Sintra is the kind of place that makes you suspect you have accidentally wandered into a fairy tale. Perched in the forested hills 30 kilometers west of Lisbon, this UNESCO World Heritage town is a fantasia of candy-colored palaces, mysterious gardens, Moorish ruins, and mist-shrouded forests where ferns grow taller than people. Lord Byron called it a “glorious Eden,” and on a morning when the fog threads between the castle towers and the pine trees, it is hard to argue with him. Sintra is one of Portugal’s most popular day trips, and with good reason — but it requires a plan to see it well.

Getting There from Lisbon

Trains to Sintra depart from Lisbon’s Rossio station every 20 minutes throughout the day, and the journey takes about 40 minutes. The fare is around 2.30 euros each way with a Viva Viagem card, making this one of Europe’s great-value excursions. Rossio station itself is worth a look — its horseshoe-arched Manueline facade on the Praça dos Restauradores is a Lisbon landmark. Alternatively, trains also run from Lisbon’s Oriente station. Avoid driving: Sintra’s narrow streets are nightmarish for cars, and parking is severely limited.

From Sintra’s train station, the town center is a 15-minute walk downhill, or you can catch bus 434, which runs a circular route between the station, the town center, the Moorish Castle, and Pena Palace. A day ticket for the bus costs about 7 euros and is well worth it, given the steep terrain.

Pena Palace: The Star Attraction

The Palácio da Pena is Sintra’s most iconic sight and one of the most photographed buildings in Portugal. Built in the 1840s for King Ferdinand II, a German prince with eclectic tastes and unlimited funds, it is a riot of Romanticism: Moorish arches, Gothic turrets, Manueline stonework, and walls painted in vivid yellow and terracotta that glow against the green hillside. The interior is preserved as the royal family left it when they fled to Brazil in 1910 during the republican revolution, with the original furniture, porcelain, and personal effects still in place.

Arrive early. This cannot be overstated. Pena Palace is Portugal’s most visited monument, and by 11 a.m. in high season, the queue can stretch for well over an hour. Book timed-entry tickets online in advance and aim for the first slot of the day (usually 9:30 a.m.). The surrounding park, 200 hectares of forests, fern valleys, and exotic plantings, is beautiful and far less crowded than the palace itself — leave time to wander its paths.

Quinta da Regaleira: Mystery and Masonry

If Pena Palace is Sintra’s most famous attraction, Quinta da Regaleira is its most atmospheric. This estate, built in the early 1900s for a wealthy Brazilian-Portuguese businessman with a deep interest in Freemasonry, alchemy, and the Knights Templar, is a labyrinth of symbolic gardens, underground tunnels, hidden grottoes, and a chapel dripping with esoteric imagery. The highlight is the Initiation Well — a 27-meter spiral staircase descending underground, designed to evoke the Divine Comedy, with landings at nine levels representing the circles of Dante’s Inferno or Paradise depending on whether you are descending or ascending.

The gardens are designed as a journey of discovery, with paths that dead-end at mysterious benches or suddenly plunge into tunnels that emerge at unexpected points. Allow at least 90 minutes here, and bring a flashlight (or use your phone) for the darker passages.

The Moorish Castle and National Palace

The Castelo dos Mouros, originally built in the 8th and 9th centuries during the Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula, crowns a rocky ridge above the town with crumbling walls that snake along the hilltop like a miniature Great Wall. The views from the ramparts are spectacular: on one side, the forested hills and Pena Palace perched on its peak; on the other, the plains stretching to the Atlantic. The castle is less crowded than Pena and rewards the short but steep walk up from the bus stop.

Back in the town center, the Palácio Nacional de Sintra (the National Palace) is easy to recognize by its two conical white chimneys, which dominate the skyline. This was a royal summer residence for centuries, and its interior rooms are richly decorated with hand-painted azulejo tiles — the Magpie Room and the Swan Room are particularly fine. It receives far fewer visitors than Pena Palace and rarely has significant queues.

Cabo da Roca: The Edge of Europe

If time allows, catch bus 403 from Sintra to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe. A lighthouse and a stone monument inscribed with a quote from the Portuguese poet Luís de Camões mark the spot where the continent ends in dramatic cliffs plunging to the Atlantic. The wind here is ferocious and the setting is stark and wild — a powerful contrast to Sintra’s ornamental beauty. The bus ride takes about 40 minutes each way, so factor this into your timing if you want to include it in your day trip.

• Buy tickets online in advance for Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira — the savings in queue time alone make it worthwhile.
• Wear comfortable walking shoes with grip. Sintra is hilly, often damp, and cobblestoned.
• For lunch, skip the overpriced tourist restaurants near the National Palace and instead walk five minutes uphill to Café Saudade or Incomum for better food at lower prices.
• Try a travesseiro (pillow-shaped puff pastry filled with almond cream) from Piriquita bakery — Sintra’s signature sweet since 1862.