Did the obligatory Sintra day trip from Lisbon a few days ago. Maybe I am repeating what has been said on this forum, but take seriously the feedback of the zoo-like experience visiting Sintra. I booked Peña palace maybe the worst day, Monday, at 1300 figuring a bit later may be less crowded. Based on on-line ticket availability a few days prior to the visit, this seemed ok. Arrived by train in crowded Sintra ignoring multiple tour/ride offers and got an Uber to the palace arriving at 12:15 for our 1:00 entry. After the first ticket check we ended up at a monstrous line below the castle. Timed tickets were irrelevant as we eventually heard they were 2 hours behind. After an hour, we passed another ticket check but just continued in the same static line which finally entered the palace. Half way through the Palace we actually broke free a bit. Once out of the interior spaces you could wander around, and I think some people (smarter than us) skipped the interior rooms and just walked the outside- or never entered the palace walls and snapped photos from outside (my recommendation now). I never found my pre-paid audio guide, but didn’t care due to glacial speed of the line. This whole ordeal took 3 hours which I’m guessing would have been 30 minutes without lines had the timed entry worked. We were so worn out we didn’t bother with the gardens.
We continued to the Moorish castle which was a delight no doubt due to few people.
Final heads up - the trail leading down from moorish castle to town comes to a “Y” with Steve’s recommendation to pass through a small village which is the right fork. Turns out the left fork is blocked further down, and the right fork is also blocked by a wall and gate ahead. A group gathered and decided to climb over the wall since someone said the gate sign indicated we were standing on the closed side (i.e. we shouldn’t be blocked again). We helped each other over the wall - not an easy feat - then enjoyed the remaining stroll thru the village. In hindsight I think there was a pushed aside barricade at the start which probably stated “closed” which everyone, including us, either ignored or missed.
Had I did this against: Uber to Pena, snap photos of exterior, skip palace entry, tour moorish castle, do one more thing in Sintra. Or, get to the Palace as they open, or very late entry.