Bringing a car? Think twice!

Thinking of whether to bring a car to Sintra? Think well before you do.  Here are a few things for your consideration:

The most visited monument in Portugal is the Pena Palace on the Sintra mountain, in  the middle of Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.  The Moorish Castle is right next to it, and the National Palace and Quinta da Regaleira are in the Historical Center of Sintra.  These 4 monuments alone have an average of 3.000.000 visitors a year. The Historic Center of Sintra is like any other Historic Center - narrow streets, many one-way streets, almost no parking and LOTS of tourists on foot, in busses, in their own cars. Only, unlike most Historic Centers, Sintra is not closed for traffic. Yet. And most rental cars are with manual gears. In the summer months people spend up to 2 hours in a queue during the last few kilometers to get to Sintra or passing through it.  Add to the normal chaos, the works in the water lines that the City Hall is doing during 2017 and 2018, closing down some roads periodically, making the accesses to the Historic Center more difficult than normal.

The traffic is crazy but you can avoid most of it. This is how:



Use public transportation:




Sintra is a mere 30 kilometers from Lisbon.  There are an average of 4 local trains per hour between Lisbon and Sintra, the ride is about 40 minutes and  and the ticket costs 2,5€ one way.  There is a variety of public transportation (busses, tuk-tuks, horses and carriages, taxis) to get around once you are in Sintra. And many of their drivers know short cuts - and if there is traffic,  you will be in town already, and at least you are more relaxed, not having to worry about the driving yourself.  Or rent a small electric car or an e-bike (prior reservation recommended)!

Walk whenever possible:
Yes, Sintra is a mountainous area, but being set in a Natural Park, the nature is beautiful.  There are footpaths from various parts of Sintra to the palaces on top of the mountain, and even more elsewhere.  From the Historic Center to Pena Palace, it is about 3.5kms, or about an hour on foot. At Casa do Valle we can equip you with maps and instructions of the best foot paths and routes depending on your interests and preferences.



Plan ahead:
Come early and without rush.  Prepare mentally to a crowd, and do not even attempt to cover too many monuments in a day.  Is it really the Pena Palace you want to see? Or is it the Monserrate Palace? Diversify - visit not only the most popular palaces, set out early.

Stay in Sintra: 
If you have a busy day visiting the monuments you can avoid the rush hour traffic back to Lisbon by staying in Sintra. In addition, you can make use of all of the daytime hours visiting and enjoying instead of commuting.   It is much nicer relaxing by the pool for awhile before going for dinner rather than feeling crowded in traffic.  Many of our guests mention how they wished that they had planned more than 1 night in Sintra to see everything they wanted properly.   Noone seems to be prepared for the crowds.

IF YOU DO DECIDE TO BRING YOUR CAR:

Some people have a rental car for the duration of there Portugal visit, so they will have it also in Sintra, some others don't like public transportation or don't walk well. If this is you, here are some suggestions for a less stressful Sintra visit:

If you are in Sintra for a day, do come early.  Plan your visit so that you first go to the most visited places and do visit them in a proximity order so as to avoid back and forth driving. Take your time.
You may consider leaving your car in a parking lot in the outskirts and doing the local travel by local public transportation, on foot, on a small electric car or a bicycle (an e-bike is great!). In town and near the monuments parking is scarce - remember that Sintra was built at a time when people did not own cars and even the horses and carriages were few. It will be challenging to drive there: there are many one-way streets and one wrong turn will set you back easily a half an hour.  Many GPSs don't work well on the mountain or are outdated - make sure you have the latest version. Also - make sure you do not leave your luggage or other valuables inside the car when you leave it parked. Unfortunate but true that rental cars do attract burglars, especially if there is any sign of anything left inside the car.

Having said all that, it is nice to have a car if you want to drive along the coast to visit the smaller villages and countryside, or wish to drive to the beach for a sunset dinner. Parking is always easier in the evening when the crowds have left for the day.  Our beaches are many but small, so in the summer months, it is also difficult to park near the beach, unless you do go early.

If you are staying with us at Casa do Valle, we have private parking for your car on the property and can assist you in planning your visits. Feel free to leave your car in our parking lot and explore on foot or by public transportation.  Or have an early breakfast and leave right afterwards, to avoid the crowds.  

On a final note - do not try to cram everything in too short a time frame. Just because most everyone wants to visit the Pena Palace, you don't have to.  There are 6 palaces in Sintra, choose the one that interests you most and visit it calmly  Or do plan to stay a few nights to have more time for your visits.  There is so much to see in Sintra!