MacsTravel Blog

We took one day while in Lisbon for a trip to Sintra, the nearby hill town that was the traditional escape for Portugal’s aristocracy and which is the location of the famous, fabulously weird Pena Palace. We jumped in on a small eight person tour which gave us access to a stop at the most western point of Europe, Cabo da Roca, and Cascais, a chill seaside town just on the outskirts of Lisbon. It was a long day, but worth the time and investment.

The town of Sintra sits below two impressive castles. One is the rebuilt ruin of the original Moorish garrison in this area. Its battlements and towers provide a solid and serious backdrop to the bright and tourist filled town.

The other castle is the eccentric and colourful Pena Palace. This was the vanity project of the German-born King Ferdinand, who was caught up in the mid 19th century Romantic craze for building fantasy castles, an aristocratic excess that was happening across Europe. They served no real defensive purpose and were essentially monuments to the egos of their builders.

The Pena Palace is an architectural miss-mash of styles: Moorish arches and minarets, Gothic towers, Greek iconography in murals, Renaissance domes… it feels like a Disney fantasy rather than a real place.

The palace was built on and around an ancient monastery and it is interesting to see how that somber structure has been integrated into the riot of rooms and decor.

It is set atop a lush hillside park filled with flowering plants and towering sequoias. On a less misty morning than when we visited you can see Lisbon and the ocean from the walk along the castle walls.

The light rain and mist did add a certain fantastical element to our visit.

The rooms are filled with the domestic items of the royal family and feel lived in. This is because the family had to flee the palace in 1910 during a popular uprising, which lead to the execution of the king and heir to the throne and the rise of the Portuguese republic.

Taking in the incredible excess of the place, it is hard to argue with the sentiments of those who rose up in opposition to the monarchy.

The trip to Cabo da Roca took us down through the countryside with lots of winding “s-turns” through vineyards covered hills. The place itself is very busy, but there are some remarkable cliff side views.

We saw clueless tourists routinely climbing over barriers to get the “perfect shot” and as we left emergency crews were arriving to rescue someone who fell down a cliff. The charge for this is apparently fifteen thousand euros.

We stopped on a more remote section of the coastline to take in the pounding surf from the Atlantic and the craggy lava rocks that dominate this area. Beautiful.

The last stop was Cascais. We wandered around the fort and the attractive bay for a bit before finding a shady cafe in town for a drink and a chance to relax. You can see why the town is popular with folks from nearby Lisbon. There are miles of ocean side boardwalks and bike paths and there is a fresh, mellow feel to the place. A nice place to finish up our day.