're currently staying in Lisbon for 3 nights, and visiting Sintra as a day trip (via rental car). However, it sounds like there many worthwhile sights in/around Sintra (incl. nearby Estoril and Cascais), so we're now debating cutting Lisbon short by a night and staying at Tivoli Palacio de Seteais near Sintra town to visit more of the area. That said, we worry that we're selling short on Lisbon. We're not into museums and prefer to explore different neighborhoods, gardens, and generally being outside. Any advice you can share would be greatly appreciated!

Posted by
189 posts

In my opinion, you need the time in Lisbon. So much to see and do there. If you really want to carve out time, just do Sintra as a day trip. And by the way, I wasn’t impressed with Cascais. Enjoy Portugal! One of our favorite trips!

Posted by
1548 posts

Three nights in Lisbon equate to 2.5 days. If you take one day for Sintra you have only 1.5 days for Lisbon. In my opinion that's not enough time but it's your trip. Do some research and make a list of what you want to see and do in Lisbon. There are many worthwhile sights and neighborhoods. Organize your list and figure out how much time it will fill. Then you can decide how many nights to spend in Lisbon.

It's always a hard decision: how to spend limited time when there's so much to see and do. Good luck!

Posted by
9 posts

Thank you so much for the insight! I'm quite torn at how to approach this, as I find myself attracted to what seems a more nature/outdoor focused experience in Sintra, but there's a long list of sights in Lisbon that we'd love to visit. Looking closer at our itinerary, would the following be too aggressive:

Day 1: Depart Porto (early morning) via rental car, with stops in Nazare (2 hours) and Obidos (2 hours). Arrive early evening in Sintra.

Day 2: Explore Sintra, specifically Pena Palace, Monserrate and Quinta da Regaleira. Stay in Sintra overnight.

Day 3: Depart Sintra (early morning) to Lisbon

Day 4: Lisbon; walking tour (any recommendations??)

Day 5: Lisbon; food tour (any recommendations??)

Day 6: Depart Lisbon (early morning) for Algarve

This plan would give us roughly 2.5 days in Lisbon.

Posted by
383 posts

I have always visited Sintra as a day trip. Earlier in the day is better. It is a unique and beautiful location.
A different day trip from Lisbon is Evora ,about 1.5 hours by train and is well worth the trip.
Évora, World Heritage Site | www.visitportugal.com

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