Exploring the castles of Sintra should be a must on anyone’s Portugal list. This mountain town feels a bit like a fairytale not only because of it’s gorgeous location, but because of the gorgeous castles of Sintra. While we were in Portugal we took the short train out from Lisbon to explore 4 castles all in one town. Each of the four castles has something different and special about it. Here’s a quick, concise guide to visiting the castles of Sintra to help you plan the perfect itinerary!
QUINTA da REGALERIA
A LITTLE BACKGROUND: This gorgeous home is certainly not the oldest of the castles of Sintra, but I would say it’s the most unique. It was built around the turn of the 20th century and is so much more than just a house. While the castle is impressive, the grounds are what made this my favorite of the castles of Sintra. There’s a beautiful chapel, a greenhouse, other structures and the intriguing Freemason/mystic/tarot initiation well and tunnels. It’s very easy to spend a few hours here exploring. The house itself is beautiful, but a bit plain inside, as were a lot of the castles of Portugal, in my opinion.
QUINTA da REGALERIA HIGHLIGHT: The mystic history here. I’ve read and heard it called Freemasonry, tarot and alchemy, but whatever it was, this well and the pools were used for its initiation. Although it’s called a well, it is actually an inverted tower and is supposed to embody the journey from heaven to hell. We were very lucky that we were there in both off season and early in the morning, so we had it all to ourselves for about 15 minutes. Walking the steps you could understand why it was used as a form of initiation, it had a very mystic feel to it. At the bottom is the end of one of the series of tunnels. This particular tunnel takes you to the lagoon/waterfall, where apparently, those being initiated would take a dip in the pool as part of the initiation.
NEED TO KNOW:
Cost of Visit: They have quite a long list of pricing as there are multiple little discounts and such. A standard adult ticket is only €6.
Hours: April – September 9:30 – 7 and October – March 9:30 – 5
Getting There from City Center: This is actually fairy easy to access from city center. We were staying outside of the city, so we took a very reasonably priced Uber from about 20 minutes away and started here. From here we walked into city center in less than 15 minutes.
PENA PALACE
A LITTLE BACKGROUND: This brightly-colored castles sits atop a hill in the Sintra Mountains. On a clear day, which we definitely did not have, you get some pretty spectacular views from the top. This palace was completed in the middle of the 19th century. Where the castle now stands, there was a chapel to Our Lady of Pena from the 1400’s and a monastery was added near the end of the 15th century. The 17th century was really hard on the monastery and between a lightning strike and the Great Lisbon Earthquake, it was left in ruins until prince Ferdinand took control of this land and built a palace up around the ruins. Now this palace is a National Monument and museum. It’s quite beautiful and the grounds are also unreal. There are beautiful gardens, a greenhouse and lots to explore around the palace.
PENA PALACE HIGHLIGHT: I think if it hadn’t been so foggy, the highlight would’ve been the view. However, instead, I greatly enjoyed the castle grounds. The fog actually added a really special, moody feel to exploring these grounds. It was massive and felt like exploring a massive park. I loved stumbling upon this gorgeous glass greenhouse surrounded by a bed of daffodils.
NEED TO KNOW:
Cost of Visit and Hours: Both are dependent on the season, but their website only gives you the current season’s hours and prices. You can purchase tickets to visit only the park (grounds) or both the park and castle.
Pro Tip: If you plan to also visit the Moorish Castle, buy the tickets together and get a 5% discount.
MOORISH CASTLE
A LITTLE BACKGROUND: This unbelievable castle follows the cliffs of the mountains. It’s the oldest of the castles of Sintra. This 10th century castle was built by the Muslim populations who occupied the area. We were told by our guesthouse owner that this castle was kept so well intact because there wasn’t a large battle to take over Sintra so there wasn’t a lot of damage to this castle fort.
MOORISH CASTLE HIGHLIGHT: The number one thing the Moorish Castle is known for is its spectacular views. On a clear day you can see, not only all the other castles of Sintra, but all the way to the sea! We were able to see down into the town just enough to check out The National Palace from above. I also really love that there are some nice archaeological exhibits as well!
Need to Know:
Cost of Visit and Hours: Both are dependent on the season, but their website only gives you the current season’s hours and prices.
Pro Tip: If you plan to also visit the Pena Palace, buy the tickets together and get a 5% discount.
The National Palace
View from the porch of The National Palace
A LITTLE BACKGROUND: This palace is from the 15th century and it’s the barest of all the palaces, but it’s still quite interesting, especially if you’re really interested in history. If you didn’t have time for all four of the castles of Sintra, this is honestly the one I would cut, just because it doesn’t have much in the way of grounds and it’s not all that glamorous inside. It’s really interesting to visit because it seemed like you get more of sense of what life was like in this palace.
THE NATIONAL CASTLE HIGHLIGHTS: Honestly, the kitchen. I know that that sounds a little odd, but the room is made up of these two massive, white chimneys – the two super distinguishable towers you can see from the outside. It was just really unique, but basically impossible to capture. I also really liked the swan room with loads of swans painted on the ceiling and the blue tiled room.
NEED TO KNOW:
Cost of Visit and Hours: Both are dependent on the season, but their website only gives you the current season’s hours and prices.
A visit to the castles of Sintra should be on everyone’s Portugal list. It truly feels like you’re escaping into a fairy tale. Getting to Sintra is fast, easy and incredibly affordable from Lisbon and could easily be done as a day trip or extend it into a few days.
6 Comments
Cori Carl
May 15, 2018 at 10:05 amI didn’t visit any of the castles when I went to Sintra and now you’re really making me regret my choices! My parents took me to so many castles and cathedrals when I was a kid, I very rarely visit them now on my own. It’s been ten years now since my last trip to Portugal, so I’m long overdue. I’ll have to actually go to the castles this time, because they’re stunning!
Lisa
May 16, 2018 at 8:51 amI absolutely adore Sintra, and immediately fell in love with the place when I was there. Quinta da Regaleira is my favourite, just from the layout, and the romanticism and mystery surrounding it. It’s a long walk to reach Pena Palace, so I’d definitely recommend others to take the bus from the centre to reach it! I’m clearly very unfit!
Vibeke Johannessen
May 16, 2018 at 12:34 pmI have seen photos of these castles, especially Pena. Looks so cool. I love castles and especially different ones like these. I didn’t know Quinta da Regaleria was the oldest one in Sintra. I really hope I get to visit that one. Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂
Rhonda Albom
May 17, 2018 at 3:29 amWe only visited the National Palace and Pena, and loved them both. While I had regretted not getting to the Moorish castle, I am not sure how I never knew about the fourth one, or the fisrt one on your list. That mystic initiation pool has me very intrigued.
Lydia
May 18, 2018 at 5:16 amI have recently been to Sintra and I wish I had read you post prior going there, Paige! Your guide is so exceptional and helpful. I warmly recommend it for reading for everyone planning to go there and visit the castles!
Phillip Johnson
June 13, 2018 at 12:31 amI never visit visited Portugal but to read your article, I am excited to explore this wonderful Castles of Sintra. You capture some wonderful picture of this historical place. Every traveler will crazy to visit here. Your guideline will help all of us for better traveling experience in here. Thanks for sharing this wonderful article.