Sintra: The Land of Fairytales
“Sintra: the place where summer never comes.”
I am writing this article as I sit in my home on day 16 of my self-isolation following the social distancing guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by the CDC. It seems so long ago that I was in Portugal, surrounded by lots of people. I knew it was a luxury then to be able to experience seeing these amazing places, and I know this to be true even more so today as I sit at home. Writing this article and looking back at that day in Portugal has been therapeutic for me, and it gives me hope that I will one day be able to see more of our beautiful world in the future.
While in Portugal, there was one place that I was continually told, "If you're in Lisbon, you have to go here!" It is a town called Sintra. This extraordinary little town is about a 40 minute train ride outside of Lisbon. Back in the 17th through 19th centuries it became the place for royalty and the elite of Portugal to build their palaces. Basically you could call it 'The castle city of Portugal."
It is surprisingly easy to get to Sintra via train. A train to Sintra departs every 20 minutes at the city centre Rossio station. Tickets cost about $5. This train station is different from Lisbon's metro stations (I didn't realize they were different - so that's just a tip.)
15th Century Moorish Castle seen from the train station in Sintra
Even though Sintra is only 40 minutes away from Lisbon, it is at a higher elevation. I was grateful a local had told me to bring a jacket because when I arrived in Sintra, it was quite a bit chillier. I did get the sense that I was stepping into another world when I stepped off the train platform and saw castles just like in storybooks looming overhead.
National Palace in Sintra
(not my picture – but I wanted to show what it looked like)
The climate in Sintra is really similar to Portland in the spring. The vegetation is similar too. Lots of moss, trees, foliage and ivy grow over cottages with Cotswald cottage shingles (kind of looked like thatched roofs -but not made with straw). These cottages gave way to a tiny village and nicer and nicer houses, then villas and then palaces! The main square of Sintra has the National Palace. And an all-white building built in the 15th century where you can still attend a traditional Fado dinner today.
I only had a day and couldn’t waste my time on just any palace. Sintra has at least eight palaces or castles. Traveling with my friend Allie, we had done our research ahead of time and decided to go to the Pena Palace and the Quinta da Regaleira. Tickets to both palaces can be purchased online here and here and downloaded to your phone. This is helpful as it avoids waiting in lines at the front of the gate.
Palace de Pena – feels surreal with its fairytale turrets and bright primary colors
Looking out from the turrets of Pena Palace you can see the countryside below
The Pena Palace looms as the highest building overlooking the village. It looks like the castle from the Little Mermaid – if a 5 year old had been able to pick out the colors for it. Part of the castle is painted a robust yellow, part of the castle has blue tile and part of the castle is a bold red. It was the summer palace of King Ferdinand and before that it was a monastery. Today, walking into it feels like walking into Disneyland – with the long lines and everything. The entire palace sits on a rock nestled in the Sintra Mountains with views all the way out to the ocean. From Pena Palace you can see the Moorish Castle – which looks like the type of castle I used to draw as a child. The Moorish castle is also on a hill but at a lower elevation than the Pena Palace.
Allie and I enjoyed the palace but really hated how crowded it was and how we had to wait for everything. Once we completed the tour and snapped some pictures, we were ready to move on.
For lunch we ate at a bistro in the town square. We split cod fish cakes and a delicious pizza with arugula, ham and fresh Parmesan. Refreshed, we set out for the Quinta da Regaleira, which is a palace built in the 1800s by a very wealthy businessman. If I could describe the Quinta in one word it would be: MAGICAL!
The Quinta Regaleira Palace
The gardens and foliage of the Quinta are spectacular and create an otherworldly feeling.
Seriously, this place was the stuff that daydreams are made of. The property sits on 5 acres of lush foliage, some of the gardens are well-tended and full of hydrangeas and some of the foliage is wild and grows over the turrets. The property is a seemingly endless span of little stone pathways and stairs hewn into large rocks that can lead to a) more gardens b) grottos where moss completely grows over the water c) waterfalls d) lookouts or e) caves! You can explore it all! Some of the caves we went into lead to these wells that are sooo cool! The wells are lined with stairs that climb in a circular fashion around the wells. Green moss grows on the sides. It is completely something out of a fairytale.
A staircase to nowhere.
Allie and I took our time trying to explore each nook and cranny of that place, because you never knew when a pathway would take you to a decaying tower or to a fountain. As Aladdin says, “Every turn a surprise.” It was so beautiful and enchanting. The palace itself was also incredibly ornate with mosaic tiling on the floors and incredible hand-carved wooden ceilings. As you looked out the windows you could see the white, small gothic cathedral which was also on the property and matched the same architectural style as the house.
There is an area in the Quinta da Regaleira where there are beautiful turrets whose only purpose seems to be just for staging the world’s most epic game of capture the flag.
While the Pena Palace was grand, the Quinta da Regaleira was peaceful. I felt like I could go back there every day and never get tired of exploring all the secret spots it holds.
After exploring the Quinta, Allie and I had walked 8 miles and climbed 58 floors. We were beat. Before catching the train and heading back to Lisbon, we split a dessert waffle with chocolate gelato, whipped cream and peanuts from a gelataria called Alba. Then, we weren’t quite satisfied so we got a shot of Sintra ginjinha (sour cherry liquor – tastes like delicious NyQuil) in communion-sized chocolate cups that you can eat.
On our way back to Lisbon, we realized we had gotten onto the wrong train. This led us to getting off in a different train station in Lisbon and then figuring out how to use the metro to get back to our AirBnb.
The thing about traveling internationally, even taking a day-trip to Sintra, is every day is a new opportunity to learn to do something new. For us, that day it was navigating Portugal’s train system. This is the part that is both exciting and exhausting about traveling. What can feel stressful and exhausting in the moment, actually ends up helping you to navigate things the next time. This trip is good practice with patience and being ok with getting things wrong and having to start over.
Up next: traveling to Porto, Portugal – where the idea for Harry Potter was conceived and where port wine was invented.
