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Sintra, Portugal

When I was in Lisbon in 2012 I didn’t get a chance to visit Sintra, so last November when I visited Porto, I returned to Lisbon to make the trip.

Sintra, about 30 minutes by car from Lisbon, is a town nestled in a forest of pine trees where many royal palaces were built in the 1800s.

Lisbon Native Tours were kind enough to provide a complimentary full day Tour of Sintra for me. It was a small group with only two other people and the van picked me up promptly at my hotel at 8:30.

Our first stop was the quaint seaside village Cascais, where we had time to visit the port and stroll the streets dotted with charming shops and cafes. The van weaved through a hilly, narrow road to reach Cabo de Roca, the westernmost tip of Europe and over 100 meters high. I looked down the rocky cliffs and the stunning azure waters below, mesmerized by the forceful tide having its way against the layers of rocks and boulders.

In the afternoon we visited Pena Castle, a former monastery converted into the summer palace for Prince Ferdinand and the royal family in the mid-1800s. The eclectic architecture is comprised of Neo-Gothic, Neo-Manueline, Neo-Islamic and Neo-Renaissance styles, supporting the Romanticist style. The earthy colors of deep orange and mustard set against the bright blue sky along with the herringbone patterns on the towers and the gave the feeling of being in a fairytale castle.





Our last stop was the Regaleira Palace, also known as the "The Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire", after its former owner António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro. I didn’t get to see the inside of the palace but I was fortunate to see the lush, green gardens spread out over four acres. The multi-level park has lots of twists and turns along the narrow pathways leading to waterfalls, grottos, wells, fountains, and secret tunnels. Initiation wells are inverted towers with stairs winding down them and were used for Tarot initiation rights.

I returned to my hotel at about 5:30 from a tiring but most delightful day. The guide was informative and patient and even made an extra stop at another palace just for me. I would highly recommend Lisbon Native Tours and the price of only 57€ is a bargain for such a high-level of service.

My friends Maria and Frederic, who own the fabulous Palacio Belmonte in Lisbon, were kind enough to give me the most gorgeous suite to stay in. The foyer had a library and a bar and the living room boasted about a 40-foot high ceiling with a spacious second-floor sleeping loft bedroom. The piece de resistance was the unbelievable bathroom suite of textured black and white marble and connected to it was a terrace with a knockout view of Lisbon. Thank you, Maria and Frederic, for making my short stay in Lisbon so memorable.

Click here to read my blog about the first time I stayed in Palacio Belmonte.

https://www.lisbonnativetours.com
http://palaciobelmonte.com/







My fabulous suite at Palacio Belmonte 

View of Lisbon from my terrace

 

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This post first appeared on I Prefer Paris, please read the originial post: here

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Sintra, Portugal

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