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• Sintra.
Tips for your trips. Tourist information. Official websites.
Sintra (map) is a town in Extremadura, 28 km from Lisbon, houses a Royal Palace (map), used by generations of Portuguese royalty prior to the 1910 revolution. The surrounding hills are surmounted by the remains of the Moorish Castle (map) and by the 19th century Pena Palace (map).
The area includes the Sintra-Cascais Nature Park (map) through which the Sintra Mountains run (map) a veil of mystery over the town nestling on its northern slopes. The hills and the surrounding area have been classified as UNESCO World Heritage Site for their cultural significance and for their outstanding natural beauty.
⇒ Also сheck оut мore info: Monuments • Routes • F.A.Q
Admission prices and opening times of the sites can be found on the Parques de Sintra website. Sintra can be extremely busy, particularly in summer, and especially at weekends. The main sights are best visited at the start of the day (most open at 9.30am) or late afternoon (most are open until 7-8pm) to avoid the crowds and queues.
There is a walking trail through the woods to the Moorish castle that starts above the Sintra city center at the wooden turnstile on the Rampa do Castelo (map). It is reasonably well signed but best to get a map from the tourist office or ticket counter at Sintra National Palace.
Once you have made the journey to the castle, it’s only few more minutes walk up the hill on the main road to the Pena Palácio. The walk to Monserrate from the Sintra town center is still approximately one hour but is less strenuous.
#1 Visit Porto
Porto, also known as Oporto, is the second-largest city in Portugal and one of the country’s most vibrant and historic destinations.
• Public transport.
Information about all types of public transport.
Carris – Buses and Trams / Lisbon Metro
⇒ Also сheck оut мore info: Getting to Portugal (visitportugal.com)
BUS: It’s probably best for most visitors to take one or more of the public bus routes. The routes are circular, with a stop in front of each of the major tourist sights. One ticket is good for all day on that particular bus route. Think a very cheap hop-on/hop-off bus route, and you have the idea. All the buses stop directly at the train station as well (just to the right upon exiting), so they can be caught immediately upon arrival via train.
Rede Expressos is one of the largest inter-city bus companies. + Rodo-Norte (northern regions) and Eva Transportes.
TRAIN: Sintra can be reached by frequent CP commuter train service from several Lisbon stations, including Santa Apolónia (map), Oriente (map), Campolide (map) and Rossio (map).
Rail travel in Portugal (Comboios de Portugal) is usually slightly faster than travel by bus, but services are less frequent and cost more. As a rule of thumb, if one is traveling by rail within Portugal or internationally, the main railway junction is in Entroncamento (map), from here all lines branch out and all trains make a stop.
AIRPORT: Lisbon Portela Airport is the main aviation hub. Porto Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, serving Portugal’s second-largest city and the entire northern part of the country. Madeira Airport in Funchal serves the green island in the Atlantic. João Paulo II Airport in Ponta Delgada serves the Azores archipelago.
FERRY: If you need to travel by ferry in the Lisbon area, the Transtejo e Soflusa website provides information on ferry routes, timetables, and fares for the Tagus River crossings.
• Useful websites.
Links to additional resources with useful information for planning your trip.