Sintra - The Moorish Castle

Just back down the main road from Peña Palace is the entrance to the Moorish Castle. Since it was a down trip we decided we could walk it. (This is the recommended order to do these 2 visits as the bus only does a one way loop 😉)
As we worked our way back down the road we came across a car and driver that had stalled out on one of the hills and the poor driver could not get the car started again. Luckily with so many people about, a dozen of us managed to push the car the 75 feet to the crest of the hill. I’m sure the backlog of traffic we’re happy too!
If you have a Fitbit or health tracker of any kind perhaps you’ve noticed the number of “floors” you’ve done in a day. This day in Sintra mine recorded 116! And I’m pretty sure half of those were at the Moorish Castle!
As I understand it, the castle walls we climbed are a restoration of the walls of what was a castle. They were truly amazing. The views from the walls of the surrounding countryside and villages were stunning and you could see all the way out to the coast.
So many stairs!!! It was incredible.
Once we completed the walls it was time to catch the bus and head back in to the city centre for some lunch. While we were most definitely not there at peak tourist season it was still incredibly busy and we were lucky to find ourselves a corner in a restaurant with the bonus of a view.Read more