Sintra palaces

[sej67]

My ship will be in Lisbon for most of two days, and I would like to take a tour to the Sintra / Pena / Estoril / Cascais area. I've heard of several palaces in the area, and would like to know which is best to visit. Most of the tours seem to only go inside one palace, although they often drive by one or more of the others. So far, I've heard mention of:

 

Queluz Palace

 

National Palace of Sintra

 

Vila Palace

 

Pena Palace

 

Palace of the Village

 

I'll be there Thurs. afternoon through Friday 5 PM. Queluz is closed Tues., Pena is closed Mon., and Vila and Palace of the Village are closed Wed.

[sej67]

ok, I also see mention of:

 

Quinta da Regaleirra

 

Seteasis

 

and Monserrate Palace

 

any of these worth visiting?

[sej67]

There is also mention of the "Moorish Castle".

[PhilbeachTraveller]

My ship will be in Lisbon for most of two days, and I would like to take a tour to the Sintra / Pena / Estoril / Cascais area. I've heard of several palaces in the area, and would like to know which is best to visit. Most of the tours seem to only go inside one palace, although they often drive by one or more of the others. So far, I've heard mention of:

 

Queluz Palace

 

National Palace of Sintra

 

Vila Palace

 

Pena Palace

 

Palace of the Village

 

I'll be there Thurs. afternoon through Friday 5 PM. Queluz is closed Tues., Pena is closed Mon., and Vila and Palace of the Village are closed Wed.

 

 

Cascias/Estoril and Sintra are really easy to get to by train from Lisbon, if you don't want to take an organised tour. The train to Cascais is 1/2 hour and then it is only a 2 km walk along the waterfront to Estoril. There is a 'Moorish' mansion in Cascais and they have guided tours every half hour. It is open Tuesday to Sunday. Website for Cascais/Estoril is www.estorilcoast-tourism.com

 

Sintra is 45 minutes by train and is a wonderful place to visit. The Moorish castle is basically just the ruins, but is open to the public every day. Be warned though, it is a 4km walk up the mountain! Both the Palacio Nacional de Sintra and de Pena are in Sintra as well as the fabulous Parque da Pena. Website which might help is www.cm-sintra.pt

 

You can pick up a bus tour from Lisbon to Sintra and Estoril via Cityrama (www.cityrama.pt)

 

Lisbon is a wonderful city with lots to see and do.

[edinburgher]

Sintra is just amazing and extremely easy to do on your own.

 

We took the train to Sintra (frequent service) then used the bus which goes way up the hill in a circular route. You can get off and on whenever you want between the different sights before finishing back down at the station or get off one stop earlier and explore the lower town itself before walking back up to the station. The views are simply breathtaking and the narrow twisty road equally so. Dont even think about walking up instead of the bus unless you enjoy near vertical walking. Plan on a full day here.

 

There is masses of info online. Here are a couple of examples.

 

http://www.lisbon-guide.info/surroundings/sintra

http://www.footprintguides.com/Lisbon/Sintra.php

[Mrs007]

How lucky you have an overnight in Lisbon. I would suggest on your 2nd day you get up very early and either take the train or hire a taxi for the day to take you to Sintra and Estoril. We only had 5 hours and I could have stayed 5 hours more. We visited Quinta da Regaleira and only had 45 minutes there. I could have easily spent another 1 or 2 hours there. If you do go there, I wouldn't spend much time in the Quinta, there are no furnishings, but wandering the wonderful grounds. Sintra itself is a wonderful little town to wander. If you arrive there early morning, be sure to stop and have coffee and pastries - they are fabulous! There were some restaurants near Devils Hole (I think that is what they called it), near Estoril that I would have enjoyed having lunch, but we didn't have enough time. Oh, and you can catch horse drawn carriage rides from the National Palace in Sintra. I wish we would have had time for that as well.

 

Here is a link to a few of my pictures from our too short visit to Sintra.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/563941932JVwsGg

[AmoMondo]

Sintra is just amazing and extremely easy to do on your own.

 

We took the train to Sintra (frequent service) then used the bus which goes way up the hill in a circular route. You can get off and on whenever you want between the different sights before finishing back down at the station or get off one stop earlier and explore the lower town itself before walking back up to the station. The views are simply breathtaking and the narrow twisty road equally so. Dont even think about walking up instead of the bus unless you enjoy near vertical walking. Plan on a full day here.

 

There is masses of info online. Here are a couple of examples.

 

http://www.lisbon-guide.info/surroundings/sintra

 

 

 

That's exactly the way i visited Sintra too. The winter palace is like a fairy tale palace - it is so beautiful as is the rest of the town itself . It's a steep climb up to the palace but well worth getting out of breath for!. Once you have been there you will see why its a World heritage site. Also treated myself to a horse drawn carriage ride from the town centre which was lovely too.

Estoril and Cascais are on the same train route, so could do both on the same route/trip. Howevr if you only have 2 days, I'd personally spend one in Sintra and the other in Lisbon itself, which is such a gorgeous city. trams are a great way to get around and see all the sites. The Monastery (Monasterie de geronimo) is well worth a vist and is close to the belem Tower too.

[sej67]

Thanks for the info on the train service.

 

For the train going to Cascais and Estoril, does that go to Boca do Inferno, Guincho and Cabo da Roca? Or are these a short walk from a train stop? I am interested in these as well.

[AmoMondo]

Thanks for the info on the train service.

 

For the train going to Cascais and Estoril, does that go to Boca do Inferno, Guincho and Cabo da Roca? Or are these a short walk from a train stop? I am interested in these as well.

 

Just checked my Lisbon guide book for you. For cascais and Estoril you get the train from Cais du Sodre station. Cascais is 5 minutes further on, on the train or you could walk in about 20 mins. cabo de Boca is not walking distance. The book says to get the stagecoach bus no 403 from cascais station, it runs every hour and takes 30 minutes (my book is a few years old so you will need to check this is still the right bus)Cant find a mention of boca de Inferno but Guincho is mentioned in the section on Cabo de Boca. As well as talking about the bus, it recommends hiring a car as the coastal route is supposedly stunning(compared to California's Highway One (except it only takes 15 minutes to drive along)

 

By the way its Rossio ststion that you need for Sintra (you also can get the train to mafra from here although you will need to change)

[tgg]

We plan to take the train from Rossio Station to Sintra. Can someone tell me how far the station is from the cruise terminal in Lisbon either in distance or in time it takes to walk?

[AmoMondo]

Rossio is in central Lisbon and I think quite a WALK FROM THE PORT. I WAS STAYING IN CENTRAL lISBON ON THE OCCASIONS i WENT THERE, SO IT WAS A SHORT WALK FOR ME. fROM READING OTHER POSTS ABOUT lISBON, I THINK SHIPS CAN DOCK AT VARIOUS PLACES. tHERE IS AN UNDERGROUND STATION AT THE PORT (BUT COULD NOT SAY HOW CLOSE OR FAR IT WILL BE FROM WHERE YOUR SHIP DOCKS). nOT SURE ABOUT THE DISTANCE BY TAXI AS i GOT AROUND IN lISBON BY TRAM AND UNDERGROUND OR WALKED.

[jeana]

I have been reading the posts and they have been immensely helpful.

I will be traveling to Lisbon on the Grand Princess for just a day (a Sunday, 7am-4pm) and want to visit Sintra.

 

I believe the ship docks outside Rossio at a tram station called Alcantara Mar. I can get to Rossio or other stations from Alacantara Mar, but wondering if there is a direct route to Sintra.

 

Also, since my time there will be limited, can anyone suggest one palace/castle that is best to spend time visiting? I understand the bus will make a circular route and I want to enjoy visiting at one of the stops.

 

Many thanks,

and happy travels,

Jeana

[Missus Makkem]

We plan to take the train from Rossio Station to Sintra. Can someone tell me how far the station is from the cruise terminal in Lisbon either in distance or in time it takes to walk?

 

If you want to go from the cruise terminal which is at Acantarra,you walk (7-8 mins), to Alcantarra Mer station,from there follow the red painted path over the lines to Acantarra Terra station.

MER Station is CASCAIS line,TERRA is the SINTRA line

 

From here take the train 1 stop to Campohile station,follow the signs on the platform for Sintra train.

 

Tip,these trains are on time,buy ticket from M/C on platform 1.7 euros single

[Lair Bear]

MER Station is CASCAIS line,TERRA is the SINTRA line

 

From here take the train 1 stop to Campohile station,follow the signs on the platform for Sintra train.

 

Tip,these trains are on time,buy ticket from M/C on platform 1.7 euros single

 

Dear Missus Makkem, you helped us a lot about the Zeebrugge questions last year and now I see you have some good insight about trains in Lisbon.

Please, allow me to ask you, or anyone who likes to comment, about the following full day trip. It will be Saturday in April.

We are staying two nights in Lisbon before our cruise and want to take the train to Sintra, do the tram 434 route and see some of the palaces.

Then, in the early afternoon, instead of going back by the same train, I thought about taking the bus to Cascais (perhaps walk to Estori) and then take another train back from Cascais to Lisbon.

Our hotel is near do Rossio station. So can we get back there easily and do all of this in one day? Would a side trip like this be worth the hassles?

[Missus Makkem]

Dear Missus Makkem, you helped us a lot about the Zeebrugge questions last year and now I see you have some good insight about trains in Lisbon.

Please, allow me to ask you, or anyone who likes to comment, about the following full day trip. It will be Saturday in April.

We are staying two nights in Lisbon before our cruise and want to take the train to Sintra, do the tram 434 route and see some of the palaces.

Then, in the early afternoon, instead of going back by the same train, I thought about taking the bus to Cascais (perhaps walk to Estori) and then take another train back from Cascais to Lisbon.

Our hotel is near do Rossio station. So can we get back there easily and do all of this in one day? Would a side trip like this be worth the hassles?

 

Hi ,

we have visited Sintra x 3 last year ,travelling from the port & 2 x into Cascais

 

I would recommend going to Sintra first, (there is a great web page),& then on to Cascais,since you only buy single tickets, for the each trip, 1.7 euros,world is yours

we walked from the Sintra station around into the town, was very scenic,last april we took the shuttle bus ,from outside the station,it is like the HO-HO buses,jump on & off ,town ,then Castle, Palace,back to the station,that is the circular route. 4 euros allday ticket

 

yes there is a bus service from Sintra to Cascais ,but yet to travel that way.Give it a try, not a hassle,

there is a tourist office in Sintra station,will help with the bus to Cascais

 

Cascais to Lisbon is a easy journey,give it a try,what I have seen of the 2 places,would go to Sintra 1st,then on to Cascais

[Missus Makkem]

Dear Missus Makkem, you helped us a lot about the Zeebrugge questions last year and now I see you have some good insight about trains in Lisbon.

Please, allow me to ask you, or anyone who likes to comment, about the following full day trip. It will be Saturday in April.

We are staying two nights in Lisbon before our cruise and want to take the train to Sintra, do the tram 434 route and see some of the palaces.

Then, in the early afternoon, instead of going back by the same train, I thought about taking the bus to Cascais (perhaps walk to Estori) and then take another train back from Cascais to Lisbon.

Our hotel is near do Rossio station. So can we get back there easily and do all of this in one day? Would a side trip like this be worth the hassles?

 

Hi,checked the trains from Sintra - Cascais takes 1 hr 40 mins,going back way you came, but changeing at Campolide,to Alcantarra Terra, walk from here to Alcantarra Mer, then train onto Cascais,2.20 euros,I think it will be quicker than the bus.

 

This train journey to Sintra from the cruise treminal ,Alcantarra, is the train we take, then back to Lisbon station,this is a different station to Rossio.

Long day,but an enjoyable 1 & you can get off @ Estoril, walk the prom into Cascais