Hi all. I'll be in Lisbon in March and plan on spending a day (maybe two depending on how long it takes) in Sintra. I'm wondering which sites I should purchase tickets for in advance and how far in advance I should purchase them. As of right now I'm planning to see the grounds and terraces of Pena Palace, but don't plan to go inside. I want to see Quinta de Regaleria, Moorish Castle and Monserrate Palace.
Thank you!
I just got back from there a few weeks ago and saw three of the sites you mentioned. I highly recommend getting tickets for the Pena palace in advance. They are timed entry and the day I went most all the times had sold out. Moorish castle would be good to buy in advance because there was no ticket booth open when I was there (all tickets sold on the app). Regaleria was nice to have in advance because I was able to walk right in (no timed entry). I did not go to Monserrate palace. I would also add that I elected to hike down from the Moorish castle to the Regaleria and I really liked that. It was steep at times but managable but it was very scenic. Unless you are a very good hiker I would highly discourage hiking up to the Castle/Pena Palace from the train station as I took the bus and was glad I did after hiking down. Hope you have a great trip!!
I just spent a little over two weeks in Spain and Portugal. Of that time, the most over-rated and, to me, biggest waste of time, was the Pena Palace. I wouldn't go back nor would I recommend it to anyone as a "primary" place to visit while in Lisbon. I did really enjoy the Moorish Castle, but the Pena Palace was just a big stand-in-line and shuffle through rooms time waste, so your plans to not go inside are a good idea.
To your question, we bought tickets to the Moorish Castle on the day of at the TI in the train station and I bought our Pena Palace tickets online as we were walking up from the train station to the palace. Buying day off for the Pena Palace was a little risky as they did have a limit, but that limit was exceptionally high (hence the crowds and lines).
We did the walk up from the train station and the walk down back to the station, and it was steep and slow going during periods of light rain, but I think the walk itself and the views from the Moorish castle ruins were by far my favorite part of that day trip. Even so, I sort of wish we had devoted that day more to Lisbon and not made the easy train trip out and back to Sintra.
Just go back from Lisbon at the end of October. We reserved a week prior to our trip as we wanted to have the first entry of the day and it was selling out fast. We also purchased the Moorish Castle due to recommendations from the forum. We wished that we would have waited as the weather was rainy and windy. It was unsafe to go up to the castle, the Peña palace was not easily visible. However, despite the horrible weather, the tickets for Peña Palace was sold out for the morning. Note that if you want to take the trolley, you need to buy the tickets either in advance or at the gate, if not, they do not sell tickets on the trolley.
