5+ Must Knows BEFORE You Visit Sintra, Pena Palace, Quinta de Regaleira | Family travel in Portugal

You’re visiting Sintra, Portugal and want to know all the most important details to make your trip amazing? Sintra has so much to offer for such a small town (most notably Pena Palace and Quinta de Regaleira) and we have all the info you need to make sure you see the best of it all.

We just finished going to Sintra and learned a lesson or five to share with you before you head to this busy and beautiful destination.

We will be giving you 5 Must Knows: Description, 6 Things to Do, Walkability/Drivability, Food, What they have for kids +1 Mistake to avoid, and 1 take away.

Check out our Spring on the Mediterranean video to learn about why it may be the best time of year to visit Spain!

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[saskia]

I visited Sintra yesterday and no, you can not access the balconies and outside area of Pena with a park ticket only! You can only stroll through the gardens and wont come close to the palace and there is no park and balconies ticket! I was told by a guard that one can upgrade to a full ticket in the souvenir shop. So don't be fooled. It is super crowded, even late in the afternoon. I took a ride with a tuk tuk from Sintra to avoid a steep uphill slosh. It was cheaper than the bus and very entertaining. Downhill one can walk back to Sintra in about 30 minutes over a hiking trail starting at the lower end of the gardens opposite the lakes, (steep steps though).

[katbrudner]

Thank you so much for the “what I would have done differently” section.

[wendytaylor]

We visited Sintra and found time to do the Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle in one day alone. Accomplished because you can walk over to the Moorish Castle from the Pena Palace, after also enjoying the beautiful gardens below the Pena Palace. By no stretch of the imagination would anybody spend 5 hours at the Pena. Day 2 we took in the National Palace in a couple of hours inside and out. Would prefer to have spent that time at Quinta de Regaleira to be honest. But luckily I live in Belém and can return any time.

[regan]

Amanda- your commentary is so well done! It must take a long time to gather all of the details and script your narration! Your insights shared would be most helpful to anyone planning to travel to this region. Where to next??

[cpdrey]

When visiting Pena Palace booked a tour to avoid lines. We took a tour by INSIDE LISBON from Avenida de Liberdade at Hard Rock Cafe meeting point. Its worth it! Will be going back next year 😊

[chasingadeline]

Nice drone footage!!! I wish we had tine to see that part of Portugal 🇵🇹…good info…

[lantran]

I have a toddler so thanking for pointing this out.

[tanyajohnston]

sounds wonderful. Great tips. I think I would like all the outsides and outdoor scenery and activities more than going inside castles.

[maureengreenwood]

Thank you for all of your suggestions ! We just returned from Portugal and Spain and we drove all the way up but could not find the castle lol because of the torrential rain and winding roads as we drove up therefore decided to visit on another trip. The town looks lovely and what I saw was magical so I will plan for next time with all your great suggestions in mind 😊

[chargerguy]

Your tips to Pena Palace are sooo helpful! We go in November. I am now thinking of only seeing the outside so that we have more time to see the other castle and enjoy the town more.

[frenchclaret]

Wow...thank you for the great tips...very thorough. I was looking for the information regarding the Pena palace ticket. I know the kids will likely to get bored touring inside the palace.

[lilianacastro]

You should go up toward the light in the Quinta da Regaleira.

[katc]

Thank you for sharing your experience about Pena Palace. Will definitely check out only the exterior of the palace which will save us time to checkout the other places!

[agdrawings_]

Great video! Very informative and good food for thought before my trip.

[FatimasFamilyTravels]

How are you guys doing? Looking forward to some new videos!

[laurab]

What time of year were you here? Sorry if you mentioned and I missed it! Thanks for the tips!

[pepetrueno]

Great content! Question: but don’t you have to pay to see the interior to get access to some areas? Or can you see all of the exterior areas including the roofs, etc without having to go into the interior of the palace? I figure, if you’ve seen the interior of one castle, you’ve pretty much seen them all 🤣

[jeremymiller]

I have a question is the Castle for sale

[sobiakhan]

This looks amazing! Wow!! I'm going with husband and our twins. Can I ask about the penna palace is tickets to go into the grounds as in gardens. I'm not that big on seeing the castle inside the kids will moan lol, but I want to see the grounds.
Also the quinta rageleria is that the cave too from your pics?

[DesiDuoExplorers]

your tips for sintra are very useful.i am planning to visit it in march so I just wanted to know, do we need to buy tickets to see pena palace from outside as well or its required only if we go inside?