Discover Pena Palace: Private Day Trip to Sintra from Lisbon
The Pena National Palace is a Romanticist castle in Sintra, Portugal. It stands on the top of a hill above the town of São Pedro de Penaferrim and is the most popular tourist attraction in the town, as well as one of the most visited monuments in the country. The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995 and one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal.
On your private half-day tour of the Pena Palace, you will:
Enjoy a fully guided tour of the Pena Palace, nicknamed the "fairy tale castle", built with the purpose to serve as a summer residence of King Ferdinand II and his family;
Discover the different architectural styles that coexist in the palace, such as Neo-Gothic, Neo-Manueline, and New-Romanesque along with other Oriental styles such as Neo-Moorish and Indo-Gothic;
Admire the views from the large palace terraces, and explore the Palace interior, decorated to reflect how the palace looked when it was home to Portuguese royalty 1800s and 1900s;
Explore the palace's magnificent gardens, commissioned by King Ferdinand II between 1838 and 1878 which are today the property of the Portuguese State and a protected monument;
Travel to and from the palace through Sintra Natural Park with an electric TukTuk, the fastest and most fun way to get around this beautiful area;
End the tour by returning to Lisbon by train with your guide, or to the town of Sintra where you can have lunch and continue exploring at your own leisure. In this latter case, your guide will give you your return tickets to you can catch the train whenever you like later in the day.
Your private tour of Sintra will start at Rossio Train station in central Lisbon. Today Portugal's most famous attraction, the Pena Palace was built in the 19th century as a summer home for Portuguese royalty. It was built by King Ferdinand II who had a very flamboyant and larger-than-life taste.
It is an adaptation of 16th-century monastery ruins and an imitation of a medieval fortress. The Palace boasts spectacular views over the natural park and Lisbon (on a clear day) as well as beautifully landscaped gardens. Enjoy a 30-minute walk through the gardens to see our favourite section: the valley of the lakes.
Your tour will end with a tuk-tuk ride either back to Sintra train station, where you will catch the train back to Lisbon with your guide, or you can stay in Sintra town where you can have lunch and continue exploring at your own pace.
If you chose to stay in Sintra, your guide will give you your return train tickets which will be valid all day.
Overview
The Pena National Palace is a Romanticist castle in Sintra, Portugal. It stands on the top of a hill above the town of São Pedro de Penaferrim and is the most popular tourist attraction in the town, as well as one of the most visited monuments in the country. The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995 and one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal. On your private half-day tour of the Pena Palace, you will: Enjoy a fully guided tour of the Pena Palace, nicknamed the "fairy tale castle", built with the purpose to serve as a summer residence of King Ferdinand II and his family; Discover the different architectural styles that coexist in the palace, such as Neo-Gothic, Neo-Manueline, and New-Romanesque along with other Oriental styles such as Neo-Moorish and Indo-Gothic; Admire the views from the large palace terraces, and explore the Palace interior, decorated to reflect how the palace looked when it was home to Portuguese royalty 1800s and 1900s; Explore the palace's magnificent gardens, commissioned by King Ferdinand II between 1838 and 1878 which are today the property of the Portuguese State and a protected monument; Travel to and from the palace through Sintra Natural Park with an electric TukTuk, the fastest and most fun way to get around this beautiful area; End the tour by returning to Lisbon by train with your guide, or to the town of Sintra where you can have lunch and continue exploring at your own leisure. In this latter case, your guide will give you your return tickets to you can catch the train whenever you like later in the day. Your private tour of Sintra will start at Rossio Train station in central Lisbon. Today Portugal's most famous attraction, the Pena Palace was built in the 19th century as a summer home for Portuguese royalty. It was built by King Ferdinand II who had a very flamboyant and larger-than-life taste. It is an adaptation of 16th-century monastery ruins and an imitation of a medieval fortress. The Palace boasts spectacular views over the natural park and Lisbon (on a clear day) as well as beautifully landscaped gardens. Enjoy a 30-minute walk through the gardens to see our favourite section: the valley of the lakes. Your tour will end with a tuk-tuk ride either back to Sintra train station, where you will catch the train back to Lisbon with your guide, or you can stay in Sintra town where you can have lunch and continue exploring at your own pace. If you chose to stay in Sintra, your guide will give you your return train tickets which will be valid all day.
Location
Your guide will meet you in front of the main entrance of Rossio Train station in Central Lisbon (entrance next to Starbucks)
Duration
6 hours
Start Time
07:45
Address
Praça Dom Pedro IV 68, 1249-970 Lisboa, Portugal
Inclusions
- A friendly, professional English Speaking tour guide for your own private group
- Train ticket from Lisbon to Sintra (return)
- Pena Palace timed entrance tickets
- Tuk Tuk Ride through Sintra Natural Park
- Plenty of time to take photos of your favourite places
Exclusions
- Food and drink
- Gratuities
- Hotel pick up/drop off
Venues
- Sintra
Sintra is a town and municipality found in the Lisbon Region of Portugal. With its cooler climate among the pine covered hills of the Serra de Sintra, it once attracted Lisbon’s elite, who built the extraordinary palaces and gardens that remain there today. Before them, it was where Celts worshipped their moon god, and where the Moors built a formidable castle, so Sintra’s fairy-tale setting has clearly always bewitched us. Its heady mixture of history and fantasy has made it a World Heritage Site. Spoilt for ChoiceThere are really more palaces in Sintra than can be seen in a day. Among the highlights is the Monserrate Palace, which combines Moorish and Gothic styles, with an Italian twist, and has remarkable gardens that are a dreamscape of waterfalls and tropical flora. Another is the Quinta de Regaleira, built at the close of the 19th century, which sprouts turrets and towers like glorious mushrooms. Its garden is full of mythological symbols, with statues of gods set among mysterious wells and grottoes. The Star of the ShowAmong an embarrassment of riches, the standout attraction is surely the Pena Palace. Built in the 19th century by a king who wanted his royal retreat to resemble something from an opera, it is painted in vivid colours, with the sort of pomp and mythical design that brings to mind Mad King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria.
- Pena Palace
Pena Palace is the crown jewel of Sintra, a town twenty five kilometres west of Lisbon’s centre. It is frankly extraordinary, and gives Mad King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein in Bavaria a run for its money as the most outlandish castle in Europe, and possibly the world. It looks like something from Alice in Wonderland, or like it must be made of marzipan and gingerbread and candy cane, such is its stylistic exuberance. Rising from a thickly wooded peak, its pink and lemon crenellated towers are often wreathed in mists, like whipped cream. The palace was a wild dream of Ferdinand of Saxe Coburg-Gotha, the artist-husband of Queen Maria, who commissioned the Bavarian-Manueline epic, complete with an armoured statute of himself on a nearby peak. The statue looks over both the palace and its extensive gardens. The mystical Pena Park is full of trees and exotic plants from the former colonies of the Portuguese empire, along with ponds, fountains and sinister-looking black swans. Twenty minutes from the palace by foot there is the Cruz Alta viewpoint, the highest peak in Serra de Sinta, from which you can catch marvellous views of the palace, the Tagus estuary and the ocean beyond. The interior of the palace is just as wacky and extravagant as you would expect, and has been restored to how it would have been before the fall of the Portuguese monarchy in 1910. It is packed with precious porcelain, trompe l’oeil murals and nude sculptures of buxom nymphs, all set among late Victorian and Edwardian furnishings. The effect is gloriously kitsch.
- Pena Chapel
The original chapel remains relatively unscathed and looks much the same as it had in the 16th Century. The small nave is topped with a Gothic vaulted ceiling and the walls retain their original tiles.
- Terraces at Pena Palace
One of the highlights of the Palace are the colourful terraces and decorative battlements, don't miss the stunning views from here.
- Triton Gate
This impressive sculpture was a tribute to the world-changing scientific advancement by 1838. The Triton is bridging that gap, with the sea below and the earth above.
- Rossio Train Station
A monumental train station with horseshoe arched doorways built under the early 16th-century Neo-Manueline style is a must-see in the city.
- Pena Palace Gardens
The Pena Palace Gardens in Sintra, Portugal, are a breathtaking part of the Pena Park the lush green space surrounding the opulent Pena Palace. Created in the 19th century by King Ferdinand II, the gardens cover about 200 hectares (500 acres) and feature a mix of exotic and native plant species, romantic pathways, and stunning viewpoints. The gardens contain over 500 species of trees and plants from all over the world, including North America, Japan, Australia, and China. Some of the most impressive include giant sequoias, tree ferns, and magnolias. Inspired by 19th-century Romanticism, the gardens have winding paths, hidden grottoes, and small lakes, creating a fairytale-like ambience for visitors. Points of interest to be found within the gardens include the Camellia Garden, a beautiful section that blooms from autumn to spring, with different varieties of camellias introduced by the Portuguese royal family, and the Temple of Columns, a charming circular structure in the middle of the garden, perfect for resting and taking in the surroundings.
- Fountain of the little birds
An Islamic pavilion with a hexagonal footprint topped by a dome, and inside between some benches a fountain with clear water.
- Valley of the Lakes
Two unique castle-like duck houses add to the magical ambience of the place along with the soundtrack of trickling water and the odd plop of feeding fish.
Cancellation Policy
No refund is possible if you cancel.
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