Sintra and the Pena Palace

UNESCO World Heritage Site: Cultural Landscape Of Sintra (1995) The Pena Palace, The Moorish Castle, Monserrate And The National Palace In The Sintra Hills · Sintra, Lisbon

Sintra is the old summer retreat of Portugal's kings and nobles, a small town tucked into a forested granite ridge about 30 km west of Lisbon, and the Pena Palace is its crown: a red, yellow and grey fantasy of towers, domes and painted terraces built from the 1840s for King Ferdinand II on the ruins of a monastery at the top of the hill. It is often described as the finest example of nineteenth-century Romanticism in Europe, and UNESCO listed the whole Cultural Landscape of Sintra in 1995. People come for the palace and its huge wooded park with the Cruz Alta summit, the Moorish Castle walls snaking along the next ridge, Monserrate's exotic gardens, the National Palace in town with its two giant conical chimneys, and pastries at Piriquita. It is the classic day trip from Lisbon by train. The honest caveat: Sintra queues badly from Easter to October, Pena's interior sells in timed slots that are gone days ahead, cars are banned from the palace road, and the hilltop is often lost in cloud while Lisbon sits in sunshine.

Palacio Nacional da Pena, Estrada da Pena, on the summit ridge of the Serra de Sintra above Sintra town, about 30 km west of Lisbon, Sintra, Lisbon, Portugal

The Pena Palace and park open daily all year, roughly 09:30 to 18:30-19:00 in summer and earlier in winter (last entry about an hour before closing - confirm), closed on Christmas and New Year's Day. The Moorish Castle, Monserrate, the National Palace and the Capuchos keep similar daily patterns. Tickets come from Parques de Sintra; Pena interior entry is a timed 30-minute slot, booked online days ahead from Easter to October. From Lisbon, CP urban trains leave Rossio for Sintra in about 40 minutes; then take the circuit bus, a tuk-tuk or walk. Private cars are banned from the Estrada da Pena and the historic centre.

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