How to take a day trip from Lisbon to Pena Palace & Moorish Castle
During our time in Lisbon, we opted to do a day trip out to Sintra to explore The National Palace of Pena and The Moorish Castle. If you are planning to head out to this area, here is exactly how to take a trip from Lisbon to Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle.
Views of the National Palace of Pena from the Moorish Castle
Getting to Sintra
Train/Bus: Take the train from Rossio Train station in Lisbon to Sintra. Then hop on bus 434 from Rossio which runs directly to Pena Palace. If you prefer to walk from the train station, it will take approximately 30 minutes uphill.
Driving: Parking is minimal-we were in a rental car and parked at a local hotel for free since we grabbed a quick bite at their restaurant on the way out. There are a few designated parking areas, but they fill up quickly. It was a roughly 45 minute walk from where we parked, uphill, to Pena Palace. The roads leading to the palace are very windy and extremely narrow, so driving can be a bit stressful.
Our daughter exploring The Moorish Castle
There is a lot of walking involved on very steep hills. I wore my daughter in her Osprey backpack carrier (when she wasn’t exploring), and my husband ended up carrying our four-year-old son on his shoulders for most of the afternoon. Side note-leave the stroller at home for this outing, it’s not worth the hassle of attempting to navigate with it. At the bottom of the hill by Quinta Da Regaleira, you can pay a driver €10 per adult to take you up to the entrance of Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle if you want to avoid the steep hike up. Coming back down, the rate is cheaper if you don’t want to make the hike or have mobility issues. There is still a lot of walking involved in both of these areas, so be prepared with good shoes.
Looking over to Pena Palace from the Moorish Castle
You will need to purchase tickets in advance for the Pena Palace, which requires a designated time slot to enter. I believe you can get same-day tickets for just walking the palace grounds. Honestly, even with a timeslot ticket, the line was insane. An employee saw us with two small children and moved us to the expedited line. Still, once we got inside, we stood in a wall of people for 15 minutes without moving and opted to leave the inside tour instead. It was just way too many people, and not enjoyable at all when you can’t move, especially with toddlers. If you have a timeslot ticket, make sure you are at the entrance of the palace at least 30 minutes before your time to allow enough time to make it up to the palace. They say it takes 30 minutes to walk up to the palace from the entrance, but without kids or mobility issues, it’s closer to 15 (roughly 350 meters up).
Tickets for the Moorish Castle are good for the whole day; we enjoyed this castle the most with our children. They loved climbing the ruins and looking out over the vast landscapes. It also has the best views of Pena Palace.
Other Nearby Attractions:
-Walk the town of Sinta
-Quinta da Regaleira
-Cabo da Roca & Cascais
Pena Palace
I wish we’d had more time to wander through the town of Sintra itself, but traveling with young children means making the most of the moments you get. Even so, Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle were absolutely stunning—well worth the easy 35-minute drive from Lisbon. Have you ever taken this day trip?
Find this post helpful?
Pin it for later!
Some of the post links are affiliate links. If you should book something from one of the links, I may receive a small commission. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting my blog!
