Driving from Porto to Sintra

Our first stop is obviously food. The highlight of this trip has been about food. We researched the night before and Incomum by Luis Santos was ranked really high. We ordered their business lunch which is Euro 11 per person including your choices of salad/soup, four different main entrees (seambream risotto, veal patties, pork neck and muscles risotto), a dessert, and a drink (wine, beer, soda or water). The price is such a steal after dining in Porto for us.

We walked for about 25 minutes from the restaurant to Quinta Da Regaleira. It was a steep walk to get to the castle. Per adults is Euro 6 and a family of 4 (parents and 2 kids, they specified) is Euro 18. We directly followed the signs to the Initiation Well. And went straight down to the palace and chapel. We noticed that we got lost quite a bit in their garden. Their signs were rare and we had to rely on a handdrawn printed map. It was a good map but we needed some time adjusting to their distance and drawings. We spent close to 1.5 hour in this location because we had to rush to another palace (already purchased the tickets online to avoid the line up for Pena Palace) before 6:30PM. We would suggest allocating 2.5 hours in this palace and take your time enjoying the garden in between the spots.

We walked back to our car and drove to Pena Palace right after. The drive was supposed to be 40 minutes but ended up being an hour or so because of the one way streets. Once you missed a turn, that’s the end of it, here you go all the way to the end so you can start from the beginning again. We felt like being trapped in a game doing round and round for awhile. And we noticed again, putting signs is not Sintra’s best features. They were rarely any signs around and we had very few people to ask where to turn and to find certain places.

We arrived just in time for Pena Palace. Their admission office closes at 6:30PM (if you bought your ticket online, this is also the last hour you can get in). We arrived at 5:00PM, went straight to the palace (again guys, steep walk, you need walking shoes here!) and spent so much time in their three layer gates. They were such pretty spots and we couldn’t leave without taking some photos. At 6:55PM, we have inched away from the gates and started in their “balcony” areas. We heard a bell notice around the same time but kept taking photos and exploring around as people seemed to ignore it. We finally made our way our at 7:20PM and we were the last to leave at 7:30PM, they closed the palace gate behind us. If you bought the ticket to garden and palace, you have until 8:00PM in the garden. We spent close to 2.5 hours in the palace, we’d suggest you allocate half a day to explore both the palace and the garden. There was a cafe where people had their dinner when we arrived. It was such a huge place to explore.

We went back to the same place for dinner. Food were great but this time, we waited 1.5 hour until the main food came out which surprised us.

We walked back to our car and drove to Pena Palace right after. The drive was supposed to be 40 minutes but ended up being an hour or so because of the one way streets. Once you missed a turn, that’s the end of it, here you go all the way to the end so you can start from the beginning again. We felt like being trapped in a game doing round and round for awhile. And we noticed again, putting signs is not Sintra’s best features. They were rarely any signs around and we had very few people to ask where to turn and to find certain places.

We arrived just in time for Pena Palace. Their admission office closes at 6:30PM (if you bought your ticket online, this is also the last hour you can get in). We arrived at 5:00PM, went straight to the palace (again guys, steep walk, you need walking shoes here!) and spent so much time in their three layer gates. They were such pretty spots and we couldn’t leave without taking some photos. At 6:55PM, we have inched away from the gates and started in their “balcony” areas. We heard a bell notice around the same time but kept taking photos and exploring around as people seemed to ignore it. We finally made our way our at 7:20PM and we were the last to leave at 7:30PM, they closed the palace gate behind us. If you bought the ticket to garden and palace, you have until 8:00PM in the garden. We spent close to 2.5 hours in the palace, we’d suggest you allocate half a day to explore both the palace and the garden. There was a cafe where people had their dinner when we arrived. It was such a huge place to explore.