As others have mentioned, every single guide to Sintra says to get to Pena Palace early. We have no interest in doing the interior tours but will definitely do the rest of the grounds. Is there any reason to rush up there early in the day or might we have better luck with crowds if we wait until later in the afternoon? We will be taking the train back to Lisbon but that's our only constraint. Also curious about thoughts on whether any day of the week is better than another? We can go on a weekend day or a M or T.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15794 posts
I went early. I waited for a while for the (very overdue) bus as the crowd got larger and larger (no line). A tuktuk driver came over and convinced me, with another couple, to use him to go to the palace. Best thing we did. The ride was a bit unnerving, but fun, he passed the very long line near standstill traffic. There was a line to pick up prepurchased online tickets and then a line to get on the bus up to the palace. After going through the palace, with only a short waiting line, I wandered the grounds and there weren't crowds anywhere. In some places I was completely alone.
The next day friends arrived in Sintra, went mid-afternoon and said there were no crowds at all.
Posted by
4 posts
If I had my time again, I would stay in Sintra overnight or for 2 nights - so much to see and impossible to fit it all into one day. I was staying in Lisbon ., caught the early train up and did not leave until about 8.00pm. My ticket for the Pena Palace was 4.30pm and the queue was very long even though you had a ticket.
Posted by
Noblesville, Indiana, USA
1412 posts
This past Saturday our timed ticket was for 12:30 pm. There were crowds but it wasn't too bad. As long as you are there you definitely should tour the interior! The exterior photos you see online of the entire palace are not what you'll see because of the terrain and trees. BTW we Ubered from Belem for about $25.00 and 25 minutes.
Posted by
Boston
98 posts
One benefit I found from being one of the first in line for the interior entry was that I was allowed to walk on the outer terraces when no one else was there (while my family stood in the queue). Made beautiful photos.