On one of our free days here in Portugal, two others and I decided to take a trip to Sintra. We began the trip by taking a 10:00 a.m. train. It was my first time using the train system in Portugal, and it was an incredibly easy experience. The train ride itself was only about 50 minutes, and Sintra was the very last stop. 

When we arrived, we had to figure out how to get to the two palaces we wanted to visit. This caused a little bit of confusion. Luckily, I had researched beforehand the best buses to use, and we ended up spending 15 euros each on a bus ticket that would last us all day. After buying our tickets online, we boarded the bus and headed to our first stop: Quinta da Regaleira. 

For some historical background, Quinta da Regaleira was never actually made for the royal family. Instead, it was a palace and grounds created in the early 1900s for António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro, an extremely wealthy man who was from Brazil. One of the most mysterious and famous parts of this location is the Initiation Well, which consists of a well descending nine stories down that likely was built and used for masonic rituals. 

 

After we visited Quinta da Regaleira, we left for Pena Palace. Warning, for anyone planning to use the 434 and 435 buses to get around Sintra, plan to take at least 2 whole hours to get from one site to the next. It took us 2 hours to make our way to the entrance of Pena Palace, and we were 30 minutes late to our booked entrance time. Luckily, they were kind enough to still let us in. Even with the crowd, the Pena Palace was gorgeous.

Though the Pena Palace has a very long history, it is perhaps most well-known for its housing of King-consort Ferdinand II, an extremely well-educated royal with a thorough appreciation for and skill in art. He was such a lover of the arts that he became known as the King-Artist to the people of Sintra. We got the chance to see some of the rooms he and his family used, and it became clear they spared no expense on the decoration of their palace.

After finishing our tour of the Pena Palace, we made our way back to the train station. We stopped to buy a few souvenirs, and then boarded our train and returned to Lisbon. For anyone who gets the pleasure of visiting Portugal, Sintra is a must!

 

Sources I Used:

http://www.estorilportugal.com/features/quinta-da-regaleira/ 

https://www.parquesdesintra.pt/en/parks-monuments/park-and-national-palace-of-pena/history/