You walked to the Monserrate Palace?

Theres a lot to see in Sintra, and I'm sticking to my guns on going slow and not researching the daylights out of it in advance. There's a balance though obviously. I poke around gently in specific areas of Google to influence the odds being in my favour. For instance - I didn't know which train I'd get but I knew they were hourly until a certain time. I didn't know which things I'd try to go to but I knew I wanted to see Quinta de Regaleria and buying tickets online before going was recommended. I knew you could buy a ticket for just the gardens of Pena Palace if you wanted.

Excited to flex my walking muscles again I puffed my chest out indignantly when the guesthouse woman suggested the historic centre (10 minutes) and QdR (20) were viable on foot but I should take a bus for the Monserrate Palace and gardens as that was a whopping 4.5km away. Ma'am. I'll be walking.

Everyone else evidently took the advice as between QdR and Monserrate I had the road to myself bar the occasional bus, tuk-tuk (doing a thriving trade) and bike. It was fantastic. The best way I can really describe Sintra is if you shook some moorish inspired fairytale castles into a botanical garden and then let a bunch of surrealists pick the outdoor furniture.En savoir plus