If there’s one thing to appreciate about Portugal, it’s the opportunity to take days trips and go with the flow no matter which part of the country you’re in. This is due to the quality of public transport which gives you the option to fit a day trip in, even if you’ve already planned out an itinerary.

It was my final day in Portugal and we can’t go to Lisbon without visiting Sintra. It’s a 40 minute train ride from Lisbon’s Rossio Station and for €5, a return train ticket is very reasonable and offers no excuses to miss out on exploring the foothills of Portugal’s Sintra Mountain.

I went with Francesca, a fellow solo traveller from Italy who lives in Luxembourg. We met through staying at the same Hostel as me in Lisbon.

You may remember her from my Lisbon blog but incase you don’t, here is a quick recap. During our time in Lisbon there was a group of 5 or 6 us that would usually hang out over a few drins during happy hour that included both of us. A group that would end up accompanying me at a restaurant to watch traditional Portuguese fado music for my Birthday which made for an awesome celebration.

Originally Francesca was planning a day trip of her own but decided against it as travel time would have taken over 2 hours. Even if we solo travellers are use to enjoying being by ourselves, it was nice to have a day trip buddy for company.

We got to Sintra after 11:30 and had a quick bite having skipped breakfast in Lisbon. It gave us time to go over the map given to us at the tourist centre and plan our way around Sintra.

We saw the Palacio de Nacional in view as we made our way to the historic centre. The Palace is in the heart of Sintra and one thing that will stand out to you when you see it are the two chimneys rising out of the Palace.

We didn’t go in and to be honest, we weren’t fussed about going in anywhere. It was a day of admiring the architecture of these historic buildings which I personally prefer.

When I first started travelling solo, I was always eager to go into every place I possibly could. With time I became more appreciative of the architecture. I don’t mind going inside if it’s an iconic attraction like Edinburgh Castle, the Colosseum or the Louvre, but generally I prefer to appreciate the building itself, the design, colour etc.

The old town is small. You could easily see it in less than an hour if you went at a slow pace and wanted to glance at everything.

The historic centre is full of traditional painted buildings and family run cafes and restaurants. It is the ideal location to eat, so it’s a lesson for next time not to look for the first place to eat a late breakfast.

We went up to Quinta da Regaleira and when I mean went up, we took a “short cut” through the old town and went up some steps. The good news is it isn’t too steep and once you’re up, it’s a 5 – 10 minute walk.

Quinta da Regaleira is described as an extravagant villa which is putting it lightly.

It was originally owned by wealthy Brazilian businessman Carvalho Monteiro who had a fascination with the religious orders of the Knight Templar and Freemasons.

It had an intriguing, somewhat enigmatic feel about it, from the neo gothic design of the main building to the outer walls of the entrance, and even where it’s placed which is nicely tucked away as if it was some secret location.

Looking at the outside of the building reminded me of that haunted building you would see in the animated films. Even though you know you shouldn’t go in, you do so out of curiosity or being the daredevil that you are.

We made our way to the bus stop because even if Palacio da Pena is “only half a mile away” (according to Google maps), it’s a very steep uphill climb which we were told could take an hour or more, and the slopes are at most a 40% incline. Having done most of my exploring in the past 12 days by foot, I was not even going to entertain the thought of walking, and thankfully neither did Francesca.

At the tourist office they told us the 434 is the bus to get if you’re going to do the tourist loop and it costs €6.50 for a day ticket and it runs every 15 minutes.

We waited over 20 minutes which during the time, we had a three or four tuk tuk riders opposite us offering us rides and even when we said no, they kept persisting and telling us the tourist office were lying to us about the bus, the cost etc. It got to the point where they couldn’t take no for an answer and were getting condescending and confrontational.

I understand people are trying to get business and make a living but there’s a way to go about it and that is definitely not the way. When we were declined tuk tuk rides in the historic centre, the riders were respectful and left us to it.

We were relieved when we saw the bus coming. That relief was short lived when the bus driver drove past us without stopping. I couldn’t see if the bus was full but I can’t think of any other reason why the driver would not stop. I guess our mistake was not taking the bus from outside the train station when it would have been empty.

A couple of the tuk tuk drivers started laughing at us. How desperate do you have to be to start laughing when a bus drives past? It not like we were going to suddenly change our minds and get on our knees and beg them to take us and throw money at them.

Two ladies in a minivan stopped by, rolled their windows down and offered us a ride. Initially we declined and said we would wait for the next bus.

They made a point that it was unlikely the next bus would stop having themselves seen the other one drive past us. I asked them how much it would cost to take us to Palacio da Pena and take us back to the historic centre after seeing the Castelo dos Mouros. They quoted us €10 each which we thought was more than reasonable.

Me and Francesca appreciated how polite and courteous the driver Virginia and her colleague Florbela were. In the short journey to Palacio da Pena, they told us facts about Sintra and we had a good time interacting with them. We would much rather have given them our money than get a free ride from someone that will talk down to you.

We arrived at Palacio da Pena, where unfortunately two of the arsehole tuk tuk riders saw us and decided it was appropriate to laugh at us say “I can’t believe these people fall for the lies at the tourist office”.

“These people”!?

Like, what are you hoping to achieve? Acting like a dick in public won’t get you anywhere. We don’t care, we got to where we wanted to go, we were having a good day, we were going to continue having a good and nothing was going to ruin the day including a couple of douche bag tuk tuk riders.

We noticed on the side of the bus that it was €15 for a 24 hour bus ticket so we lucked out with the bus driving past us. It confused us because the tourist office told us different. I’ve since checked on the website and it says €6.50 so I’m assuming this was for something different. Either way if given the choice we would rather have gone with Virginia and Valeria and I guess the universe wanted that as well.

At Palacio da Pena, there are two options for tickets. You can either buy tickets to the Palace itself or tickets for the park (which we opted for). The money from the entrance fees is reinvested by the non-profit Parques de Sintra organisation into the region’s monuments.

When you’re up close admiring the architecture and colours of the Palace, you can’t imagine the inside being better. Palacio da Pena is the closest thing to the life version of the magical Palace you would have seen in a Disney film.

You can understand why it is one of the most popular attractions in Portugal with millions of tourists visiting each year. We were lucky enough to visit during the pandemic where it wasn’t as packed. It truly is a magnificent looking Palace.

From Palacio da Pena you will reach Castelo dos Mouros in less than 10 minutes walking. At one point during the Moorish era, the Castle defended the entire region.

To get to the Castle, you go through a pathway in the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, there is a small museum on the way to the ancient battlement. When I say small it’s literally one big room and a little room.

It’s €8 entry if you want to go in the Castle. Which by the looks of it involved a bit of hike, and as with the Quinta da Regaleira and Palacio da Pena, we weren’t bothered by going inside, and preferred to enjoy a view of the Castle itself and it saved us the hike.

To get a good view of the Castle you’ll need walk about 5 minutes downwards, going left instead of right as you enter the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park. The view is uninterrupted, where you may notice that it was built on a rock formation.

Walking through nature in a tranquil setting had a peaceful vibe about it.

We met Virginia and Florbela at the entrance and went back to the old town for something to eat. We had fun talking to them and learning more about them. Virginia is from Fortaleza in Brazil, a place I’ve been myself and it was fun to reminiscing about that trip.

Florbela, named after the Portuguese poet Florbela Espanca is Portuguese. She planned to do motorbike tours with a sidecar, which sounds awesome and something I would not hesitate to do. I’ve always wanted to ride in a sidecar of a motorbike because I could never trust myself to ride a motorbike.

Unfortunately her business didn’t launch due to the pandemic. We’ve all had to adapt and live through all sorts of changes to our lives, but unless you live in a place as small as Sintra which relies heavily on tourism, I don’t think we can appreciate how tough it has been for people here to get by in these strange times. Fingers crossed and no doubt Florbela will get the chance to launch her tour business which I’m sure will be success.

Florbela gave us recommendations on where to eat and where to avoid. We settled on Alcobaça which is one of her favourites.

When we reached the old town, she walked with us to the restaurant to make sure we got there ok. It was really sweet of Florbela and Virginia to go above and beyond for us from the moment we met them until we all parted ways. Gestures like this and the personal interaction we had with them go a long way to making days like these a positive experience.

We had a couple of starters between us as neither of us wanted anything too heavy. We got camarão cozido (boiled shrimp) and pasteis de bacalhau (cod fish cakes). The boiled shrimp came with a really nice sauce to dip the cod fish cakes into.

And just like that, the day trip was done. It felt like a blink and you’ll miss it kind of day.

If you’re going to Lisbon then you have make time to visit Sintra. It’s a beautiful historical town full of beautiful architecture. Some will stay overnight and explore a second day when day trippers aren’t around, and explore places such as Cabo da Roca, a rocky headland of cliffs along coast located in the Sintra-Cascais reserve. It is the most western point of mainland Europe. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to go but it gives us an excuse to go back.

I can’t finish this off without thanking Francesca for being great company and a shout out for her photography skills.

Grazie mille mio amica!