I traveled to Sintra a few years ago. The truth is that at first, I thought of joining a tour out of Lisbon to meet people on the way (because I was traveling alone) but then I explored the options and realized that it would be best for me to travel there on my own and not be depending on tour times.
I knew it was a town I would like to photograph a lot and I do not like to be under the pressure of a group in such situations. lol
In any case, the options to get there are: take a taxi, take an organized tour from Lisbon, or get there by train.
If you prefer to join an organized tour from Lisbon, I found this option that seems quite comprehensive – a day tour from Lisbon to Sintra.
**It is not recommended to get there by private car as there are some very limited parking spaces in Sintra the castles have no private car entries and there are steep ascents.
I took a train. The cost of the train was cheap and was about 2.25 euros for an adult.
Directions to the train station in the old area of Lisbon Rossio train station
The train ride was about 40 minutes on a line called Rossio-Sintra. There is another line that takes about 50 minutes to Oriente-Sintra. Because I was traveling during the coronavirus pandemic, it was calm at the train station and there were not many people, but from what I heard, there are rush hours that are very busy there, so it is advisable to arrive as early as possible in the morning.
How to book the train ticket online
- Go to the official trains website: Comboios De Portugal
- Select departure at: “Lisboa Rossio”
- Select destination: “Sintra”
- Choose your dates. There’s no need to select the hours as you will get the entire time table in the next page.
- The prices are basically 2.45€ each way per person and ride are generally available every 30 minutes and take 40-49 minutes depending on the hour.
Trains usually operates with the first going out from Lisbon at 05:41 and the last to return twenty minutes after midnight 00:20.
How to get around Sintra
The castles and palaces are up in the mountains and it is very difficult to access them by foot unless you are there for a few days and love a sporting challenge. You can easily get there by bus, a tuk-tuk or an Uber. I wrote everything about it here.
