Rossio Station in Lisbon
If you have enough time while in Lisbon, the most popular day trip is to the resort town of Sintra at the foot of the Sintra Mountains – only 25 minutes by train. The city is beautiful and filled with many historical palaces and castles (and also a ton of tourists!). Just google Sintra and you’ll see all of the picturesque sites and understand why it’s such a popular destination!
Koen and I decided to spend one day in Sintra. We planned on visiting three major sites: Quinta da Regaleira, Pena Palace, and Castle of the Moors.
From the train station in Sintra we walked through town to the Quinta da Regaleira, about a 25 minute walk. It was nice to stretch our legs and enjoy the scenery. This is the moment we discovered just how many tourists there were in the city. If you closed your eyes you could believe you were in America. But we hoped it was only because we were in the Sintra city center and as we headed to our destinations the tourists would thin out. Luckily this was the case!
Our first stop – Quinta da Regaleira, or The Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire! If you look through google photos, you’ll definitely spot a photo of the famous inverted well, the Initiation Well – so magical! To quote the Sintra website: “The grand house is split over five floors and has an ornate gothic façade, but the real attraction is to the rear with the enchanting gardens. The gardens of the Quinta da Regaleira were styled to represent ancient secret orders, with hidden tunnels and concealed symbolism.”
Sintra City Hall
Spotted the cone shaped chimneys of the National Palace
Walking through downtown
Making our way uphill
First look at Quinta da Regaleira
The entrance
The Regaleira Tower – the namesake of the estate. The million dollar view! From the top you can see the Castle of the Moors and Pena Palace, as well as all of Sintra.
Castle of the Moors from the Regaleira Tower
Sintra city center from the Regaleira Tower
Exploring the gardens
Beautiful courtyard
Having fun exploring the views
My favorite view
In line to descend into the Initiation Well
The Initiation Well was never used nor intended for water collection, but rather for secretive initation rites
Beautiful view from the bottom
Once you were below, there was a passage way that connected you to another part of the gardens
Crossing over and hoping not to fall in
On our way to the house and chapel
The Quinta da Regaleira
About to head inside
We really liked the murals
The chapel
Enjoying the gardens
We read the restaurants in the city center weren’t very good and most sites recommended to bring a picnic. So we brought cured Iberico ham, local cheese, fresh baked bread, and wine in my thermos!
Yum!
An American in Antwerp 