"Sintra: Lovely town don't miss!!" Sintra by Birsen

Sintra and its mystical hills dotted with fairytale palaces and extravagant villas have bewitched visitors for centuries.
The Romans made it a place of cult moon worshiping and named it "Cynthia" after the goddess of the moon. They were followed by the Moors who also fell in love with the lush vegetation and built a hilltop castle, a palace, and several fountains around the town. Later it became the summer residence of the Portuguese royal family and attracted a number of wealthy aristocrats who built huge mansions and villas.

Castelo do Mouros

Due to the restoration of Rossio Train Station you must take the Sintra train from metro stop Jardim Zoologico (linea Azul). It takes 38 min and It is every 15 min.

It was very cheap but I don't know how much it is, because we used the 1 day lisbon card which was free for this ride. (But it's funny that later on, we found the transportation and everything was so expensive)

When you arrive to the last stop Sintra, from outside of the train station take the taxi to Palacio de Pena. It costs about 5€.

After you visited the Palace and the gardens take the bus which it operates infront of the palace entrance to the Sintra town where the other Palace (Palacio Nacional de Sintra is there. ( ticket costs 4€ round trip,they don't charge one way it was strange) But no worry, because after the visiting the other Palace and walked around the village you will take the same bus to the train station and you will use this same ticket you bought up in the Pena Palace. So, don't throw it a way.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money on the touristy and expensive town restaurants, I can suggest you bring a sandwich and a drink with you and have a lunch in the beautiful gardens of the Pena Palace.

Also very wear confortable shoes, there is a lot of hiking...

• Pros:Great views, lovely streets and parks...
• Cons:Very touristy and expensive to buy, to eat...
• In a nutshell:I can go back one day....