Visiting Sintra from Lisbon, Sintra, Portugal (B)

Sintra is a magical Portuguese town just a short train ride from Lisbon where you’ll see the kinds of castles and palaces that belong in fairy tales. So is it possible to visit Sintra from Lisbon? Absolutely. Here’s how and what you can expect to await you there.

Sintra is well-connected to Lisbon by train. You can take a Sintra-bound train from Lisbon’s Rossio station. Trains run every 30 minutes, and they take around 40 minutes to get from city to city. Obviously, for the most up-to-date schedule, you should check Google Maps. The best part is that you can use your Lisbon transport pass for your Sintra trip as long as you have enough stored value on it; the 24-hour unlimited pass will not work. The fare is just under €5, so make sure you have enough value on it for the return trip. The alternative might mean making long lines in the much smaller Sintra train station to get a ticket along with the crowd of tourists heading back to Lisbon.

Just because it’s possible to visit Sintra from Lisbon on a day trip doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Sintra is more than the colorful Pena Palace. There are several stunning hilltop palaces in the surrounding area including the Castelo dos Mouros and the historic Quinta de Regaleira, and the city itself is small and traditional, so there are a lot of meandering streets to stroll if you make time for it. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).