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PRIVATE TOUR SINTRA
1 day
Private
Instant confirmation
About this activity
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Castelo dos Mouros, Estrada da Pena Parque de Monserrate, Sintra 2710-609 Portugal
Castelo dos Mouros - Sintra
Monuments
Winding over two ridges of the Serra de Sintra, the Moorish Castle dates back to the early days of the Moorish occupation of the Peninsula - the 8th Century.
After various attempts it was definitively taken by Dom Afonso Henriques in 1147, and there was built the first Christian Chapel of the borough, dedicated to São Pedro de Penaferrim.
In the romantic period, about 1860, the walls were restored under the supervision of Dom Fernando II, husband of Dona Maria II, who afforested the surrounding areas, and gave the old medieval ruins a new dignity. Of note are the Moorish Cistern in the interior, and the so-called Royal Tower.
Located about 3.5 km from the historical centre of Sintra.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Park and National Palace of Pena, Estrada da Pena, Sintra 2710-609 Portugal
Palácio Nacional da Pena
Museums and Palaces
Pena National Palace
The fantastic Palácio da Pena is one of the best examples of 19th-century Romantic revivalism in Portugal.
Situated at the top of the Monte da Pena, the palace was built on the site of an old monastery belonging to the Order of St. Jerome. It was the fruit of the imagination of Dom Fernando of Saxe Coburg-Gotha, who married the queen Dona Maria II in 1836. After falling in love with Sintra, he decided to buy the convent and the surrounding land to build a summer palace for the royal family.
The king consort adopted Portuguese architectural and decorative forms for the palace, which he built according to the revivalist taste (neo-Gothic, neo-Manueline, neo-Islamic, neo-Renaissance), and, in the surrounding area, he decided to make a magnificent woodland park in the English style, with a wide variety of exotic tree species.
The interior of the palace is still decorated according to the tastes of the kings and queens who lived there, and its great highlight is the chapel, where it is still possible to see a magnificent alabaster altarpiece attributed to Nicolau Chanterenne (one of the architects of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, in Lisbon). Special reference should also be made to the painting of the walls with a trompe l’oeil effect and the azulejos.
A restaurant has now been installed in one of the wings of the palace, with a terrace that offers a beautiful panoramic view over the Serra de Sintra and the coast.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Centro Historico de Sintra, Sintra 2710-616 Portugal
Palácio Nacional da Pena
Museums and Palaces
Pena National Palace
The fantastic Palácio da Pena is one of the best examples of 19th-century Romantic revivalism in Portugal.
Situated at the top of the Monte da Pena, the palace was built on the site of an old monastery belonging to the Order of St. Jerome. It was the fruit of the imagination of Dom Fernando of Saxe Coburg-Gotha, who married the queen Dona Maria II in 1836. After falling in love with Sintra, he decided to buy the convent and the surrounding land to build a summer palace for the royal family.
The king consort adopted Portuguese architectural and decorative forms for the palace, which he built according to the revivalist taste (neo-Gothic, neo-Manueline, neo-Islamic, neo-Renaissance), and, in the surrounding area, he decided to make a magnificent woodland park in the English style, with a wide variety of exotic tree species.
The interior of the palace is still decorated according to the tastes of the kings and queens who lived there, and its great highlight is the chapel, where it is still possible to see a magnificent alabaster altarpiece attributed to Nicolau Chanterenne (one of the architects of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, in Lisbon). Special reference should also be made to the painting of the walls with a trompe l’oeil effect and the azulejos.
A restaurant has now been installed in one of the wings of the palace, with a terrace that offers a beautiful panoramic view over the Serra de Sintra and the coast.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Palacio Nacional de Sintra, Largo Rainha Dona Amelia, Sintra 2710-616 Portugal
Palácio Nacional de Sintra
Museums and Palaces
Sintra National Palace
The Sintra national palace is unique amongst the royal mediaeval palaces in Portugal and the town’s most distinctive building.
Beginning with the nation’s first dynasties, Sintra was one of the preferred places of Portuguese kings and queens, although the palace that we can see nowadays owes its existence to an initiative of Dom João I, who rebuilt it, and Dom Manuel I, who enriched the building’s decorative character and added a new wing.
It is worth visiting the interior of the palace, where you will certainly find out a little more about the history of Portugal. The decoration is quite remarkable, being a combination of various artistic styles that depended on the respective tastes of the kings that lived here, and carried out in such a way as to give different names to the various rooms. In particular, the attention of visitors is drawn to the Sala dos Cisnes (Swans’ Room), the Sala dos Brasões (Armoury), the Sala das Pegas (Magpie or Reading Room) and the chapel.
Here you can also find a brief history of the development of the decorative tile (azulejo) in Portugal, with examples ranging from the Spanish-Moorish tiles brought by the king Dom Manuel to the typical blue-and-white tiles of the 18th century.
Outside, the most striking and distinctive feature of the palace is the two large conical chimneys of the kitchen, each measuring 33 metres high, now adopted as the symbol of Sintra.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Quinta da Regaleira, Rua Barbosa do Bocage, Sintra 2710-567 Portugal
Palácio e Quinta da Regaleira
Museums and Palaces
Very close to the historic centre of Sintra is Quinta Regaleira, one of the town’s most enigmatic sights.
The palace of Quinta da Regaleira was built in the early 20th century by the millionaire António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro (1848-1920), who managed to realise one of his dreams here with the help of the scenographic architect Luigi Manini (1848-1936). Surrounded by lush green vegetation, the Palácio da Regaleira is a fascinating discovery.
The palace was built in a Romantic revivalist style, in an imitation of Gothic, Manueline and Renaissance architectural and decorative forms, mixed with a mythical and esoteric symbolism.
A special mention is reserved for the Capela da Santíssima Trindade (Chapel of the Holy Trinity), where visitors can descend via a spiral staircase into the crypt to discover the monumental initiation well that, at the bottom, leads via a grotto to a surprising lake hidden in the middle of the gardens.
Duration: 2 hours
Pass By: Palacio de Monserrate, R. Visc. de Monserrate, Sintra 2710-591 Portugal
Palácio e Parque de Monserrate
Museums and Palaces
Park and Palace of Monserrate
This fantastic Romantic park was created by William Beckford, who fell in love with the Serra de Sintra.
The park and palace of Monserrate, formerly a farm with fruit orchards and crop fields, were first imagined by Gerard DeVisme, who rented the farm from the Melo e Castro family in the 18th century. He was followed by William Beckford, who also lived here, and by Francis Cook.
It was, however, Francis Cook, the first Viscount of Monserrate, who, together with the landscape painter William Stockdale, the botanist William Nevill and the master gardener James Burt, created the contrasting scenarios that are to be found in the park, where narrow winding footpaths intertwine amongst ruins, nooks and crannies, waterfalls and lakes, in what, at first sight, seems to be an apparently disordered fashion.
Spontaneously growing species from Portugal (arbutus-trees, holly trees, cork oak-trees, amongst others) combine with others originating from all of the world’s five continents, inviting visitors to enjoy a stroll through plant varieties of the whole world, ranging from such countries as Australia to Mexico and Japan. Altogether, there are more than 2500 species.
Particularly worth a mention inside the palace are the Music Room and the luxurious reception rooms, such as the Indian living-room, the dining-room and the library, all of which are to be found on the ground floor. The tour of the palace also takes visitors to the first floor, where the private apartments were located
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This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Castelo dos Mouros, Estrada da Pena Parque de Monserrate, Sintra 2710-609 Portugal
Castelo dos Mouros - Sintra
Monuments
Winding over two ridges of the Serra de Sintra, the Moorish Castle dates back to the early days of the Moorish occupation of the Peninsula - the 8th Century.
After various attempts it was definitively taken by Dom Afonso Henriques in 1147, and there was built the first Christian Chapel of the borough, dedicated to São Pedro de Penaferrim.
In the romantic period, about 1860, the walls were restored under the supervision of Dom Fernando II, husband of Dona Maria II, who afforested the surrounding areas, and gave the old medieval ruins a new dignity. Of note are the Moorish Cistern in the interior, and the so-called Royal Tower.
Located about 3.5 km from the historical centre of Sintra.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Park and National Palace of Pena, Estrada da Pena, Sintra 2710-609 Portugal
Palácio Nacional da Pena
Museums and Palaces
Pena National Palace
The fantastic Palácio da Pena is one of the best examples of 19th-century Romantic revivalism in Portugal.
Situated at the top of the Monte da Pena, the palace was built on the site of an old monastery belonging to the Order of St. Jerome. It was the fruit of the imagination of Dom Fernando of Saxe Coburg-Gotha, who married the queen Dona Maria II in 1836. After falling in love with Sintra, he decided to buy the convent and the surrounding land to build a summer palace for the royal family.
The king consort adopted Portuguese architectural and decorative forms for the palace, which he built according to the revivalist taste (neo-Gothic, neo-Manueline, neo-Islamic, neo-Renaissance), and, in the surrounding area, he decided to make a magnificent woodland park in the English style, with a wide variety of exotic tree species.
The interior of the palace is still decorated according to the tastes of the kings and queens who lived there, and its great highlight is the chapel, where it is still possible to see a magnificent alabaster altarpiece attributed to Nicolau Chanterenne (one of the architects of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, in Lisbon). Special reference should also be made to the painting of the walls with a trompe l’oeil effect and the azulejos.
A restaurant has now been installed in one of the wings of the palace, with a terrace that offers a beautiful panoramic view over the Serra de Sintra and the coast.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Centro Historico de Sintra, Sintra 2710-616 Portugal
Palácio Nacional da Pena
Museums and Palaces
Pena National Palace
The fantastic Palácio da Pena is one of the best examples of 19th-century Romantic revivalism in Portugal.
Situated at the top of the Monte da Pena, the palace was built on the site of an old monastery belonging to the Order of St. Jerome. It was the fruit of the imagination of Dom Fernando of Saxe Coburg-Gotha, who married the queen Dona Maria II in 1836. After falling in love with Sintra, he decided to buy the convent and the surrounding land to build a summer palace for the royal family.
The king consort adopted Portuguese architectural and decorative forms for the palace, which he built according to the revivalist taste (neo-Gothic, neo-Manueline, neo-Islamic, neo-Renaissance), and, in the surrounding area, he decided to make a magnificent woodland park in the English style, with a wide variety of exotic tree species.
The interior of the palace is still decorated according to the tastes of the kings and queens who lived there, and its great highlight is the chapel, where it is still possible to see a magnificent alabaster altarpiece attributed to Nicolau Chanterenne (one of the architects of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, in Lisbon). Special reference should also be made to the painting of the walls with a trompe l’oeil effect and the azulejos.
A restaurant has now been installed in one of the wings of the palace, with a terrace that offers a beautiful panoramic view over the Serra de Sintra and the coast.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Palacio Nacional de Sintra, Largo Rainha Dona Amelia, Sintra 2710-616 Portugal
Palácio Nacional de Sintra
Museums and Palaces
Sintra National Palace
The Sintra national palace is unique amongst the royal mediaeval palaces in Portugal and the town’s most distinctive building.
Beginning with the nation’s first dynasties, Sintra was one of the preferred places of Portuguese kings and queens, although the palace that we can see nowadays owes its existence to an initiative of Dom João I, who rebuilt it, and Dom Manuel I, who enriched the building’s decorative character and added a new wing.
It is worth visiting the interior of the palace, where you will certainly find out a little more about the history of Portugal. The decoration is quite remarkable, being a combination of various artistic styles that depended on the respective tastes of the kings that lived here, and carried out in such a way as to give different names to the various rooms. In particular, the attention of visitors is drawn to the Sala dos Cisnes (Swans’ Room), the Sala dos Brasões (Armoury), the Sala das Pegas (Magpie or Reading Room) and the chapel.
Here you can also find a brief history of the development of the decorative tile (azulejo) in Portugal, with examples ranging from the Spanish-Moorish tiles brought by the king Dom Manuel to the typical blue-and-white tiles of the 18th century.
Outside, the most striking and distinctive feature of the palace is the two large conical chimneys of the kitchen, each measuring 33 metres high, now adopted as the symbol of Sintra.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Quinta da Regaleira, Rua Barbosa do Bocage, Sintra 2710-567 Portugal
Palácio e Quinta da Regaleira
Museums and Palaces
Very close to the historic centre of Sintra is Quinta Regaleira, one of the town’s most enigmatic sights.
The palace of Quinta da Regaleira was built in the early 20th century by the millionaire António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro (1848-1920), who managed to realise one of his dreams here with the help of the scenographic architect Luigi Manini (1848-1936). Surrounded by lush green vegetation, the Palácio da Regaleira is a fascinating discovery.
The palace was built in a Romantic revivalist style, in an imitation of Gothic, Manueline and Renaissance architectural and decorative forms, mixed with a mythical and esoteric symbolism.
A special mention is reserved for the Capela da Santíssima Trindade (Chapel of the Holy Trinity), where visitors can descend via a spiral staircase into the crypt to discover the monumental initiation well that, at the bottom, leads via a grotto to a surprising lake hidden in the middle of the gardens.
Duration: 2 hours
Pass By: Palacio de Monserrate, R. Visc. de Monserrate, Sintra 2710-591 Portugal
Palácio e Parque de Monserrate
Museums and Palaces
Park and Palace of Monserrate
This fantastic Romantic park was created by William Beckford, who fell in love with the Serra de Sintra.
The park and palace of Monserrate, formerly a farm with fruit orchards and crop fields, were first imagined by Gerard DeVisme, who rented the farm from the Melo e Castro family in the 18th century. He was followed by William Beckford, who also lived here, and by Francis Cook.
It was, however, Francis Cook, the first Viscount of Monserrate, who, together with the landscape painter William Stockdale, the botanist William Nevill and the master gardener James Burt, created the contrasting scenarios that are to be found in the park, where narrow winding footpaths intertwine amongst ruins, nooks and crannies, waterfalls and lakes, in what, at first sight, seems to be an apparently disordered fashion.
Spontaneously growing species from Portugal (arbutus-trees, holly trees, cork oak-trees, amongst others) combine with others originating from all of the world’s five continents, inviting visitors to enjoy a stroll through plant varieties of the whole world, ranging from such countries as Australia to Mexico and Japan. Altogether, there are more than 2500 species.
Particularly worth a mention inside the palace are the Music Room and the luxurious reception rooms, such as the Indian living-room, the dining-room and the library, all of which are to be found on the ground floor. The tour of the palace also takes visitors to the first floor, where the private apartments were located
Included
- Transport by air-conditioned minivan
- Round-trip private transfer
- Driver/guide
- Bottled water
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Private tour
- Transport by private vehicle
- WiFi on board
Not included
- Food and drinks
- Tickets
- Entry/Admission - Castelo dos Mouros
- Entry/Admission - Park and National Palace of Pena
- Entry/Admission - Palacio Nacional de Sintra
- Entry/Admission - Quinta da Regaleira
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- A current valid passport is required on the day of travel
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Features
Tourism
95%
Cultural
75%
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