Castles · Tour

Sintra with Pena Last: the 1862 Bakery, Colares and Cabo da Roca

Nine hours, eight people, English only, and an itinerary that runs backwards from every other Sintra day trip. Most tours take Pena first, with the rest of the coast as an afterthought. This one starts in the village, works down to the Atlantic, along to Cascais, and puts the Pena Palace last. The palace is at its emptiest late in the day, and arriving there after the coast rather than before it gives the whole thing a shape. Sintra comes first, a pedestrian town the Greeks called the Mountain of the Moon and a UNESCO site since 1995. The free time here has a specific target: the bakery that has been in the same family since 1862, where the travesseiros are turned, rolled and folded seven times before being filled with almond and egg-yolk cream. The queijadas beside them are documented from the 13th century, when they were used to pay rent. Then Colares, with its wine cellars and its century-old tram; Cabo da Roca, a 150-metre cliff at the western end of Europe, with the 18th-century lighthouse seen from outside; Guincho beach and its dunes; and Cascais, with the citadel, the O'Neill summer palace and the marina. Pickup and drop-off are on the Avenida da Liberdade at 8am.