Sintra – the best getaway in 2024?

My affection hath an unknown bottom, like the Bay of Portugal.

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#Sintra #Portugal #adventure #travelblogger #getaway

There are two things that surprised me in Sintra completely, which I was absolutely unready for. The first one is the fact you can take public transport from Lisbon to Sintra each 30 minutes, where you can use the regular city public cards for the ride. Again, great job to the Administration of Lisbon! The second one was the amount of necessary climbing. Do not follow my lead, but rather heed my words – do NOT, under any circumstances, spend the day before visiting Sintra walking! And don’t think you can climb it all on tired feet – take the hop-on-hop-off bus. Now let me show you a similar adventure to the one I had in Nice, going on a day trip to Eze.

The train station in Sintra

Sintra is a small town, especially in the matter of surface. Everything is located right around the train station – and it’s one of the most beautiful ones I’ve been to. All the tiles. Such beautiful decorations! It is not one bit modern, but it is rather very traditional Portuguese in style and stunning in its own right. Along the way, there is a multitude of stations from Lisbon to Sintra (at least between 15 and 20), and all of them are intriguing, decorated with colorful tiles. But this one is different, and I can promise you will love it.

Even though the surface here is not grandiose, you will take hours to walk around the town, as everything is uphill. It is brimming with beautiful castles and chateaus from earlier times, and each of them is worth visiting. My map tags had probably five or six of these. You can walk to most of them, but, unlike me, be smart – take the bus. You can jump on and off and go to any palace you like.

Parks (and rec)

You’d think Sintra is just a gigantic park, because wherever you turn to, you will see a high quantity of trees and greenery. Most of them are not level, so you’d need to walk up and down. The smell of flowers and leaves everywhere will make your day, whether you go to it during sunny or rainy seasons. Due to the volume of plants, it is expected for it to rain slightly every now and then. However, the rain will be just like the one in Lisbon – very light in weight (even during heavy showers), drying up quickly even on wool.

More colorful buildings

What is Portugal famous for? Why, colorful facades, of course. If they aren’t enveloped in tiles, they are painted in a very bright and shiny color. And this is to oppose all the colored buildings in Northern Europe (e.g. in Malmo, Copenhagen etc.) – even during downpours, the colors stay bright, and prevent becoming depressed. This probably has to do with the weight of the drops, as walls don’t get soaked. Also, I’m assuming everyone knows which type of paint to use, to repel as much water from the facades as possible. Anyway, everything is colorful, and whatever viewpoint you climb to, you will be watching endless lakes of color in amazement.

Hills

One more time – DO NOT think you can walk all the way up. There are hills everywhere, and even though some locations are 1 kilometer / 0.62 miles away, they may take you over an hour, or even more to reach. Even with all the shade and water sources available every few meters / feet up, you won’t be able to stay cool and hydrated to do the whole climb if you had spent the prior day walking. And this comes from an experienced walker, completely used to traversing over 20k steps in a day, for 4-5 days in a row. Take that bus, go all the way up, and if you really want to enjoy the hillside, walk down, not up.

Food

You will see and agree that there is really not much to do around Sintra. However, the trip will be relaxing and help you unwind from daily hassle of the city, it’s a great escape from the urban. Finally, if you’d like to eat nicely, the restaurants in the lower parts of the town will provide exquisite food and treats. I suggest no alcohol, or coffee combined with energy drinks, or even either of those in Sintra – your heart will beat faster from all the up-and-down motion, you need not increase your blood pressure artificially.

The food itself may be a bit more expensive than in Lisbon. Yet, it is absolutely amazing and exquisite, and a selection of traditional Portuguese foods is offered for you to taste.

The Lisbon-Sitra- Belém was one of the best solo adventures I’ve had, and the first solo adventure I was able to undertake in OVER A WHOLE YEAR! Remember when I told you – once you start traveling alone, everyone will want to travel with you. (And here I am again, experiencing the same thing, packing up for my next journey, yet one more time, accompanied.)

Even though I truly have nothing more to add, other than “visit Lisbon and its surroundings even on your own”, I’ve left an Easter egg for you. Be on the lookout for my next post, at least for some eye-candy.

After that, expect a small break, until I come back from one of my upcoming projects. Care to guess which one? Let me know in the comments.