Taking the Train from Lisbon to Sintra

Spending about an hour going through various threads on this forum will give you a wealth of information.

Even quick scan of Rick's book will be a very good ROI of time.

Of course there is that Sundar Pichai's very powerful website. But it can give you a lot more info than what you may want to study and filter.

To answer your questions:
1. Train to Sintra from Lisbon is a local suburban train like S-bahn or Chicago Metra or LIRR or NJT or VRE or Septa. You can certainly buy ticket at station or put some funds on Navigate Occasional card and zap through.

BUT, why bother? Especially with the hassles of getting from Sintra train station to Pena Palace?

JUT USE Bolt or Uber. It's cheap and saves TON of time and energy.

1. Lisbon is very walkable city and transportation pass need will depend on desired mode of transport and frequency per day.

Usually it is recommended to buy 24 hours pass once and finish off your appetite for trams and funiculars because these vehicles do not accept contactless credit cards which bus and metro accept.

Most people will suggest you to buy Navigate Occasional card (cost 0.50 cents) and load some funds and road and loose some unused funds at the end of the trip

But again Bolt is so cheap that for 2 people it make sense to use it and for 3/4 people it is actually cheaper.
Plus you get point to point transportation without much wait or fear of pickpocketers. Language is never a barrier as there is no mandatory need to exchange even one word. (English is easily understood by most Portuguese but drivers are a different story. Many can't speak a single word of English. They could be very recent immigrants from Brazil, Mozambique, Pakistan)

TLDR:

1. For your tram+funicular day use 24 hour pass
2. Otherwise just Use Bolt - within Lisbon or to)from Sintra. (Unless you have never used Rickshaws in your life, stay away from those ripoff artists called Tuktuk drivers)

In the past visits, had used public transport as prescribed by most travel guides and travel blogs

But last month, used Bolt almost exclusively and found advantages with Bolt were so much that felt somewhat stupid for not using them previously. (Most rides were from 3.5 to 5.5 euro for door to door private service)

Navegante Ocasional card can be loaded with money ( and some types of tickets) for zapping in the Lisbon commuter trains, buses, Metro and ferries.
https://www.metrolisboa.pt/en/buy/viva-viagem-card/

Lisboa card allows for similar type of travel and some free or discounted attractions entry fees.
https://www.lisboacard.org/

The price/validity structures are different, you'll need to determine which one best suits your needs.

Rossio station has the trains above ground and the Metro below ground.

Yes, the Rossio Train station is different then the Metro, but it's really close by. You can Google it for what it looks like, a beautiful building and the train is upstairs. There is a Starbucks next door which is good for local pastries and sandwiches to go.

For 4 days, I would recommend the zapping navegante occasional card (previously called Viva Viagem). The card costs €0.50 and you can load a specific amount and when it runs out of funds, just load some more. Then you just tap and go. Really nice and convenient. Also, when using the card for the trams versus paying the driver, it's cheaper.

And for the train to Sintra, you will use this card to pay. And if you don't have the card, when you buy the ticket, you will end up buying the card anyways since the cost of the ticket will be loaded on this card.

I can't speak to taking a Bolt/Uber to Sintra, I've always taken the train and been happy with it.

"Language is never a barrier as there is no mandatory need to exchange even one word."

Language really isn't a barrier in Lisbon, since many speak English and the Portuguese are such warm and nice people in general who are happy to help if asked. I've asked for help many times :)

@Gail,

"Language barrier" was mentioned in context of Bolt/Uber drivers. If you run into Portuguese or Indian driver, it is not an issue. But with Brazilian or East European drivers, English speaking abilities were close to zero. But with model of Bolt/Uber that's not an issue. That was the point.

And just out of curiosity kennyD, since you are pushing Bolt, exactly what is the price for a Bolt from Lisbon , e.g. Rossio, to the center of Sintra, and how long does it take to drive? Trains from Oriente are under 2.5 euro, take about 45 minute, and run several times per hour. The rechargeable card works fine for transit -but not for private drivers.

I can see Bolt or Uber being a decent option in the case where you are in a rush to get to Pena Palace for the 1st time slot to tour the inside. By train, you would need to wait for the bus, take a tuktuk, or walk to the entrance. Touring the inside of Pena is not my priority when I visit Sintra, thus I haven't employed that strategy, but I know others do.

And regarding TukTuks, they are expensive, but I've ridden in one and was very much entertained by the driver. Good fun. But this was during COVID and we paid far less than normal due to low tourism. They are not an economical means of transportation, but you can get lucky and get transportation, entertainment and a local tour guide all at once if you are willing to pay the price.

Paid about 18-20 euro from hotel to Pena park main entrance. 45 minutes total.

For four people, it was cheaper and much much faster than transport to Rossio, train to Sintra, bus to Pena

Even for 2 people, savings in time and energy makes it worth it

It was about 4 or 5 euro to go from Pena park entrance to Regaleria park entrance.