Cascais is a seaside town, 40minutes by train from Lisbon.
We flew into Lisbon from Budapest and made our way via metro to Cais do Sodre to catch the train. The train route itself is lovely, with views of the Tagus Estuary, 'Ponte 25 de Abril' suspension bridge and 'Sanctuary of Christ the King' statue, before hugging the coast for most of the journey giving lovely sea views.
We arrived late so it was the next morning before we had chance to explore, and as we were only spending one day in Cascais we decided to just wander without an agenda. We walked down to the sea and towards Cascais centre using the promenade, a lovely path that took us along the seafront, past the Boca do Inferno (a large sea cave where the waves can be seen crashing), past the lovely marina and into the centre of the town. The path continues for about 3km past several beaches and cafes, but we decided to stay in the centre and explore. After spending half an hour on the beach, cooling our feet in the sea, we made our way through the winding streets with their typically mosaic walkways, browsing the small shops and little squares full of cafes and restaurants, stopping a couple of times for refreshment. It felt like a lovely, lazy day after our two weeks of city walking, and I have to say that it was lovely to be back beside the sea.
The next morning we set off for Sintra, a small town in the mountains North of Cascais which is set in a highly acclaimed national park, full of castles, palaces and beautiful parkland. It was somewhere we would have liked to visit on our road trip through Portugal, last year, but couldn't fit into our schedule, so we were looking forward to our day trip from Cascais, an easy trip if you believe the information to be found on Google. In reality, it felt like a confusing journey of buses followed by an even more confusing entry to the Palace, with very little direction or information available.
The journey is described online as; 'catch the number 417 bus at Cascais bus station and pay the driver' - good so far. The journey is reported to take 30minutes and terminate at Sintra train station...this is where the confusion began. After about 35mins we arrived in Sintra and the bus stopped at a train station - so we got off. The information online said to catch the essential 343 tourist bus, but said that it could be confusing at this point so we weren't surprised that the bus stop was not immediately apparent.
After searching the station and asking several people for help, all looking perplexed, we were finally told that we were at the 'wrong' station.
A 15minute walk later and we arrived in the right station to be faced with a long queue for the tourist bus. Once we had boarded - standing room only - we set off for Pena at pace, the bus coursing around narrow lanes and harepin bends whilst we held on for dear life. When the bus finally stopped and we got off, it became clear that we were not at Pena Palace, where we expected to be, but at the Moorish Castle. A decision had to be made; should we take a look here first then jump back on the bus to Pena or continue to Pena first? We decided to carry on to Pena - so back on the bus.
Arriving at Pena Palace was extremely confusing, with crowds and queues everywhere. Security people were scanning tickets at the gates, whilst independent guides and tuc-tuc drivers vied for our attention. Google gave us little direction so we joined a queue to buy a ticket. Whilst in the queue we noticed a QR code on a post and scanned it - online booking! It became clear that you needed to book on a timed tour and the next available slot was an hour away. Tickets bought, we exited the queue and looked for a cafe - nothing. We thought about joining the next queue at the entrance where tickets were being scanned but thought we would be turned away because we were too early. Luckily one of the guides informed us that we were not actually at the entrance, that the entrance was a half hour walk up the hill and our ticket was not for entry but for the 'interior' Palace tour. It seems that no ticket is needed to access the grounds but nowhere was this information given. So we hiked up the hill to the castle to find a melee of confusion - no-one seemed to know what was going on. There were lots of queues and hundreds of people, with staff walking around shouting out tour times. Eventually we joined the correct queue only to queue again for the interior tour, which itself was just a queue through a maze of rooms where the decor and furnishing of the palace could be viewed. There were information points in each room but there was no time to read them as we were carried along with the flow of people moving through, along the prescribed route. Finally, somewhat dazed, we were spat out onto a terrace and had some freedom to wander around the castle walls. We didn't want to queue again for the cafe (no choice but to queue for the loo), so we made our way back down the hill to join the queue for the bus again, deciding against visiting anywhere else. The queue was very long so we hailed a tuc-tuc (best decision of the day) and descended down to the town of Sintra, which is lovely by the way, for a well deserved glass of wine.
So my advice if you are thinking of visiting Sintra:
The town is lovely so take time to explore it. It is probably worth basing yourself here and staying for a few days if you want to see everything.
If visiting the many places of interest, don't be too optimistic - one or two a day, expect crowds, expect long queues, book in advance and avoid peak times.
Be aware that there are 3 tourist buses, the 433, 434, 435, and they all have different routes and visit different parts of the national park. The ticket price also includes your return journey to Cascais.
If travelling from Cascais, the 417 bus is the quickest but don't get off at the first station when you reach Sintra, make sure that you stay on until you reach the terminus.
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