My wife and I are traveling to Lisbon in May and are planning a daytrip to Sintra; can Pena, Regaleira, and Monseratte be seen (and enjoyed) on the same day? If so, what order and what time of day? I've read accounts of the crowds and delays at Pena...any comments? Any and all suggestions welcome. Thanks!
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
1826 posts
You can likely do all three in one day but it will be rushed and you will need stamina. Montserrat is quite a way out of town so do it first or last. I avoid Peña so can’t speak to that. But, do advise not going inside either Peña or Regaleira. The best parts are the outside and grounds of both - especially Regaleira. Montserrat palace is a walk from the entrance but the walk is lovely - and the palace is very worth touring the inside.
Posted by
112 posts
We did National Palace of Pena, Quinta de Regaleira, Castelo dos Mouros and Pena Palace all in one day approximately in 10 1/2 hours. We went inside all of them. I think you can definitely skip the inside of Regaleria but I would recommend going inside the Palaces. We did all this with a private guide design your own tour through Viator. The only downside was that we would have liked to have spent more time in the Regaleria gardens. One of the reasons we hired a private guide was so that we didn't have to waste time dealing with public transportation to the different sights. Another reason was that the guide had all the tickets we needed in advance or he skipped the lines to get them.
Posted by
1 posts
Thanks all for the recommendations on Sintra. Darkmist1 - can you tell us the name of the tour guide you used?
Posted by
112 posts
The tour was through Lisbon on wheels and the guide was named Jose. They do have their own website but I found them on getyourguide.com. He's excellent and spent more time with us than he was supposed to. He gets all the tickets so you don't have to waste time on the lines to buy them. Since you won't have to waste your time to get the tickets ,you have the time to go inside the National Palace and the Pena Palace. Other people say to skip the interiors but I wouldn't. However, he doesn't go inside the sites with you. The only downside was that we did not have enough time in Quinta do Regaleira. He also picks you up and drops you off at your hotel.
Posted by
56 posts
I note here that Regaleira has much to offer and we wished for more time there. It is easy to underestimate. While the Pena palace is not extraordinary, it is worth going through.
Posted by
12 posts
Doable in a day but you will be exhausted especially if it is hot. Agree with previous reply that Regaleira gardens need time and can be done well with Pena/ Moorish Castle and National Palace in a full day. Be aware that the bus to from Monseratte takes a good 20 minutes back to station and is a good 10+ minutes on from Regaleira. Latter in day it can be full and recommend walking back to town from Regaleira rather than standing room on the bus back to station