When our time at the Pena Palace was done, we were scooped up by our tour guide, brought back to the minivan and she drove us the short distance down the hill into Sintra. We were dropped off right in the centre of the little town and told we had one and a half hours to explore, have lunch and check out this erstwhile summer retreat of the Portuguese kings.
Son and I set to wandering. I feel we barely had enough time to scratch the surface of Sintra, really we would have needed to come here on our own, wander further afield and explore properly. As it was I had one eye on my watch, the other on the crowds of people filling up the little cobbled streets. Sintra was well and truly packed.
On the plus side the weather had definitely improved. The sun made its appearance and we stopped shivering. Son started lobbying for an ice-cream, to be fair the weather makes no impact on his desire for frozen treats.
We just wandered, went where the fancy took us and tried to go in the opposite direction to everyone else.
We climbed hilly, winding, cobbled streets and found lovely houses and views over the town. The main drag through Sintra was full of tourists but the back streets and alleys were empty – we had them all to ourselves.
Some browsing in the shops was done too, however the wares were very touristy and neither of us was tempted.
I gave Son the honours of choosing our lunch spot. He opted for a place called Cafe de Paris on the main square. It was quite nice but empty inside – the prices probably had more than a bit to do with that. Son had a toastie, I enjoyed a bowl of soup at vastly inflated touristy prices. Still, we were refuelled and ready to go again, leaving Sintra and heading for the coast.
I wish I could have had more time to explore Sintra too. We had the tour of the Pena palace, lunch, and some free time before we went off to the Cabo de Roca
That’s exactly what we did too! Seems like there is a lot to see and do around Sintra – hopefully we’ll go back!
Such a nice tour of Sintra, thank you Joy!
Thank you for coming along Marion!! Just finished reading your latest Taiwan blog post – loved it. Off out to enjoy the sunshine now – while it lasts!! Have a great Bank Holiday weekend.
Yes, we’re at home this weekend and hoping this heatwave continues, might even use the barbecue tomorrow. It’s what we all need to cheer us up after such devastating events.
Brings back lovely memories of our visit to Sintra in 2011…Portugal is a wonderful country. Nice pics. (Suzanne)
Thank you Suzanne and completely agree, we’ve been to Portugal three times to different places and loved them all.
Love just wandering.
Sintra is perfect for that – plenty to see and loads of little streets and alleys to explore.
Looking forward to a return visit to Portugal, thanks for a glimpse at Sintra!
It’s beautiful – I would love to go back too Wendy!
Joy, it seems more time was needed for sure. Sinatra looks like a nice spot to spend a day just wandering. Love traveling with you!
Thank you Pam, we enjoyed our wanderings here and spending the day with my boy was such fun!
I would have loved wandering those back streets and alleys too Joy – Sintra looks an utterly charming place and you did well to go in the opposite direction of the tourists! 🙂
We just didn’t really have enough time to do Sintra justice Rosemary but it was fun to wander and get a taste of it. If we ever make it back to Lisbon I will definitely go back to Sintra, plus my husband had to work that day so he feels he totally missed out on a lovely place!
Hope you get back there one day Joy!
What a nice place! I love that you can travel with your family and have those delightful outings with your son. That’s the best!
It really is – we have such great times travelling as a family!
Sitra seems like an amazing and breathtaking place! I really hope to visit it soon! Excellent post!
It is a beautiful little place, perfect for just wandering. We would love to go back and explore some more. Hope you get to visit too.