Day 2/3/2017 (Thursday)

We left by car since Cascais around noon and we only had the afternoon to get to know it Sintra. We chose to visit the city's two main attractions, the Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle, but we've already thought about going back one day to calmly explore the beautiful streets of the center, Queluz Palace and the Sintra National Palace.

Many people go to Sintra by train from Lisbon and then take a bus to these two attractions at the top of the city, but since we had a car, we drove up and hoped to find a parking space. With the help of well-explained maps on the street, we were able to park the car in the parking lot closest to the palace, meaning we only had to walk a short distance up.

Pena Palace

We went to the ticket office and bought the combined tickets from the machines available to avoid the queue, but if you prefer, you can buy them directly from the attendants too. We walked up to the palace, but it is possible to take a shuttle so you don't have to do all this exercise (it's a good climb). What matters is getting there and seeing the palace, which must be the most colorful in the world. 🙂

A brief summary of the story for you: The palace was built in the 19th century by Queen Maria II's husband. Ferdinand designed many of its elements and hired a German architect to include eccentricities from around the world in his summer palace. With the proclamation of the Republic in 1910 – that is, with the end of the monarchy – the palace stopped being used by the royal family and became a museum, but everything inside is from when the royal family lived there. I love walking around palaces and imagining myself living in them, but it was so crowded, so full, that it was impossible to do that. The amount of people taking photos of every angle, object, room and detail made me lose my patience a little… lol.

Moorish Castle

We left there after a good time visiting and walked down to the Moorish Castle, which was a bit more empty, thankfully. Built under the old city, from the Moorish castle built in the 10th century, you will only see the walls and towers, but you will have sensational views if the day is clear. We climbed the entire staircase (it takes a lot of breath) and it was worth it for the view, even with the gray sky. I will let the photos speak for themselves:

You can see from afar the Pena Palace, look:

We left there satisfied with the tour, but without the energy to explore the city center on foot. We just drove by and it was really pretty. We will definitely be back and I will write about it here for you!