Sintra National Palace – TravelmyStories

On our way, riding the train to Sintra with a sense of confidence, because now we know what are we doing. The day start with a magical flow and stress free. We felt like local! We knew exactly what to do and what to expect, this time we were not afraid of making decisions or afraid of the unknown. Once we walk to the little town that was waiting for us once again, we went directly to the tourist office to get more information about the castles that we were going to see that day; Sintra National Palace, Quinta da Regaleira and Montserrat Palace.

First in our list was the Sintra National Palace, we didn’t need to take the bus because this palace is located on the heart of the town, in the middle of the mountains. The Moorish Castle and the Pena Palace have to look down to see their royal neighbor. A little tip, if you know that you are visiting more than one palace, they offer packages or bundles that may save you and euro or two. We bought a ticket for two palaces Sintra National Palace and Montserrat Palace for 25 euros. Quinta da Regaleira didn’t have that offer.

One of the things that we learn about Sintra National Palace it’s that its the best preserved medieval Royal Palace in Portugal, having been inhabited more or less continuously at least from the early 15th up to the late 19th century. One of the things that highlight my visit was that in the 15th Century King Duarte I had a lot of influence in the construction of the palace and his son Jon I loved this palace. Sooooooo!!! let me tell you! I am Duarte, that means I have royal family in my blood!! 🙂 Discovering that was the best part of visiting Sintra National Palace! LOL

Ok here are some pics…

View of the town and the Moorish Castle from Sintra National Palace

After leaving my royal past, we headed to the bus stop, and we waited like a Pros, but this time we took the 435. The 435 bus route is in a circle, locals take it to move around town. In its route it pass by this three Sintra’s gems, also it goes by the five-star palace hotel:Tivoli Palácio de Seteais. Well after we hoped in the bus, no far down we encounter the fascinating view of the Quinta da Regaleira. Quinta da Regaleira its a creepy looking palace, very Gothic style! The whole property, the Chapel, the Palace, the Towers, tunnels, gardens, fountains, everything have a mysterious feel, was like entering another dimension. I felt like I was in a movie, one of those that you are not sure of the ending… I will show you a picture so you can have a sense of what I am trying to describe, but the rest of our story I will leave it for Part 5. Next part I will share some videos too, even some silly ones.

Until the…

xamlinnette 🙂

With our tummies full and us rested it, was time for us to continue our last adventure of the day. It was our time to conquer the Romanticist 19th Century Palace. Above Sintra, sitting in a top of a hill, the colored Palace not only was sitting with majesty but also its humble by the beauty of the park that surrounds the Palace.

Just looking around I can imagine so many scenarios of those time, like coming in my horse, dress with a huge dress, tight on the top, taking my breathed away. The dress had to be long and big from the waist down. Then, we can add a touch with white delicate long gloves and a large hair do with tight curls and a hat. Ahhhh life in the past!

We wanted to see the outside of the castle first, the view was mix with low clouds that came for a visit, making the ambience cool and comfortable. At the distance you can see the arabic ruins that we left behind earlier. The cool breeze gave me a feel of freedom and literally I felt free! Of course I was vacationing and knowing that I was investing my time in such amazing experience that involved exercise, history, culture, beauty and time travel!! Oh yes, I felt free… Well

I just dont know what they where thinking when they decide that this was a nice option for a window… Oh boy!

If the outside make you wonder… Wait to see the inside, the furniture, the indoor patios…

When we finished exploring every corner that was allowed to be explored the only thing that was crossing our minds was all the events that we had to go through to go back to the hotel. The 434 bus, the 35 minutes train ride, the 30 minutes walk up hill the Avenida Liberdade. At that time was already half of the night and still we were needing to get dinner and sleep to repeat all the process all over again because the next day we were going back to Sintra. Still at 3 more palaces that we wanted to see. Actually there were more, but we didn’t have the time to see everything.

In part 4, I will share with you how easy was for us the next day, a little bit of knowledge can make the difference. I will talk about The National Palace of Sintra and maybe about Quinta da Regaleira. I think I might have to do a part 5, I don’t want to overwhelm you with so many pictures and videos. Its better a little bit at a time. Ok… Until then…

xamlinnette 🙂