Spain and Portugal for Visitors

Sintra

Robert Southey called it “the most blessed place of all the inhabitable world," to Lord Byron it was "Glorious Eden," and the adjective most commonly applied to it is "fairytale." High in the cool, green hills above Lisbon, Sintra is one of the most appealing places in Portugal, a draw in its own right and a must-see for anyone spending more than a day or two in the capital or on the nearby coast.

Sintra is a World Heritage site with the full title "Cultural Landscape of Sintra," not just for the fantastic Palácio da Pena built by Portugal's artist-king, Fernando II, but for the host of palaces, castles, churches, mansions and stately homes, parks and gardens which made it "the first centre of European Romantic architecture."

Sintra's history goes back to the Moorish Middle Ages, its layout still follows that mediaeval ground plan and some of its street names even reflect the divides between quarters and religions. It was conquered from the Moors in 1147, and in the following centuries, the mild microclimate of the Serra de Sintra made the village a court refuge from the rigours of Lisbon summers. Palaces and mansions grew up around the royal Palacio da Vila, now Palacio Nacional, though Sintra lost royal favour to Mafra in the eighteenth century. The Great Earthquake of 1755 made it necessary to rebuild much of the village, and in the eighteenth century Sintra became popular with travellers, writers, aristocrats and intellectuals. In 1840, Fernando II decided to build the Palacio da Pena as the summer royal residence on the site of a ruined convent, and by the end of the nineteenth century, Sintra was already a town-sized middle-class resort, with hotels and boarding houses. The twentieth century brought decline, with thoughtless or non-existent town planning, but since the nineteen-seventies most of the mistakes of those times have been corrected, at least in the town centre. However, much of the surrounding area has been overbuilt, causing major problems, particularly in terms of traffic.

Sintra's main sights include:
Castelo dos Mouros, now officially called Sintra Castle, though no-one does.
Palácio Nacional da Pena, a fantastic Romantic version of a castle, with fabulous gardens, the Parque de Pena.
Palácio Nacional de Sintra, Palácio da Vila or Royal Palace, an incredible mixture of mediaeval, Gothic, Manueline, Renaissance and Romantic architecture. Its two conical chimneys are among the most recognisable features in Portugal.
Palácio da Regaleira or Quinta da Regaleira, an improbable mixture of Romanic, Gothic, Renaissance and Manueline styles, the gardens of which conceal a host of esoteric elements, with alchemical, masonic, templarian, and even Rosicrucian symbolism.
Palácio de Seteais, now a luxury hotel.
Palácio de Monserrate, in the park of the same name.
Convento dos Capuchos, the Capuchin monastery sometimes called the "Cork Convent" because some of its hewn-from-the-rock cells were lined with cork to keep out the damp (for visitors, not monks). Yet again, with interesting gardens.
Palácio Real de Queluz or Palácio Nacional de Queluz, an eighteenth-century palace with (surprise, surprise) wonderful gardens.


Pro's:
- Lovely parks and gardens
- Beautiful stately homes and palaces
- First-class hotels
- Some of the best restaurants in Portugal
- Less than an hour away from Lisbon, and only a forty-five minute tram ride from the beach.

Con's:
- Very touristy, especially at weekends when the crowds come from Lisbon and elsewhere
- Expensive and often overpriced
- All those entrance tickets can add up to a hefty total, especially if you are travelling with kids.

You'll like it if you like:
Parks and gardens, stately homes, expensive hotels and restaurants...

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