This guide is for you if you are staying in Lisbon and want Sintra, Cabo da Roca and Cascais in one day. Most of the planning comes down to two tickets with times on them, a pair of shoes, and an honest look at how much climbing your group wants to do.
When to go, and what the calendar changes
Sintra is open almost all year, but its two main sights keep different hours and different closing days. Pena's park opens at 09:00 and the palace at 09:30, with last entry for both at 18:00. Quinta da Regaleira opens at 09:00 from April to September and at 10:00 for the rest of the year, with last entry at 17:30. Regaleira closes on 1 January and on 24, 25 and 31 December. Hours change, so check both official sites before you go.
The bigger seasonal question is the crowd. Sintra is small, and by late morning its lanes are full. In summer the palace tickets sell out. That is why the day starts at 07:00 and runs to the coast first: you are at the gates of Pena close to opening time, before the coaches settle in. If you are travelling between June and September, buy your tickets as soon as your dates are fixed.
If you have only a few days in Lisbon and want both the city and Sintra, put Sintra on a day when you can sleep early the night before. Our guide to private tours from Lisbon sets our two Lisbon days side by side.
The two tickets you need to buy
Entrance to Pena and Regaleira is not part of the tour, and both sell tickets for a date and a time. Buy them online from the official sites before you travel. They work in different ways, and the differences catch people out.
Pena Palace
The time on a Pena ticket is for the palace door, not the park gate. You can walk the park before your slot. The palace is strict about the time: arrive early and you wait, arrive late and you are turned away with no refund. If you bought online, you can move the date and time later, within a year of purchase.
Allow about half an hour from the park entrance up to the palace, on foot or on the park's own shuttle. The shuttle needs its own ticket, bought in advance. Private cars are not allowed on the access roads to the palace, so the last stretch is always on foot or by shuttle. You reach the park at around 09:15, so a palace slot from about 10:00 fits the plan. If you are unsure which slot to pick, message us before you buy.
Quinta da Regaleira
Regaleira is more forgiving: you have up to an hour after the time on your ticket to get in. You can reschedule on its official ticket site up to 48 hours before, but there are no refunds unless the estate closes without notice. Buy only from the estate's own platform, which it describes as the only authorised seller.
Two rules shape the visit. Outside guides are not allowed to lead tours inside the palace or down the Initiation Well, so your guide briefs you at the gate and you go in on your own. And the well runs one way only, downwards, with the tunnels below also one way, towards the Eastern Grotto. Once you start down, you keep going.
How the day fits together
You are collected at 07:00 and back at your hotel, or anywhere else in Lisbon, at about 16:00. Cabo da Roca comes first, at 08:00, while Sintra's gates are still shut. The morning belongs to the two estates: Pena from 09:15 and Regaleira from 11:15. Lunch is in Sintra town at 12:30, and is your own. In the afternoon you drive down to Cascais and back along the coast road.
Because the car is yours, the order can move. If one palace matters far more than the other, say so in the morning and drop the second. The time goes to the cape and the coast. If the day is hot or the legs are tired, Cascais can give way to Azenhas do Mar or Praia da Ursa. The fixed points are the two ticket times, so tell your guide about any change before you buy them, not after.
On your own by train, or with a driver
Sintra is easy to reach without a car. Trains leave Lisbon's Rossio station about four times an hour and take under an hour. Sintra station is about a kilometre and a half from the historic centre, and bus 434 runs from the station up to Pena and past several of the other sights.
That works if Sintra is all you want. Cabo da Roca and Cascais are further west and south, and adding them means more connections and less time at each place. On a busy summer day you also share the bus up the hill with everyone else who came on the train.
A private day gives you door-to-door transport, the cape and the coast road in the same day, and a driver-guide who can move the plan around your ticket times. Fuel, tolls and parking are covered. The price depends on the size of your group; see it on the tour page.
What to bring
- Both tickets, on your phone or printed. Check the names and times the night before.
- Shoes with grip. Sintra is steep and cobbled, and Regaleira is mostly steps, with a spiral well at its centre.
- A layer for the cape. Cabo da Roca is an exposed cliff above the Atlantic, and you are there early in the morning.
- Money or a card for lunch. Lunch is not included, and the old pastry shop in town is worth a stop for its travesseiros.
Who it suits, and who should think twice
It suits a first visit to Portugal, a family that wants the palaces without the train-and-bus puzzle, and anyone who would rather spend the afternoon on the coast than in a queue.
- Limited mobility. Regaleira asks that visitors with reduced mobility come accompanied, because the ground is rough. Pena involves the climb from the park gate. Tell us when you book and we can plan one palace instead of two.
- Children. Under-15s must be accompanied at Regaleira. Most children enjoy the well and the tunnels more than any palace room.
- You land in Lisbon the same morning. A 07:00 start after a night flight is hard. Take the tour the next day and let us meet you with an airport transfer.
- You are on a cruise. Nine hours is a long call. Our five-hour Lisbon city tour is easier to fit around a sailing time.
Questions people ask
What happens if we miss our Pena slot?
The palace will not let you in, and the ticket is not refunded. That is the main reason the day starts early. Book a slot with room to spare.
Can our guide come into Regaleira with us?
Not into the palace or the well. Regaleira does not allow outside guides there. Your guide explains the estate before you go in and meets you afterwards.
Can we cancel?
Yes. Cancel up to 24 hours before pick-up and you are refunded in full. The details are on our cancellation page. Palace tickets follow their own rules, so read them before you buy.
Booking the day
Fix your date, buy both tickets with a gap between them, and pack shoes you can climb in. The rest, from the 07:00 pick-up to the drive home along the Atlantic, is on the Sintra and Cascais private tour page, where you choose the size of your group and book.
