Blogs from Sintra, Portugal, Europe

This morning it was time to get ourselves - and all our luggage - to Sintra … on the train! We re-packed our bags and left our ‘home’ of the last nine nights about 9.30am. It was easy enough to wheel our cases to our local station and then ride the escalator down to the level where we knew there was a lift down to the platforms. But, of course, the lift wasn’t working was it!! Plan B, lug our suitcases down the stairs and onto the platform. We needed to catch two trains to Sete Rios again, the station where we caught the train to Évora. We knew there was no lift where we had to change lines at the Jardim Zoologica Station so we were prepared to heave our cases down the short flight ... read more

Day 4 Sintra Colorful Pena Palace, Mysterious Moor Castle & Return early to Albufeira Took trolley to train station at Rossio Square; then the train to Sintra and the Moor Castle and Pena Palace train back to Lisbon direct to Sete Rios bus terminal and back to Albufeira I put a picture of Moorish Castle map separating pictures from Palace de Pena and the Castle... read more

Today we decided to take a trip to the storybook-esque town of Sintra, Portugal. We made it up the windy roads of Lisbon this morning to the train station, and found our way. The train from Lisbon to Sintra is about 45 minutes, and round trip for both of us cost about 10 Euro. Sintra has a variety of palaces, chateaus, and gardens. They also have a bus system that takes you from place to place throughout the city, because while these monuments are all in "Sintra," the walks in between can take well over an hour to get from one point to the next, and the roads are quite steep. The bus system, however, was not the most...prompt. While it saved us steps and sweat, we had a lot of standing/sitting time waiting for the ... read more

"Sintra is a resort town in the foothills of Portugal’s Sintra Mountains, near the capital, Lisbon. A longtime royal sanctuary, its forested terrain is studded with pastel-colored villas and palaces. The Moorish- and Manueline-style Sintra National Palace is distinguished by dramatic twin chimneys and elaborate tilework. The hilltop 19th-century Pena National Palace is known for a whimsical design and sweeping views." We headed out early today (for us...9:00 am!) to Sintra, a 40 minute train ride away, and a UNESCO Heritage Site. The train was crowded, but we were early enough to get seats. The trip is not very interesting: just one giant blob of high rise apartment buildings after another with little green space. A bit of interesting history for all you Norwegians reading this: Sintra was under Islamic rule until July 1109 when url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry, ... read more

Today it is off to Sintra from Lisbon. We took the metro to the Entre Campos station, we then saw lots of people heading towards us, we figured they must have come from the rail and were heading to the metro. We headed in the direction they were coming from and there was the train station. We did not have to leave the building. We purchased our ticket from the agent, he just added money to our metro card. The train comes every 15 minutes and takes about 35 minutes, Sinatra is the end of the line. When we reached Sintra we went out the door and turned right. You will see a bus stop for bus number 434. There was a line so it was hard to miss, across the street was a ticket machine ... read more