"Mysterious Sintra" Sintra by piglet44

We had rented a car from Lisbon and visited Sintra on our way up the coast from Lisbon to Porto. Sintra is often described with superlatives, and has a feel all of its own,although I was a little disappointed with it as I felt it was over hyped.But it is certainly worth an hour or two,though I would not stay there overnight.

view from the Castle

On arrival at Sintra our first impression was how cold it was.Leaving Lisbon in shorts and a t shirt I had to don jeans and a sweater as there was a distinct chill in the air, mist was swirling all around the Palacio da Pena and even a light drizzle was falling (and this was end of June).
However by the time we had parked,got on the circular bus route that visits all the tourist stops in Sintra and climbed the path that reaches the castle the sky had cleared and it was warm and pleasant.

garagoyle over entrance to the Palacio d aPena

the tour of the inside of the castle is very pleasant,although the outside still seems to me to be a strange blend of Disney and Moor.However it is well worth spending a couple of hours there. Unfortunately the views of the gardens were very cloudy and so we did not walk out in the grounds much as you could hardly see a thing.Also we then proceeded on to the Moorish castle nearby which is mostly ruined and we did not find it that exciting.I thoroughly recommend parking at the bottom in the town and getting on the hop on and off bus as you will not find parking at the top of the hill where the Palacio is located.

• Pros:lovely day out
• Cons:unpredictable weather
• In a nutshell:worth a trip from Lisbon