Sintra: Europe's Real-Life Disney Land

Stepping into Sintra, Portugal, is like stepping into a real-life fairy tale. Unlike Disney, the palaces, villas, gardens, and fortresses were built by actual Portuguese kings and royalty. No doubt Disney and other amusement parks gained some inspiration from this place. Experiencing Sintra brought back childhood feelings of excitement, joy, and awe.

Sintra is located just 15 miles from Lisbon and is reachable by its metro. Sintra was established by Portuguese royalty as a royal escape. Its unique micro-climate and lush landscape offered a pleasant retreat from Lisbon’s heat. We could have spent a week exploring and getting lost in the gardens, palaces, and forests. Instead, we spent just a night but would recommend at least three days.

We arrived in Sintra late afternoon, leaving the next day for us to cram in the top sites of Sintra. We spent time at Quinta Da Regaleira, Pena Palace, Moorish Castle, and High Cross. Other recommended sites include the National Palace of Sintra, Park and Gardens of Monserrate, and the city of Sintra.

Easily our favorite site was Quinta Da Regaleira. The palace was commissioned by a wealthy Portuguese businessman in 1904. The palace, while spectacular on the outside, isn’t the highlight of this property. The massive gardens stimulate one’s imagination through winding paths, grottoes, and fountains. You could spend a day alone just getting lost here. But the absolute highlight, both here and perhaps in all of Sintra, is the remarkable Initiation Wells. There are two of them, with the largest descending 88 feet into the earth. I would have expected that tourists would be limited to just peering into the wells. To our delight, we were able to descend to the bottom of the wet well to a network of underground tunnels (which are open to discovery as well).

Unlike Quinta da Regaleira, the Moorish Castle was built for function.  The Moors built the castle in the 10th century when they ruled the Iberian peninsula to defend both the surrounding lands and access to Lisbon.  The walls impressively flow along the undulating hills both rising and falling with the terrain (an incredible engineering feat in the 10th century).  The walls are the real highlight here (the palace is long gone) and you can explore the fortress walls to your hearts content.  It’s such a cool opportunity to imagine life on these walls when life was much different.  It’s also a great place to photos of Sintra and the Pena Palace. 

Speaking of the Pena Palace, this is likely the top top tourist draw in Sintra, and for good reason. It’s a colorful and eclectic palace perched at the top of Sintra. It is indeed beautiful. However, our ability to explore was limited by their very confusing entry requirements. Although your ticket is presented once, there are two different timed entries (one for entry to the courtyard and the second for the inside of the palace). You can probably guess that we missed the entry to the interior. Judging by the number of tourists complaining to the palace staff, it’s something to be aware of if you visit Pena. Two different entrances!

Although it’s been a month since our visit, we still have great memories of our time there. A real-life fairy tale experience for adults and kids alike. We couldn’t recommend this place enough and hope that you, too, get lost in the palaces, gardens, forests, and fortresses of Sintra one day.