TLDR: Sintra packs five amazing UNESCO-listed sites into a single day. Pena Palace (€14, the famous yellow-and-red romantic palace), Moorish Castle (€8, 8th-century battlements), Quinta da Regaleira (€11, the initiation well), Sintra National Palace (€10, in town), and Cabo da Roca (free, the westernmost point of continental Europe). Train from Rossio takes 40 minutes. Pre-book Pena online — on-the-day tickets sell out by 11am.
Insider tip from Casa Almada
Buy a combined Pena Palace + Moorish Castle ticket online for €25 (saves €5 vs separate). Then take the 434 hop-on-hop-off bus from Sintra station — it runs both palaces in a loop and you can do Moorish Castle first (less queueing) and Pena second. Both are 90 minutes each.
Sintra is the day trip everyone visiting Lisbon should do, and the day trip almost everyone does badly. The mistake is treating it as a casual half-day and rushing through the queues. Sintra rewards an early start, a sensible bus pass, and the discipline to skip the lower-tier sites.
I have walked our Casa Almada guests through this trip dozens of times. This is the practical local guide to making it work — what to pre-book, what to skip, when to go, and how to get back to Casa Almada by dinner.
Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle
Pena Palace sits on the highest hilltop above Sintra. Built 1842-1854 by King Fernando II as a Romanticist castle in the Manueline-Moorish revival style. The yellow walls, the red towers, the blue azulejo dining room, the yellow-and-red onion domes — all extraordinary, all a bit mad. €14 entry to the park and palace, 9.30am-6.30pm. Pre-book online with a timed slot.
The Moorish Castle sits on the next hilltop, accessible by the same 434 bus or a 30 minute woodland walk. 8th-century battlements rebuilt over the centuries, dramatic walk along the curtain wall, and the best views of Sintra and the Atlantic in clear weather. €8 entry, same hours.
Visit Moorish Castle first at 10am (lighter queues), then Pena Palace at 12pm with a pre-booked timed slot. The 434 bus runs in a loop between station, Moorish Castle and Pena every 15 minutes — €13.50 return for the day, far easier than driving.
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Quinta da Regaleira and the initiation well
Quinta da Regaleira sits in Sintra town below the palaces. Built 1904-1910 for the eccentric coffee millionaire António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro, with help from the Italian architect Luigi Manini. €11 entry, open 10am-7pm in summer.
The grounds are a 4-hectare garden full of grottos, lakes, fountains, chapels, and tunnels. The headline feature is the Initiation Well (Poço Iniciático), a 27-metre underground spiral staircase that descends through nine landings (one per circle of Dante’s Inferno) before exiting through a hidden tunnel into the gardens. Allegedly used by Carvalho Monteiro and the Knights Templar for esoteric initiation rituals. Allow 90 minutes for the whole site.
After Regaleira, walk 10 minutes back into Sintra town and visit the Sintra National Palace (€10, 9.30am-7pm) — the medieval royal palace with the famous twin conical chimneys. Smaller and quicker than Pena. Allow 45 minutes.
Cabo da Roca and Sintra town
For visitors with a full day and a hire car, drive 18 km west to Cabo da Roca — the westernmost point of continental Europe. A small lighthouse, a stone marker with the inscription “where the land ends and the sea begins” by the poet Luís de Camões, and dramatic Atlantic cliff views. Free, always open.
Without a car, the Scotturb 403 bus from Sintra station to Cascais via Cabo da Roca takes 50 minutes, €4.55. Stops at Cabo da Roca for 30 minutes — enough for the photo and the walk to the cliff edge.
For lunch in Sintra town, Tascantiga on Escadinhas da Fonte da Pipa does small plates of Alentejo black pork and grilled fish, around €4-€8 a plate. Saudade on Avenida Heliodoro Salgado is the local pastelaria for the famous Sintra pastries — travesseiros de Sintra (almond and egg-yolk pillows) and queijadas de Sintra (small cheese tarts). €1-€2 each.
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- Train from Lisbon: Rossio to Sintra, 40 min, €4.60 return.
- Pena Palace: €14, 9.30am-6.30pm. Pre-book online.
- Moorish Castle: €8, same hours. Combined Pena+Moorish €25.
- Quinta da Regaleira: €11, 10am-7pm.
- Sintra National Palace: €10, 9.30am-7pm. In town.
- Cabo da Roca: Free. 18 km west of Sintra. Bus 403 from Sintra station.
- 434 hop-on-hop-off bus: €13.50/day. Loops Sintra station, Moorish Castle, Pena Palace.
- Best lunch: Tascantiga (petiscos €4-€8). Best pastry: Saudade (travesseiros, queijadas).
- From Casa Almada to Rossio station: 14 min walk.
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Casa Almada — luxury family apartment in the heart of Lisbon
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Frequently asked questions
How do you get to Sintra from Lisbon?
Take the suburban train from Rossio station direct to Sintra. 40 minutes, trains every 20 minutes, €4.60 return with a Lisboa Viva card. From Casa Almada, walk 14 minutes to Rossio. Buy the card at the station for €0.50 and load it with the trip.
Is one day enough for Sintra?
Yes for the four headline sites (Pena Palace, Moorish Castle, Quinta da Regaleira and Sintra National Palace) plus lunch in town. A second day would let you add Cabo da Roca, the Monserrate Palace, and a longer walk through the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.
Do you need to pre-book Pena Palace tickets?
Strongly recommended. On-the-day timed slots regularly sell out by 11am from May through to October. Buy through parquesdesintra.pt with a 30-minute timed entry. The combined Pena + Moorish Castle ticket at €25 saves €5 vs separate purchases.
How long does Quinta da Regaleira take to visit?
90 minutes is the right amount for the gardens, the initiation well, the chapel, the manor house and the grottos. Add 30 minutes if you arrive early — the well empties after 11am as the day-trippers head up to Pena.
What should I eat in Sintra?
The two famous Sintra pastries: travesseiros de Sintra (puff-pastry pillows filled with almond and egg yolk cream) and queijadas de Sintra (small fresh-cheese tarts). Both around €1-€2 at any of the older pastelarias. Saudade and Piriquita are the two reliable specialists.
If you are planning your stay around this, take a look at the rest of our Lisbon travel blog for itineraries, restaurants and seasonal tips.