I liked Sintra more than Lisbon. There, I said it. It felt a lot like Sinaia: a place where the noblemen of the past built palaces in which to retreat during the summer and escape the capital’s heat.

We visited Sintra during a day tour, alongside Cabo da Roca and Cascais. Overall, it was a tight squeeze. Two days would have been better, but it’s not a proper holiday if you have enough time to visit everything.

Got to Sintra by train and then got on a hop on hop off bus to get around. Our first stop – the town center, dominated by the National Palace. Didn’t visit it, just took a quick photo and went on to the Moorish Castle.

The Moorish Castle was really cool. The scenery all around was stunning and the fortifications offered us a 360 degree view of the area.

We had to skip another major attraction, Pena Palace. We were short on time and the entry wait time was around one hour. We visited Quinta da Regaleira instead. Now I know what rich people did in the past to keep themselves entertained. They built parks around their palaces, complete with waterfalls and tunnels.

From Sintra to Cabo da Roca and then to Cascais we got a tourist bus. Cabo da Roca doesn’t need more than 20-30 minutes. In Cascais we got late in the afternoon. Walked around the tourist area a little, tested the water (feels pretty cold after sunset) and then hopped on a train back to Lisbon.