The Colorful Town of Sintra

Sintra is a UNESCO site with royal retreats, expansive estates, and colorful castles. It's a short train ride from Lisbon, and can be explored as a day trip by train. Once there, we rented a tiny car from a company called Sight Sintra and drove it it to Sintra’s two popular sites, Quinta da Regaleira and Pena National Palace.

Quinta da Regaleira

First we wandered through the palace and grounds of Quinta da Regaleira. The Palace has stunning mosaic floors and decorative sculptures. I love the bright colors blended with white trim, and large solid wooden doors.

On the outside there are interesting medieval grottos and a large initiation well. These elements are a stark contrast to the clean airy feel of the palace. There’s a lot of jagged rock caves and moss covered stone. It feels like you’ve truly stepped back in time.

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Pena Palace

We then took our tiny car over to Pena Palace, a photographers dream. I've never seen a palace with such vibrant colors before—orange, yellow and blue with tiles and gorgeous windows and doors. I could've spent a whole day here taking photos and enjoying the view. You could see so much greenery and the ocean from this mountaintop. 

Pene National Palace

Triton statue, Pene National Palace

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Pena National Palace

If I did this again I would give myself more time to explore. Make sure you spend an entire day (or two). There are so many other structures in this city we didn't have time to see, like the Moorish Castle.

Do you have any other tips on visiting Sintra? If so please leave them in the comments below.

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