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Sintra (São Pedro de Penaferrim)

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    • TravelerPortugal
      21
      Day 3

      Day Tour Stop 2: Pena Palace

      May 8 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      The ride and remaining walk up to this Palace was steep. The horses back in the day had their work cut out for them pulling carriages and supplies. The people who had to walk would have been in great shape. It is a beautiful Palace and the views were fantastic. We could see across to the Moorish Castle that we were looking up at from Sintra. The triton over the entrance to the Palace was sure interesting. Many of their animal portrayals on the outside of the building were quite funny. The lion looked like a monkey and the snakes were cartoonish, not daunting at all!! The colors on the Palace are not original and were done without permission of the government, a no no. There is some interesting history if you look up Pena Palace in Sintra.Read more

    • TravelerSpain and Portugal, 2024
      1
      11112
      Day 14

      Sintra, Portugal, April 30

      April 30 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

      Took a Uber to the bus station then a bus ride from Porto to Sintra. Nice ride with Wifi. Checked in to the Villa Aedan using an Uber - which had a tough time figuring out where it was. I had trouble locating the place on Google maps, too. After some unpacking we walked to the recommended Apeadeiro restaurant and had a nice mid-day meal. They even provided a glass of port and a pastry to each of us at the end of our meal. From there we walked to the Quinta de Regeleira a private mansion with lots of novelties now owned by the City of Sintra as a tourist attraction. Fun place including the Well of Initiation, a 70' plus hole excavated in limestone with a circular stairway winding around an open center. Several quirky towers, lots of exotic flowers and trees with a chapel and a mansion right out of The Adams Family (the old TV show). Google maps gave us some trouble here and we ended up walking the wrong way for a while, adding a half mile or more to our walk to the entrance. Our entrance fee was seven euros - the cost for people over 65. Returned to our room at the Villa Aedan which requires three keys to get in. One for the front gate, one for the front door, and then one for the room. Walked into town again to explore and bought two clementines at a local store. Ate the last of the Queso Cabrales from Cangas de Onis.Read more

    • TravelerSpain and Portugal, 2024
      1
      222221222
      Day 15

      Sintra, May 1

      May 1 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 15 °C

      A full day of seeing the National Palace of Pena where the last kings and queens of Portugal lived before the 1910 revolution ended the monarchy and the Castle of the Moors, and 11th century fortress which eventually fell to the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. Did not start well. We paid to take a bus up to the palace. We had traveled less than mile when traffic stopped - due to a bus up the road which had managed to block traffic and not get turned around. So we abandoned the bus and walked - asking for lots of directions along the way. Toured the very crowded palace at 3 p.m. and the palace grounds, then we walked to the Castle of the Moors and hiked up the battlements to the top for views in all directions including the Atlantic Ocean, the Tagus River, downtown Lisbon, and all of the Sintra area. Very interesting visit. Then we hiked down a trail - which sort of vanished when we got to the outskirts of town requiring Google maps to help us find our way. Stopped at a small cafe for wine, coffee, and an appetizer then returned to the Apeadeiro restaurant for a full dinner complete with cheesecake, port, and two pastries, the last port and pastries courtesy of the restaurant.Read more

    • TravelerEuropa-Tour
      Day 61

      Sintra

      May 3, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

      --- Enttäuschende Kletterpartie und die Moorish Castle im Regen ---

      Am nächsten Tag wollte ich eigentlich direkt nach Sintra, aber hatte am Abend vorher noch einen Baum-Kletterpark wenige Kilometer entfernt entdeckt. Und da ich genug Zeit für den Tag eingeplant hatte und früh aufgestanden bin habe ich beschlossen noch Klettern zu gehen.
      Online anmelden konnte ich mich nicht, also bin ich so hin gefahren und da es Mittwochmorgen war, war auch zum Glück fast nichts los. Der Eintritt hat 20€ gekostet und aus einer Bewertung konnte ich entnehmen, dass der Parkour etwa 2 Stunden dauern würde...
      Was soll ich sagen... ich war sehr enttäuscht! Inklusive Gurt anlegen, Einführungs-BlaBla, dem eigentlichen Klettern und Gurt zurück geben habe ich knapp eine Stunde benötigt... Die 20€ haben sich nicht wirklich gelohnt^^ es hat zwar spaß gemacht, aber naja es war sehr kurz. Der Kletterwald bestand aus 4 Routen plus Einführung und die Aufstiege wurden vom Personal begleitet und an zwei Plattformen gab es auch einen vom Personal, der einem half um beim schwerfälligen Seilzug keine Probleme zu haben.
      Auch die Komplimente, dass ich ja sehr gut und schnell war, waren zwar nett, aber nicht hilfreich.

      Also wollte ich danach Moorish Castle fahren und stand mal wieder vor dem Parkplatz Problem. Scheinbar kann man da nicht wirklich parken und manche Straßen sind gesperrt. Ich bin dann mit einem kleinen Umweg nach Sintra in das Städtchen gefahren und habe dort mit Mühe einen Parkplatz gefunden. Der Weg zur Moorish Castle war deshalb etwas weiter als geplant, aber nicht unschaffbar. Nachdem ich das Ticket gekauft hatte und ein paar Meter weiter in die Richtung der Äußeren Mauer hat es plötzlich stark angefangen zu regnen. Natürlich hatte ich heute mal meine Jacke im Auto gelassen und habe versucht mich in einem Torbogen unter zu stellen, was nur so halb funktioniert hat...

      Als der schlimmste Regen vorbei war, bin ich weiter gegangen um die Burg zu erkunden. Man musste sehr aufpassen, da nun die Steine nass und rutschig waren. Der Regen hat leider dafür gesorgt, dass man die Aussicht von oben auf dem Berg auf dem die Moorish Castle steht, leider nicht wirklich genießen konnte. Außerdem hat es danach immer mal wieder etwas geregnet, weshalb ich irgendwann ziemlich nass war. Trotzdem war der Ausflug dort hin irgendwie schön und bevor ich wieder zurück zum Auto gegangen bin habe ich mir noch einen Kaffee in dem Mini-Gastro gegönnt.

      Der Weg Bergab zurück zum Auto verlief (anders als erwartet) ohne Ausrutschen oder anderen Unfällen und dann ging es wieder weiter zur nächsten Unterkunft.      Read more

      See translation
    • TravelerWeitwandern / Pilgern Portugal
      2
      1111
      Day 14

      Sintra 4/Eindrücke/Fakten

      April 30 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      Bevor es morgen weitergeht
      Noch einige Eindrücke von Sintra
      Straßenmusik wird überall gemacht
      Tuk Tuks, elektrobetriebene Autos im Oldiesstil und Puaggios bestimmen hier neben Hop on und Hop offs das Straßenleben
      Noch ist nicht Saison und trotzdem stehen bei den Sehenswürdigkeiten Schlangen an, denn es kommen stündlich die Tages-Touristen aus Lissabon mit Bussen und Zügen
      Von meinem Fenster aus dem Hostel sehe ich am Abend die Burg und den Nationalpalast beleuchtet
      Beinah hätt ich vergessen, Fotos von der Burg hochzuladen, auf der es sehr windig war, aber die Aussicht war grandios.
      Zu meinen Fakten der letzten 14 Tage
      3427,5km mit Zug
      482,2km mit Bus und Taxi
      50,0km mit Schiff und
      222,7km zu Fuß zurückgelegt      Read more

      See translation
    • TravelerCamino de Santiago
      Day 45

      Pena Palace gardens

      May 6 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

      I'll say it again - five hundred acres. Starting at the furthest point, I walked up as far as I could to the High Cross at ~530m, and then worked my way down.

      She wasn't joking about that throne, but I did find it in the end, and took a picture of my pastel de nata in a branded paper bag from this morning as a thank you to show this woman, figuring maybe they could put it on their Instagram or something.

      I'm skipping ahead when I tell you that they did and were so sweet about it. It was also the best pdn (I'm on abbreviation terms with them now I think) I've had. What a breakfast.      Read more

    • TravelerCamino de Santiago
      111
      Day 45

      Pena Palace

      May 6 in Portugal ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

      I'm aware I have a slight reputation for thinking I'm always right, but days like today really shore that up and after a while you do sort of have to look at the stats and reach a conclusion.

      The garden only ticket is the way to bloody go. There's f i v e h u n d r e d acres of cool stuff, tiny unsigned paths you can get lost on, buildings, lakes, animals, and rocks you can climb.

      What's more you can go round the entire outside of the castle, and not have to a) select a time slot when you buy your ticket and then stress about being there on time and b) stand around in the probably 400m long queue to shuffle through an interior which by all accounts is less interesting than the exterior.

      You can walk past them and have a squiz and leave. It was EXCELLENT. And it was cheaper. I am right.      Read more

    • TravelerCamino De Santiago - Portugues
      1
      Day 3

      Pena Palace

      April 6 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

      Today we tried something different and joined a bus tour that took us out of Lisbon to Pena Palace, then to the town of Sintra, next to Cabo da Roca, and finished up in Cascais. Turned out to be a very full day.

      The Pena Palace started off as a monastery and then in 1755 an earthquake practically turned it into a ruin. In 1836, Queen Maria II married Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a prince from Belgium. Ferdinand began renovating the monastery and expanded it to the palace of today to hold his family of 11 children.      Read more

    • TravelerCamino de Santiago
      1
      Day 45

      Tramping up to Pena Palace, well fuelled

      May 6 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

      The crisp linen bewitched me and for a brief moment I considered bunking off the breakfast, served 8 to 10am in a cafe up the road, in order to continue my clockwork exploration of sleeping positions (that's how I know it's wider than I am tall).

      Shaking off this siren song, I got up there at 9.30, waved past some disappointed visitors into the 'closed' cafe upon flashing my ticket with that most wonderful of phrases "for you, it's open". I proceeded to have, rivaled by Braga alone, one of the best breakfasts in both food and service of the trip. I took the pastel de nata and a slab of fruit bread for walking snacks, and rolled back to bed until check out at 12.

      When I did, the host and I discussed my plans to go to Pena Palace, the gardens only, and she told me her favourite spot in the 500 acres - an area the queen liked so much she had a throne carved into the rock so she could admire the view in style. It's hard to find, she warned, but if I did I was to show her the photos please.

      It wasn't bad walking on the roads yesterday but when I heard that there were hiking trails, if rather half-heartedly signed, I was determined to use them. It didn't inspire much confidence at the start but it was in the right general direction and incline (my wayfinding criteria for the remainder of the day it would turn out) so I stuck with it and it really paid off.

      I popped out onto the road with just a few switch backs to go, and it was hellish traffic so I was very pleased to have avoided that.      Read more

    • TravelerCamino de Santiago
      1
      Day 44

      Gardens of Monserrate

      May 5 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

      Applying the same approach to Sintra I use on charcuterie boards, I started at the edge of what I wanted to see (Monserrate) and worked my way in. After a small tiff with the guard about the queue directional signage (which didn't matter to begin with seeing as there wasn't one, but I'd argue if both me and the person in front made the same error the issue is the sign) I was into the palace grounds, which I explored over the next two and a half hours, saying wow a lot, and learning what a 'folly' is! You probably already know.Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Sintra (São Pedro de Penaferrim), Sintra (Sao Pedro de Penaferrim)

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