Lisbon Pre Cruise - visit to Sintra

[caviarforme]

We are joining Ovation in November for its' transatlantic crossing and are spending a couple of days in Lisbon pre-cruise. We have been to Lisbon before but have never visited Sintra, which friends have recommended. We like to take things at our own pace and our mobility is slower than the average tourist so we avoid group tours/coaches etc. However we are having difficulty in finding a private guide/tour from Lisbon with pickup/drop off at our hotel in Lisbon.We have tried Viator who show availability but each time, several days later, the booking is subsequently "declined" by the "operator". I like to deal with the "operator" direct!!

 

Any suggestions welcome, also any tips for a visit to Sintra

[Sunprince]

If you cannot find a private tour, you might want to consider taking the train from Lisbon to Sintra. The train leaves from Rossio station (central to most hotels) and ends right in town in Sintra. Trains are very frequent and inexpensive. It’s a very simple and easy way to get from Lisbon to Sintra.  Once in Sintra, there will be lots of options to take a private tour. Or just hire a Tuk Tuk and go up to the castle on the hilltop. The drive up and down is lovely.  Word of caution though, if visiting the Peña Palace, it is a longer and steeper walk from the entrance gate to the castle itself.  

[FlyingScotSailors]

In December 2016, before our Odyssey transatlantic, we used We Hate Tourism Tours for a day trip to Sintra and Cascais.  It was supposed to be 4 people. but the other couple did not show up, so we had a private tour.  There was some walking involved, but the "group" went at our pace! 🤭. You should be able to discuss your needs with them and get the tour you want. We had a very nice young man guiding us, and they seem to have good ratings.

 

Photo of the tour van below.

 

[mraven]

Agree with FlyingScotSailors. We did 2 tours with We Hate Tourism and both were excellent. We did a dinner with them that was just incredible. Took us to a hole in the wall for a 4 course dinner, visited the famous pastry place and ended up at the sailor monument drinking a bottle Port at midnight! We were the only 2 on the tour, so the guide invited her friend. It was magical.

Edited September 29, 2023 by mraven

[Techno123]

We did Sintra on our own as suggested by @Sunprince. I highly recommend a full day there.

Cascais was a nice seaside resort which we also accessed by the train but we then took bikes and cycled further along the coast. Have you been to Belem? That is interesting too.

First 4 photos are Sintra, next 2 Belem and last one Cascais 😁

[Utopia1]

Sintra is a beautiful excursion-- another nice excursion is the train from Lisbon to Cascais.  It is a beautiful train ride along the sea passing through Estoril and last stop is Cascais.  Cascais is an easy city to walk around.

If you can go on a weekday it will be a little less crowded with pedesrians and cars.   The Hotel Albatroz is a lovely place to go for a drink in the late afternoon.  We have stayed there many times and watched this hotel expand and expand, but never loosing its quaintness.

The hotel is an easy walk to the train station.

[luv2cruise51]

We also did a private tour to Sintra in November of 2019 and made arrangements with Portugal Premium Tours.  Our wonderful guide was Carlos Godinho and it was just the 3 of us touring Sintra.

 

My husband and I are also moving slower these days and usually prefer private tours or with another couple or two.

 

We would definitely use them again in Lisbon and the surrounding areas. You can find many reviews of them on Trip Advisor.

 

www.premiumtours.pt/en 

 

Kathy & Glenn

[mskatiemae]

On 9/29/2023 at 2:25 AM, caviarforme said:

a private guide/tour from Lisbon with pickup/drop off at our hotel in Lisbon

Check out differentportugal.com for this kind of personal guide service. I have done his Sintra tour twice and am looking to go a third time when I'm next in Lisbon! Filipe Cordeira is the owner. 

https://www.differentportugal.com/sintra-tour

 

[caviarforme]

To all who have responded - thank you for your assistance and suggestions. We are looking at them all.

 

I need to change my Search Engine as none of these very useful suggestions came up!

[Dusko]

We spent Christmas in Lisbon last year.  For Belem we took the hop-on hop-off bus. It was a really great day out and the bus was perfect. We caught it right by the hotel downtown near the railway station .  We had heard about the train option to go to Sintra but then realized that an Uber from the hotel direct to the place was $40 for three of us. No brainer. Uber then took us down into town for a great meal and look around. The Uber back to the hotel was $35.  Honestly, Uber pricing was so low it became almost embarrassing.

 

Just a thought

[DC Traveler244]

We visited Lisbon in Spring 2022 and used a company called Your Friend in Lisbon.  The company provided hotel pickup/dropoff, car and driver, plus an excellent English-speaking guide. Highly recommended  http://www.yourfriendinlisbon.com