Sintra is kind of divided into two parts, Estefânia, where you arrive by train, and the historic district, where you spend your time. Walking between the two doesn’t take more than 10 minutes or so, but getting on the bus is very convenient, especially when you’re new in town.
The way my day played out, I explored Estefania last. I think I got to see more of the area, as I decided to walk past Sintra train station to Portela de Sintra train station, and get on the train there, going back to Lisbon. Not that it made a huge difference, but you get to see something outside of the tourist trail. After those 10 minutes walking from the old town, you are met by the beautiful town hall, a few shops, some cafes. Past the train station, on the 15 minutes jaunt to Portela de Sintra, I stumbled across a pedestrian shopping street, and some nice houses. As said, not much, but nice to see some “real” life 🙂
The historic district is busy, lots of people, even in December. As for Estefania, this place is not big. A couple of squares, and some narrow streets. Filled with restaurants, cafes, and souvenir shops. Quickly done, unless you do lunch, and have Travesseiro de Sintra for dessert 🙂 The latter being almond pastry associated with Sintra. Nice, but veeery sweet. One cool thing is that you can see the Castle of the Moors on the hill above.
Even though there are not much to do in town, Sintra shouldn’t be done as a day trip. There are way too many sights, out of town, to squeeze into just one day. If you do the bare minimum, it will fit in. Otherwise it will be rushing from one place to the other. Add to that, a bus system that didn’t seem to work well. Not knowing when the next bus would arrive, doesn’t reduce stress. My two picks were Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira, but I would have been open to see more. Should have gone with my initial thought, spent a night, or two. I’d say you need at least two full days to visit the different attractions in a pleasant way. Also maybe do Cabo da Roca as a half day trip from here, instead of day trip from Lisbon.
The train from Lisbon’s Rossio station took 40 minutes. Can’t say it was a scenic ride 🙂 Upon arrival everyone rushed out the door towards the bus parked outside. Probably not room for everyone, so I assume some had to wait for the next one. Beware, you are given a hop-on hop-off ticket “automatically”. I asked for a one way ticket, and, in the “chaos”, realised too late that I had gotten the wrong kind. Once onboard we were taken straight up the hill. First stop was Castle of the Moors, which I had decided not to visit. Mistake? It definitely was stunning to see from afar, from where I got off, at the Pena Palace, the second stop.
Website: visitsintra.travel
Historic district
Estefânia
