Whoever decided that Sintra can be see in a day is either the world’s most thankless traveller or superhuman. In any case, they are very, very wrong.
Yet that was the general impression among the six or seven people we quizzed before and during our stay in Lisbon last month, thus, we allotted one day of five to exploring Sintra, confident for the most part that we would return having seen the whole shebang. A glance at the park’s map as we waited in line to buy our tickets, however, quickly turned confidence into confusion and then despair.
I must admit there was a certain degree of dubiety in the air given that Sintra is a National Park, and never had I encountered a National Park that could be successfully traversed in just twenty-four hours. There were multiple palaces, castles, gardens and forests to nose around– each with their own hefty price tag –and it was already getting on for 11am. Even if we were on a lucrative budget, had camped in the car park the night before and been the first to buy tickets we wouldn’t have managed it all in a day. There was just too much, and choosing what to see and what to miss was not easy. A 19th century Roman palace for €14? Another palace, equally as lavish-looking, for €9? Or a Moorish Castle for €10? So many options…
In the end, we plumped for a combined (and marginally discounted) option: The Pena Palace and Monserrate Palace & Gardens, at €20.
This turned out to be a very good decision.
The Pena Palace
