Sintra Palaces with kids AND a car

I can't help with the car aspect, but our first overseas trip (years ago!) was to Portgual with our 4 and 7 yr olds. We were there the first week+ in September. We took the bus to Sintra from Cascais. We did not have a car, so this was our only option and it was just fine. Even with the heat, we all managed the bus just fine, FWIW.

The road up to the palace and castle is windy and slow at times, with buses, and
cars that don't know what they're doing.

I would not get too antsy about missing the 9:30 time by a little bit no matter what.

But, the risk of a slow drive up the hill, followed by looking for parking and maybe
a walk back to the palace, is enough that I would consider just taking the bus.

If I remember correctly, it's not a long walk between the palace and castle, so you
only need to ride the bus up once and down once.

I did see the Pena parking lot. It is not big. I don't think you need to worry about getting to the entrance by 9:30 in terms of not losing your tickets. BUT, I would do most anything to be there at 9:30 if not a bit earlier because the earlier in the day you can get in that palace the better experience you will have.

My suggestion would be finding a parking spot in town and getting a BOLT to get to Pena. BOLT and Uber were so ridiculously cheap that I was usually giving a tip 75-100% of the fee.

I'm not sure what you are saying that you should take a car. To travel around Portugal? or to go from Lisbon to Sintra? If it is Lisbon to Sintra, We took the train to Sintra and it was very easy and fast. There were cab drivers right at the Sintra train station. I'm not sure what a cab charges vs. BOLT.

Thank you so much! Good to know one of you was there with kids the same age as mine and survived! :) We'll be staying in Cascais as well!

Good point about the windy road and all the cars, etc. That bus schedule seemed terrible (1st departure from the train station @8:50am), but I think this will have to be the option!

Regarding the car, I'm sorry I wasn't clearer. So we'll be in Portugal for 3 weeks so we'll have a car anyway and we wanted to drive to Sintra just cause we could leave at our own time, etc. With 2 young kids, we didn't want to stress about making the train on time! But I think the feedback I'm getting is just get there early, get the Bolt and be dropped off at Pena.

Thank you all!

LOL, yes were survived! The heat was the worst part of it, as I wilt in it;) That was our first overseas trip and the kids did great. The bus was easy. We actually walked from the castle up to the palace. BTW, we loved staying in Cascais for a few days. It was so laid back. Walking along the path by the ocean was especially nice in the evenings, and the kids made use of the pool at our hotel.

Ah so good to know! I'm from NYC and live in Kenya so we're good with the heat, but my kids have only experience NYC proper summer humidity! I'm PRAYING they survive! LOL!!! From another post, I realized we actually might end up just taking an Uber to the palace cause it seems every other option is just too stressful regarding timing, etc. I'm super grateful for all this input! It's so helpful!