A day in Sintra is not enough – Part 2

A day in Sintra is not enough

Didn’t we say a day in Sintra is not enough? It seems like we really needed Part 2 to continue our visit to this beautiful Portuguese city.

Just to recap, just a few kilometers away from Lisbon, Sintra displays some of the most outstanding Romantic architecture in Europe. Ferdinand II was the one to mark the destiny of the city in the 19th century, when he restored a ruined monastery and turned it into a castle and surrounded it with an exotic park. The architectural mix is unique on the continent.

If you want to walk through the most beautiful gardens in town, Monserrate is the place. Sheltered by the curving Serra de Sintra hills, the estate displays an ample landscape of sub-tropical flowers and shrubs. The vegetation is very diverse. The gardens are large, designed in the English style. This is not surprising, since the land was owned by several Englishmen. Between 1793 and 1799, William Beckford improved the water features and later, Sir Francis Cook built a Moorish castle that towers over the garden.

The Portuguese love their children, so in Sintra, they have built a Toy Museum (locally known as Museu do Brinquedo). The history of toys is unraveled in a fun way here, with the oldest toys coming from ancient Egypt. There are cars, planes, a beautiful 17th-century doll house and beautiful late-19th-century wooden toys.

Founded in 1560, the Convento dos Capuchos is another amazing tourist attraction in Serra de Sintra. The monastery functioned for 300 years and today functions as a museum. You will surely be touched by the austere chambers, the kitchen and the cellars, proof of the modest life led by the monks back then.

How to navigate the enchanted maze of Sintra? Employing some cheap Lisbon transfers, you will enjoy the comfort of a great drive and have an even better journey!

By Lisbon Airport Transfers