This post was originally published on A Globe Well Travelled in 2018. The content has been revised and updated with fresh information.
If castles matched personalities, then Pena Palace would be my dream home.
Perched on top of a hill in Sintra is the most colourful castle I’ve ever laid eyes on. The exterior walls are painted in bright splashes of yellow, red, and cream, with purple-blue azulejos (Portuguese tiles) covering the remaining sections with pretty patterns.
Standing on the Queen’s Terrace, I let my imagination form a vision of what it might be like to live here. Waking each morning to step onto the balcony and gaze over the vast countryside sounds like my perfect form of luxurious living.
Even though Pena was packed with tourists on the busy Sunday that Rob and I visited, the palace was still a sight to be seen. This former monastery and royal residences is truly like something out of a fairytale.
If you’re keen to organise a Pena Palace day trip from Lisbon, here’s some practical info on how to visit and personal recommendations from my trip to Sintra!
Quick summary:
Planning a day trip from Lisbon to the colourful Pena Palace in Sintra? This guide covers everything you need to know—how to get there, the best time to visit, how to get around, which ticket to buy, the best photo spots, and practical advice for a smooth visit.
Recommended tours & tickets:
🚌 Sintra day tour from Lisbon – Includes transport, Pena Palace & Quinta da Regaleira entry
🚆 Lisboa Card – Covers train travel and attraction tickets to Pena Palace
🏰 Pena Palace entry tickets – Buy in advance to skip long lines on arrival
🛺 Sintra tuk tuk tour – A fun, stress-free ride to Pena Palace and around Sintra
When to go to Sintra
Although we were advised to go on a weekday, unfortunately we had no choice but to visit on a Sunday. Sintra was bustling with tourists when we went, so if you have flexibility with your dates, definitely plan your visit for a weekday instead.
If you do end up going on a weekend, plan to leave as early as possible. The palace opens at 9:30 AM and it would be much nicer to explore minus the crowds. We made the mistake of arriving at about 11:30 AM and it was already busy. You could also try visiting in the late afternoon as the palace is open until 6:30-7:00 PM.
How to get to Sintra from Lisbon
As we were staying at Tivoli Oriente Hotel, we caught the train from the nearby Oriente train station. While Tivoli Oriente was not in the greatest location for exploring the city of Lisbon, we found it to be super convenient for travelling to Porto, accessing the airport, and for day trips from Lisbon. The hotel is in a modern part of town near the expo centre, and had comfortable rooms plus a mouth-watering buffet breakfast.
Visiting Sintra on a guided tour
🚌 If you want an easy option for visiting Sintra, a Sintra day tour from Lisbon will collect you from the city and take you around Sintra in a minivan, so you don’t want to fuss around with the train and bus. The tour also includes entrance tickets to Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira (so you can avoid waiting in all the queues for entrance tickets!).
Catching the train to Sintra
This is the option I chose when travelling to Sintra. Lisbon to Sintra train tickets are available from the suburban ticket counter at Oriente Station (don’t make the mistake of waiting at the long-distance counter like we did!) and cost only a few Euro for the return journey.
If you’re staying in Lisbon city centre, then you can catch a train to Sintra from Rossio Station – the ride should take around 40 minutes.
Using the Lisboa Card to visit Sintra: I had the Lisboa Card during my stay in Lisbon, which gave me free travel on the local trains – all I had to do was validate my Lisboa Card on the ticket machine as I approached the platform. When you buy the card, you also have the option to include Pena Palace tickets, so this is a great way to combine your transport and attractions in an all-in-one sightseeing pass.
How to get to Pena Palace from Sintra
Once you arrive in Sintra, there are a few ways you can get to Pena Palace. After doing some research, I decided that we would take the 434 tourist bus to Pena. To get to the bus stop, exit the station and walk along the street which follows the north side of the station about 200 metres until you get to a bus stop that says 434. Don’t be fooled by any empty 434 buses that you may spot along the way – these buses are just banked here until it’s their turn to head onwards to the bus stop.
At the bus stop, you will have to line up for the next bus. We waited around 10-15 minutes before we made it on to a bus. There was a lady taking payment for the bus tickets as we waited in line (alternatively, you can book your Sintra bus ticket online in advance). The cost was €6.90 for a return ticket when I was in Sintra in 2018, but it has probably gone up in price since then.
🛺 If you don’t want to fuss around with the bus, you could book a Sintra tuk tuk driver instead. This looks like a fun and convenient way to get to Pena Palace than by bus!
Entry tickets for Pena Palace
If you do have a Lisboa Card, double check that you have chosen the option that includes Pena Palace tickets. When I checked mine, the Lisboa Card gave me a 5% discount for the ticket price.
🏰 If you don’t have a Lisboa card with tickets included, then I would definitely recommend buying your Pena Palace tickets in advance. This will save you lining up to get tickets when you get there, and the lines can get pretty long in peak season.
There are two tickets types to choose from – a Park ticket or a Park and Palace ticket. We were a little confused about the difference, and after our day of exploration, we discovered that the park only ticket will get you access to everything except for the inside the palace itself. You can still walk around the grounds and even access the terraces of the palace to get photos. The things that you will miss out on is the Queen’s Terrace photo spot which is only accessible after entering the palace, and obviously the historic displays inside the palace.
Best photo spots at Pena Palace
The classic photos of Pena Palace are taken from the Queen’s Terrace (where the above photo was taken), which is only accessible with a Park and Palace ticket. This pretty terrace offers gorgeous views of the colourful palace exterior as well as the surrounding landscape.
If you’ve only purchased the Park ticket, there are plenty of other photo spots on the lower terraces. When you arrive at the entrance to the palace itself, veer to the left of the ticket gate – just around the corner and through the archway are some lovely terraces and spots to take photos of the palace with the countryside views.
Other palaces in Sintra
After you’ve finished up with lunch, you can take your pick of other palaces in Sintra to explore.
🎟️ I booked tickets to Quinta da Regaleira as it was an easy 10 minute walk from the town centre, and I had heard that the gardens were lovely. They were totally amazing and much less crowded than Pena!
The palace itself wasn’t all that much to rave about, but there were caves and underground tunnels winding throughout the grounds, and every time you went down a path, you never know where it would take you to next. It felt kind of like a choose your own adventure.
The Initiation Well (pictured above) is what most people go to see at Regaleira, and I have to admit, it was pretty cool. A winding stairwell takes you from ground level deep into the earth, and at the bottom it connected to some tunnels.
We chose to make our way back to Lisbon after Regaleira and so made the 20 minute walk back to the train station.
🎟️ If you still have time, the National Palace of Sintra is located in the town centre so is an easy choice to visit.
🎟️ If you’re willing to take another tourist bus (the 435), you can also visit the stunning Monserrate Palace.
Where to eat in Sintra
There are two cafes at Pena – one at the palace and the other at the entrance to the park. You can expect to pay tourist prices at these and they don’t have loads of food options, so we decided to stop in the town of Sintra for lunch instead.
The 434 bus will stop twice on the way back to the station – get off at the second stop for Sintra’s town centre. We ended up walking through some of the narrow laneways, and found a bakery with some vegetarian quiches and pastel de nata (Portuguese tarts – so delicious!).
If you want to save a few $$, you can BYO food and have a picnic at Pena instead. There are plenty of places within the park to settle down and eat a packed lunch.
Other tips for visiting Sintra:
- Don’t attempt to walk to Pena from the train station. Apparently it’s an hour-long walk in the hot sun and the road is steep and unpleasant.
- Avoid driving to Sintra and Pena Palace. There aren’t many parking spots around the palaces, and I heard a few other people complaining about how long it took to find a spot. There’s also enough traffic clogging the narrow roads as is!
- Wear comfortable walking shoes. There is some moderate walking involved around the grounds and the surface can be uneven at times. Choose comfort over fashion!
- Prepare for limited phone signal up at the palace. We were trying to use our data to learn about the palace but could barely get any signal. It wasn’t a problem as we could get access to phone data once we got back into town, but it’s just something to keep in mind.
*I was a guest of Visit Lisboa and Tivoli Oriente for this part of my stay in Lisbon. I’m proud to be an honest and transparent blogger, so every opinion expressed on AGWT is a true review of my experience.
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