Sintra Day Trip from Lisbon | How to Spend Your Time

You’ve likely heard of taking a day trip to Sintra from Lisbon. However, Sintra is both a municipality and a town, where the Town of Sintra is located within the larger Municipality of Sintra. So, Sintra is not just a charming town but also a much larger area filled with several historic palaces, castles, scenic beaches, parks and gardens. The area also area includes the Sintra-Cascais Nature Park, the Sintra Mountains, beach towns on the coast, and more! The area is a major tourist destination, and once you see photos and videos, you’ll understand why. It’s incredibly picturesque and charming. This post touches on a trip to the town of Sintra, not as much for the surrounding municipality. Read on for how to do a day trip to Sintra, with a suggested itinerary to make a longer visit!

How Long to Spend in Sintra

A lot of blogs will tell you to take a day trip to Sintra from Lisbon, but I recommend more (if you can). Sintra has a ton of things to do, and one day will only allow you to see 2-3 top attractions. You’ll be missing out on so much! The attractions are also all pretty far apart, and take a while to walk between. For example, Pena Palace and Quinta da Regliaera are about a 40 minute walk between the two. Plus, you’ll want to walk around each of them for a minimum 1-2 hours (longer if there are lines)!

If you can, spend about 2 days in Sintra, and one night in the town. A suggested itinerary for a 2-day trip is included at the end of this post.

How to Get to Sintra from Lisbon

The best way to get to Sintra from Lisbon is by train. There are two rail services: Rossio Station to Sintra, or Oriente Station to Sintra. The Rossio Station is in the historic centre and the Oriente Station is easiest to get to from the airport. Both train services to Sintra terminate at the Sintra train station, which is about 1.5 km east of the historic centre. There will be plenty of tour companies trying to get you to purchase a tour. If you’re interested in a tour, you’re better off booking one from Lisbon.

A single pass from Lisbon to Sintra costs around €2.30/trip or €4.60 round trip OR it’s free with the Lisboa Card.

Sintra is very popular, so your best bet is to get a train early in the morning if you plan to spend all day there. Renting a car and driving is not recommend: there is virtually no public parking, many instances of theft, and the roads are not built to accommodate a large number of tourists.

How to Get Around Sintra

The best way to get around Sintra is using the 434 bus: you can either pay each way or get a hop-on/hop-off pass for €12.50! One way is about €4.50 so if you plan to travel between places in Sintra, the hop-on/hop-off pass is the way to go. There are also tuktuk tours, which are fun but not the most cost effective! You can also walk or uber; however walking between attractions is far!

What to Do in the Town of Sintra, Portugal

If you look at the list, it’s not very long. However, a lot of these places have parks and gardens that are worth exploring. So, each place takes a minimum 1 hour to explore. In addition, the palaces and gardens are spread out throughout Sintra and take time to travel between attractions. Plus, there are long wait lines at some places! You can realistically hit 3 of these in a day.

Pena Palace and Gardens

Without a doubt, the Pena Palace is the busiest attraction in Sintra. It’s not hard to see why! It’s a stunning and unique palace, with expansive gardens and a park. While it is busy, it still should be at the top of your list. If you want to get photos of the palace without people, you’ll need to be the first one in or the last one out in the day! Make sure to give yourself time to wander through the gardens and see hidden gems. Your ticket includes a tour around the staterooms and interior of the palace. The tour is one-way through the interior with plaques to read and takes about 40 minutes. I recommend a minimum 30 minutes to explore the terraces and another hour to explore the gardens. So, give yourself about 2-2.5 hours here!

Note: the time on your ticket is entrance to the palace. If you head to the palace first thing, head to the palace and then wander the gardens after.

The Moorish Castle

A 10th century fortification, the Moorish Castle sits atop the Sintra Hills looking out over the Atlantic coastline. Take a walk along the parapet walk and catch a view of the Pena Palace and Atlantic Ocean. Most people spend about 1-1.5 hours exploring the castle and grounds. It’s not as popular as the Pena Palace so you’re unlikely to wait as long and get a lot of opportunities for photos without people.

The Sintra National Palace

Located in the historic town centre is the Sintra National Palace. It’s a beautiful structure synonymous with the Sintra landscape. Plan to spend about 30-60 minutes at the palace.

Quinta da Regaleira

A quinta is a country estate, and this estate is enchanting and magical. One of the most beautiful and interesting places I’ve been, it’s well worth a visit. The quinta was built by a Free Mason and there are a ton of interesting facts about the buildings and other eccentric structures. The Initiation Well isn’t a true well, it is a deep spiral staircase descending underground to a tunnel and is SO cool. Photos and videos really do not do this place justice. Tickets include admission to the quinta, and the Initiation Well.

Monserrate Palace

Another unbelievably beautiful palace in Sintra is the Monserrate Palace and Gardens. It is described as “a masterpiece of Romanticism” and it’s easy to see why! Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to visit and don’t have photos of the palace but I definitely regret not giving myself time to see it! Most people spend about 2 hours at the palace.

FlaminGO Experiences – Jeep Tour

If you have time, you absolutely should book a FlaminGO Experience Jeep Tour. It won’t be your cheapest adventure, but it is so worth it. There are a few jeep tours available. The Sintra Jeep tour includes: pick up in Sintra, lunch, a polaroid photo, the drive from Sintra to Cascais and a stop at the Quinta da Regaleira (note: admission is not included and you will be asked to pre-purchase your ticket). You can choose to either be dropped off in Cascais (where you can take a train back to Lisbon/Sintra) or drive back to Sintra in the jeep.

I have a few pieces of advice for booking this tour:

1. Do it. Book the tour.
2. Head to Sintra the day before the tour to explore the Pena Palace, Monserrate Palace, and the Moorish Castle, and stay overnight in Sintra.
3. Leave your luggage in Lisbon overnight. The jeep tour does not accommodate luggage so you won’t be allowed to bring it in the jeep. I left my luggage at the hostel I stayed at in Lisbon, packed an overnight bag for Sintra, and then left Cascais by train to head back to Lisbon.  

Note: this post/this review is not sponsored and was genuinely a great experience.

Cabo Da Roca

If you choose to do the jeep tour, you’ll also stop at Cabo Da Roca. It is the most western point of mainland Europe!

Sintra 2-day Suggested Itinerary

Day 1: Travel from Lisbon to Sintra and visit a few places.

Leave Lisbon at 8:00 am, and pack a lunch. Trains are scheduled to leave Oriente Station every 10 minutes (unless there’s a strike). The train takes about 50 minutes from Lisbon to Sintra, and it’s another 40 ish minutes on the bus from the train station to the Pena Palace gate.

Head to the Pena Palace for 9:30 am. The gardens and palace open at 9:30 am. If you want photos without people at the palace, you’ll likely want to get to the gate to wait in line early. The signs all say it’s a 30 minute walk from the gate to the palace but if you head straight there it can take less than 10 minutes. Plan to spend about 2-2.5 hours here.

Head to Moorish Castle. I recommended packing a lunch because the Moorish Castle is relatively close to the Pena Palace but not close to a place for lunch. You absolutely could head into the town for lunch and back to Moorish Castle in the afternoon, it just takes time! Plan to spend about 1-1.5 hours here, and it might be longer to wait in a line to get in.

Spend the afternoon at the Sintra National Palace. The Palace closes at 6 pm and most people spend about 30-60 minutes at the National Palace.

If you’re up for it, head to the Bonsai Museum. It has a later closing time (7 pm instead of 6 pm), is not as busy so there’s almost no line, and it takes about an hour to explore. It’s also only about a 20 minute walk from the main downtown of Sintra!

Have dinner at Incomum. If you can, book a reservation in advance because it’s highly worth it! However, they do have seating outdoors for walk-ins and depending on weather and time of day you might be able to grab a table.

If you choose to only do a Sintra day trip, I would switch out the Sintra National Palace for the Quinta da Regaleira. Take the train back from Sintra to Lisbon after dinner at Incomum (it’s worth it to stay!). If you’ve decided to stay the night in Sintra, the Moon Hill Hostel is in a great location, clean, and breakfast is included!

Day 2: Sintra Jeep Tour/Monserrate Palace

If you’ve booked the Sintra Jeep Tour with FlaminGO Experiences, you’ll get a relatively early start. Pickup is in Sintra and easy to walk to. The tour includes a stop at the Quinta da Regaleira, so save it for today! The quinta is the only real stop in Sintra before you head out for a drive along the coast and end the day in Cascais.

If you didn’t book the Jeep Tour, head to the Quinta da Regaleira first thing in the morning. There is likely to be a line to enter the quinta, and there is a line to go into the Initiation Well, so plan to spend about 2-3 hours here.

The Quinta da Regaleira is still relatively close to the downtown of Sintra, so you can head back for a restaurant lunch. Try Tascantiga if you were able to get a table at Incomun the night before!

Next, head to the Monserrate Palace. It’s not as famous or busy as either the Pena Palace or Quinta da Regaleira, so it’s not quite as busy either! However, it is an amazing palace with a large park and garden. Give yourself a minimum 2 hours to explore the palace and the gardens!

At this point, you’re probably tired so hop on the train back to Lisbon. It’ll take you about an hour to get back to the city!

Looking for more Lisbon content?

• Lisboa Card Review | It’s Worth It and Here’s Why