CASA DO VALLE

Photo credit: João Marrazes At the same time as Greta Thornberg visited Portugal and stirred the global warming conversation in Portugal, the City of Sintra announced the ban of private car traffic to Sintra mountain, affecting the accessibility to Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle.   An historic city on a mountain, the traffic in Sintra's narrow, hilly streets has become close to chaotic, taking from the charm of the town, as cars queue bumper to bumper and drivers search for scarce parking spots, making the Sintra experience all too stressful. The new traffic rules seem drastic, but are aimed for sustainability and safety for residents and visitors alike. The traffic from the Historic Center up to the palaces is already one way, the change now is that only authorized vehicles are allowed to drive up.  These are: residents; vehicles of City Hall, Natural Park and Monte da Lua, as well as the utility companies; Licensed tourist transports, taxis and ubers, as well a...

We get a lot of questions about the weather from our guests before their arrival: Will it rain in May/February/November…? Will the weather be warm enough to eat outside in the evening? What are the coolest temperatures we can expect? Do we need air-conditioning? As much as we want to answer all of these questions sincerely, not only is it difficult because of climate change, but many of these questions are in fact very subjective in nature. Traditionally, our summers are warm and dry and winters cooler and humid. Traditionally.   With the climate change however, there are some slight changes in the temperatures and rain fall.   What has not changed is the ABUNDANCE OF LIGHT AND SUNSHINE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR . There is a special light even in the rain! It is very, very rare, even in the coldest months, for the temperature to get close to freezing, let alone below freezing temperatures.   So no snow or frost is to be expected at any given month. ...

Summer has finally arrived, with temperatures over 30ºC in the afternoons! The temperature rise coincides with the holiday period of the southern Europeans, which means that crowds will be thicker. We have many suggestions for you to make your visit in Sintra more enjoyable! Here are some of them.  Remember that more will appear, and we will keep you posted through Facebook, and of course the information board at the reception. First of all, Sintra is full of fabulous historically and culturally important monuments and most of them are well visited.  There are also some that are less famous but equally interesting.  Do you really want to see them all? Is Pena Palace really what you want to see is its fairy-tale park what you were imagining? Are you more interested in walking in the nature than seeing art? Choose well where you want to go and let us help you if you are not sure what Sintra has to offer - believe me, it's a wide variety of things.  That is one of...

This spring and beginning of summer, the question we have answered the most to our guests is 'What's with the weather?' Or 'Is this weather normal here this time of the year?' Mostly we answer 'No, it's not normal' or 'Well, there is really nothing we can do about it'. It really has been much colder and wetter than 'normal'. In March it rained 4 times the normal average amount, and it was the second coldest March in the history of Portugal (since the measurements begun). It HAS been cold.  It HAS rained a lot. Yes, we still have heaters on in the rooms in JUNE! Unheard of! But it is not raining continuously. Luckily it is nothing you cannot cope with, with a coat or a sweater. As we are entering the month when summer officially begins, we keep hoping that the morning shower of each day will be the last one. And we also keep hoping that the fall will be like last year - beautiful weather until the end of November! To me the wea...

Madonna recently moved to Portugal Recently the ´Queen of Pop’, Madonna, moved to Portugal.  There was a lot of talk about her buying in Sintra but she did end up in Lisbon.  Where John Malcovich lives, as do Michael Fessbender and Monica Belucci, among other famous people. Harrison Ford When I first moved to Portugal 29 years ago I bought a book called ‘They came to Portugal’. It was a book on the famous people who came to Portugal a long time ago.   The Spaniards, the Moors, famous authors and philosophers, foreign kings and alike.  It was intriguing, as what we know about history is that it was the Portuguese who travelled the world and went everywhere, conquering lands and colonizing. During the Second World War, Portugal became a safe territory for thousands of refugees and exiles – among them the monarchy from Spain, John Malcovich Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Austria, Hungary and Denmark.   Throughout her modern history, P...

2017 is the the International Year of Sustainable Tourism, and in June, Casa do Valle received the Green Key award .   The Green Key award is the leading standard for excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation within the tourism industry, in 55 countries. This prestigious ecolabel represents a commitment by businesses that their premises adhere to the strict criteria set by the Foundation for Environmental Education. A Green Key stands for the promise to its guests that by opting to stay with the Green Key establishment, they are helping to make a difference on an environmental level. The high environmental standards expected of these hotels are maintained through rigorous documentation and frequent audits. Green Key is eligible for hotels, hostels, small accommodations, campsites, restaurants and attractions.(   www.greenkey.global/ ) At Casa do Valle we believe that the more companies that are ‘green’ the better it is f...

Sintra is the capital of Romanticism. There are numerous great examples of this era in architecture, parks, and landscape. Even today we are reminded of this as horse-drawn carriages trott through the cobble-stone streets. The romantic era translates into the modern idea of romance, and Sintra has become the desirable place for wedding proposals, special celebrations and of course weddings themselves. The churches are booked solid as both local and international couples come to Sintra to exchange their vows. Many parks, manor houses and beaches are also popular wedding venues - and recently also some of the palaces started hosting weddings. Every year we also host several weddings at Casa do Valle. The setting, close enough to the palaces to see them clearly and far enough to see them all at once, is perfect for a small wedding.  The gardens lend themselves to multiple settings, from formal to casual, and there are endless possibilities of creating different spaces. We have a...

Gluten free bread for breakfast Many of our guests are still surprised when they order their breakfast and we ask if they prefer gluten or lactose free products - or if they want tomato to substitute the ham when they say they are vegetarian.  This is not common in Portugal.  Though the Portuguese bread is fantastic and cheeses are really tasty, unfortunately many places in Portugal  fail to recognize that there are increasingly many people with a condition that prevents them from enjoying these things, and thus would like an alternative. We seem to make an exception here, offering both lactose free and gluten free products in our breakfasts. There is a similar situation with vegetarian food - if you want anything other than a salad, know that the Portuguese do have excellent soups, and often even the coffee shops have a soup of the day option. Many places in town offer an omelet or a pasta as a vegetarian option, but not so many where you can safely order your ...

'What's with all the trees?' has been a frequent question this year.  In January I was in extreme weather conditions in Finland:  -31C temperatures when driving to the Finnish travel fair.  At the same time Sintra had its own extreme weather, a very rare cyclone, as 130-140 kms/hour winds swept through  Sintra and Lisbon area.  In a few hours Sintra lost roughly 2500 trees.  About a month later, heavy winds hit us again and even more trees went down, weakened allready by the previous storm. 3000 trees is alot.  Yet when you look up the mountain, it looks the same.  It is only when you are actually in the mountain, walking through the parks and the paths that the reality hits you. When I returned from Finland I thought I would give it a few weeks for the workers to clean up and then I would walk up again, and did my morning walks in town and on the beach instead.  Three weeks after the storm, after listening to the chainsaws day in and da...

Quinta da Regaleira main palace Regaleira is on the opposite side of the valley   (Updated in January, 2021) One of the most visited places of Sintra, Quinta da Regaleira is opposite of our pool, on the other side of the valley.  It is our guests'  favourite monument to visit in Sintra, maybe because it is easily reachable on foot,  because it is so mysterious  - or just because it is greatly entertaining to the whole family. SHORT HISTORY Quinta da Regaleira never was a royal anything.  A private house, used as a summer residence,  of Carvalho Monteiro, who bought it in 1892 from the barons of Regaleira.  He transformed it to its glory with the famous architect Luigi Manini, known for his theatrical works.  There is a lot to be said about Quinta da Regaleira, or Palácio dos Milhões, as it is also called.  It is beautifully built in neo-manueline style with strong ties to the discoveries - the 4 hectar grounds are beautifully...