Day 11 – Lisbon & Sintra
We slept in today and had a leisurely breakfast before heading out for the day’s activities. Almost everyone we talked to about Lisbon recommended visiting Sintra for the day. It’s less than an hour train ride from the regional train station.
Getting around the main part of Lisbon is really easy: Walking is definitely best for short distances, due to the cobblestones, steep hills and narrow walk-ways. For longer trips, Uber is really cheap. But there are lots of other options, including motorized rikshaws (tuk-tuk), taxis, Uber bikes and Lime scooters! For us, walking to the train station was the best option and trains run pretty often, so there wasn’t really a set time that we needed to be there.
We ended up waiting for about 20 minutes for the next train once we got to the station and bought tickets. The train ride itself was easy. Lots of stops along the way, but we were there in less than an hour. Once we got to Sintra, our lack of planning caught up to us a bit. We knew we wanted to see the main sites (Pena Palace, Moorish Castle, etc.) but weren’t sure how far things were from each other, whether we ought to get an uber, cab, tuk-tuk or walk. We ended up talking to a tuk-tuk driver and booked her for the next couple of hours. She took us to various vantage points that offered good photos of the National Palace, Moorish Castle and Pena Palace. She also took us to the entrance of the Pena Palace (and waited for us while we walked around) and then dropped us off near the National Palace, where there were lots of lunch options and just a short walk to one of the best old estates to tour: Quinta de Regaleira.
Here are our pro-tips for Sintra:
- Get a tuk-tuk when you get to Sintra. Prices are negotiable, but we paid for 100 euros for the two of us and got a great, customized tour of about 2-3 hours. Well worth it. The main advantage of the tuk-tuk is that they are motorized (the hike would have been brutal) and they are small and can maneuver around the terrible car/bus traffic going up the hill.
- Skip the Moorish Castle. The real beauty is the exterior walls. There isn’t much to see from the inside, as it was more of a look out point and defensive castle (people didn’t live there).
- Get tickets for the Pena Palace at the first gate you pass. Way shorter line. But don’t go in there (long walk). Take the tuk-tuk to the main entrance. Also, only get the basic ticket. There isn’t really a need to go into the Palace and those lines are insane.
- Once you are at the Pena Palace, ignore the long line to get into the Palace and just stay to the left and visit the various outdoor areas, including the castle walls, courtyards, walkways and pass-thrus. Pena Palace is definitely a place worth spending an hour or so. It’s super photogenic, with contrasting yellow and red exterior walls.
After Pena Palace, our driver dropped us off near the National Palace, but advised us that if we only wanted to do one more site, that the Quinta de Regaleira was the better bet. We grabbed a somewhat leisurely lunch at a “steakhouse” that served various meats. Surprisingly good for a region that I don’t think of particularly beef-centric and for a town that is hard to get to (limited truck access).
After lunch, we walked about 10-15 minutes to the Quita de Regaleira. Very cool property with lots of pathways, little lakes and gardens, an amazing well that you can walk down that was used for various spiritual initiations back in the day and a beautiful main palace. Definitely worth the entry and spending a couple of hours wandering.
We ended up taking another tuk-tuk to the train station (would have been 30+ minute walk and were tired at this point.). Train ride was uneventful and when we got back to Lisbon we walked the Avenida da Liberdade (Lisbon’s version of the Champs Elysees – tree lined boulevard with nice hotels and high-end shopping.). After a little bit of retail therapy, we headed back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit.
Dinner tonight was at Tapisco, a traditional restaurant only about 10 minutes from our hotel (by Uber). They are first come, first served, but they have a bar window that opens to the street, so we grabbed a couple of cocktails and waited our turn. It was definitely worth it: iberico ham with tomato and bread, local cheeses, cod fish with egg, potato “tortilla” and a great bottle of wine. Perfect way to the end the day!