"Sintra, Portugal" a Sintra Travel Page by DrewV

<font face=verdana size=+1 color=darkgreen><b><p align=center>Sintra -- Oasis of Kings</b></p></font>

<font face=verdana>Portugal has always been a steamy place in the summertime. For countless centuries, the inhabitants of old Lusitania have found themselves hot and sticky during the warm months. Of course, the powers-that-were (the forebears of the powers-that-be) did not have to perspire, since they had access to the cool mountain oasis of Sintra.

Perched in the hills to the West of Lisbon, Sintra was to the Portuguese kings what Versailles was to the French or Potsdam to the Prussians. And it can be for you as well.

A brief commuter train ride will wisk you up the mountains to the easily navigable town, marked by steep streets, Renaissance buildings, and several massive palaces and castles, some in ruins and some gloriously restored to their Golden Age beauty.

Of course, with beauty inevitably come tourists. They're thicker here than in other areas around Lisbon, but in March, they were entirely bearable.

The palaces are magnificent, the shops cute, the weather splendid. Sure, it's packaged for your consumption now, but to see how the great Navigator-Kings lived, Sintra's the place to visit.</font>