Off The Beaten Path: Sintra, Portugal

Sintra is a town within the municipality of Sintra in the Grande Lisboa subregion (Lisbon Region) of Portugal. Owing to its 19th-century Romantic architecture and landscapes, it has become a major tourist centre, visited by many day-trippers who travel from the urbanized suburbs and capital of Lisbon.

In addition to the Sintra Mountains and Sintra-Cascais Nature Park, the parishes of the town of Sintra are dotted by royal retreats, estates, castles and buildings from the 8th-9th century, in addition to many buildings completed between the 15th and 19th century, including the Castelo dos Mouros, the Pena National Palace and the Sintra National Palace, resulting in its classification by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1995.

Long the home of Portugal’s monarchs, Sintra is a magnificent town of marvelous historic mansions, all set against the backdrop of lush hills. Sintra’s many castles include the Palácio Nacional de Sintra (a main abode of Portuguese royalty until the early 20th century), the hilltop and storybook Palácio da Pena, Quinta de Regaleira (incorporating several architectural styles and with gorgeous surrounding gardens), the Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle), and the Palácio de Monserrate.

Palácio Nacional de Sintra
The star of Sintra-Vila is this historic palace, with its iconic twin conical chimneys and lavish interior. Of Moorish origins, the palace was first expanded by Dom Dinis (1261–1325), enlarged by João I in the 15th century (when the kitchens were built), then given a Manueline twist by Manuel I in the following century.

Castelo dos Mouros
Soaring 412m above sea level, this mist-enshrouded ruined castle looms high above the surrounding forest. The 9th-century Moorish castle’s dizzying ramparts stretch across the mountain ridges and past moss-clad boulders the size of small buses. When the clouds peel away, the vistas over Sintra’s palace-dotted hill and dale to the glittering Atlantic are – like the climb – breathtaking.

Quinta da Regaleira
This magical villa and gardens is a neo-Manueline extravaganza, dreamed up by Italian opera-set designer, Luigi Manini, under the orders of Brazilian coffee tycoon, António Carvalho Monteiro. The villa is surprisingly homely inside, despite its ferociously carved fireplaces, frescos and Venetian glass mosaics. Keep an eye out for mythological and Knights Templar symbols.

Convento dos Capuchos
Hidden in the woods is the bewitchingly hobbit-hole-like Convento dos Capuchos, which was originally built in 1560 to house 12 monks who lived in incredibly cramped conditions, their tiny cells having low, narrow doors. Byron mocked the monastery in his poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage , referring to recluse Honorius who spent a staggering 36 years here.

Sintra-Cascais Nature Park
In its territory, the park presents a stunning diversity of environments and landscapes, including sand dunes, forests, lakes, a rugged coastline where high cliffs are interspersed with lovely beaches, the imposing and Cabo da Roca, in the center, the magnificent Serra de Sintra and the entire area classified by UNESCO as a cultural landscape heritage of mankind.

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