Situated at 30 min. drive from Lisbon, capital city and 10 min. from Estoril Coast, Sintra is a place you cannot miss. What to see in Sintra: Pena Palace, National Palace, Queluz Palace, Romantic gardens, Unspoild landscapes & beaches, Closest Golf Courses, Private Tours.

A romantic Medieval atmosphere

A tourist region par excellence, Sintra is one of the most delightful places to be found in Portugal. With its extensive range of green hills with its crags - the Serra de Sintra - so picturesquely situated and offering stupendous views of the coastline with its impressive beauty, Sintra is indeed "a garden of the earthly paradise".

The potentialities of the Sintra district are not confined to the wild enchantments of the Serra, sometimes wreathed in mist, and to the artistic heritage of the Old Town, described by Byron as "the most pleasing in Europe", but also include valuable archaeological remains, particularly from the Roman period, ancient manor houses, churches of personalised artistic value and characteristic villages.

World Heritage City

Sintra is an inexhaustible attraction. The perfect symbiosis between nature and its built heritage led to its classification by UNESCO as World Heritage, at the category of Cultural Landscape, in 1995. The town has been adored over the years by artists and writers from all over the world and the passion for the town reached its peak in the 19th century, in the heart of the romantic era.

Poets such as Lord Byron, who called it a "a Garden of the Earthly Paradise", or Portuguese writers such as Eça de Queiroz, who described it in so many passages in his books, helped create an aura of the town, which is theirs by right.

Palaces & Museums to visit

Palácio da Pena

High in the Serra, on one of its steep peaks, we can find the Palácio da Pena, the most complete and notable example of Portuguese Romantic architecture, recently restored and painted in the original colours and standing out among the surrounding greenery.

In 1839, the prince consort D. Fernando II of Saxe-Coburg (1816-1885) bought the ruins of the Hieronymus Monastery of Our Lady of Pena and began to make it into a small palace. To oversee the work, he called Baron Eschwege, whose inspiration for this remarkable edifice came from palaces in Bavaria. Extremely fanciful, Pena’s architecture uses not only Moorish, gothic and Manueline motifs, but also the Wagnerian spirit of Central Europe’s, Schinkel castles.

Contacts
Estrada da Pena
2710-609 Sintra
Tel: +351 21 910 53 40

Palácio da Vila

The Palácio Nacional de Sintra, also known as Paço Real or Palácio da Vila, dominates the whole urban centre of Sintra. With its two unusual chimneys that constitute the ex-libris of the region, it is the most important building constructed for the Royal Court, in Portugal. Its origins very likely date back to the palace of the Moorish walls, with the present design based essentially on two stages of first works. The first, in the reign of Dom João I, early 15th century, accounted for the central body of the building; the second in the reign of Dom Manuel I, in the first quarter of the 16th century, added several wings and in particular enriched the interior, which now possesses the most important collection of Mudejar azulejos (coloured glazed tiles) in the world.

Connected as it has been with the most significant periods of Portuguese history, namely the birth and fall of the Empire, it has seen the most outstanding figures of Portuguese Art and Letters pass through its halls - Luís de Camões, Gil Vicente, João de Barros, Luísa Sigea, and others.

Contacts
Largo Rainha D. Amélia
2710-616 Sintra
Tel: +351 21 910 68 40

Palacio de Queluz

Begun in 1747 by the Infante Dom Pedro, future King Pedro III, and completed after his marriage to Dona Maria I (1760), Queluz National Palace is a striking reflection of a taste and an epoch dominated by appearances and the need for ample spaces.

Although Queluz is sometimes compared to the Palace of Versailles for its graceful façades, fine Palace gardens dotted with Baroque fountains, statues and spots for dallying, it is a truly Portuguese construction, in its own artistic spirit.
It may be mentioned that nowadays this Palace is the official residence of foreign personalities who are received by the Portuguese State, as well as being used for many concerts, exhibitions and pageant

Contacts
Situated 15 km from Old Quarter
Lg. do Palácio Nacional
2745-191 Queluz

Access:
IC 19 (Sintra-Lisbon), turn-off to Queluz
Tel. +351 21 434 3860

Magic gardens

Sintra has unique examples of parks and gardens and has influenced many European landscapes. Highlights are the Parque da Pena and the Jardins de Monserrate.

Contacts
Pena Park
Estrada da Pena
2710-609 Sintra
Tel: +351 21 923 73 00

Monserrate Park
Monserrate Road, 4 Km from Historic Center
2710-405 Sintra
Tel: +351 21 923 73 00

In the middle of the woods

In Sintra, the monuments are numerous and all deserve to be visited. But it is a walk through the town and up into the Serra that shows its unique charm and magic atmosphere created by typical mist. Take a quiet walk on foot or a ride on a picturesque coach.

Unspoilt beaches & Landscapes

The proximity of the sea also makes the region a unique destination, since it has some of the most beautiful Atlantic beaches, including Praia Grande and Praia das Maçãs. To travel from Sintra to this beach, you can take a typical tram along an unforgettable track. Further south is Cabo da Roca, the most westerly point in mainland Europe, immortalised by Camões as the place “where the earth finishes and the sea starts …”.

Check our Private Tours of Sintra.

Closest Hotels

• Penha Longa
• Pestana Sintra