Castles · Tour

Sintra for Eight with Every Ticket Paid, Pena Palace Interior Included

Eight travellers at most, and no separate admissions to buy on the day. That is the whole proposition and it is a real one. Sintra tours routinely quote a low headline price and then leave you to pay at each gate, or include the park at Pena but not the palace, or include Pena but not Regaleira. Here the entrance to the Pena Park and the Palace is in the price, the Quinta da Regaleira is in the price, and the guide stays with the group from the start of the day to the end rather than handing you a meeting time and disappearing. That matters at Regaleira in particular. The interest there is underground: tunnels cut through the hillside connecting the Initiation Well to the grottoes, unlit in places, and easy to walk past entirely if nobody shows you where the entrances are. At Pena, both the botanic park and the interior rooms are covered. The old centre of Sintra is the third stop, with lunch and the pastry the town is known for. The group forms at the Praça da Figueira, in front of the statue.