Lisbon Day 2: The Fairytale Region of Sintra
We made our way to Sintra on the rainiest and coldest day of our time in Portugal. Located about an hour outside Lisbon, this magical region is where you’ll find castles and villas nestled into the country’s most breathtaking forests. Against other travel bloggers’ advice, we decided to drive rather than take a bus so that we could take our time and carve our own path. While we did get lost and started to doubt ourselves early in the road trip, it ended up being the absolutely best decision with how the day unfolded.
Spoiler alert! This is how we looked by the end:
Our first stop was Pena National Palace, the most colorful and vibrant of the castles in the region. While we didn’t get the full vibrancy because of the wind and rain, we actually preferred the eeriness of the views we did get. It made it feel much more romantic and cozy, especially since there were very few people around. The walk to Pena Palace was enchanting mixed with exhausting because it was 80% uphill. It was so peaceful that we forgot we were even remotely close to any other civilization.
Our second stop was Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors). Honestly, this stop almost didn’t happen because we were already so tired from our hike and drenched. But we both took a beat, reassessed our expectations for the day, and decided to just go all in. Second best decision of the day! Again, we had the castle almost entire to ourselves, which was not surprising because it was almost entirely open-air.
For those wondering, yes we did have an umbrella at the beginning of our journey! By the time we had made it to the entrance of Pena Palace, the wind had completely dismantled it. To be honest, it was actually more of a hinderance than a help. C’est la vie.
By this point, it felt like the cold rain had seeped into our bones, and the heat in the car had never felt so good. But we had one more stop on our minds: Quinta da Regaleira. If you’ve ever looked up Portugal on Pinterest, chances are you’ve seen a photo of this grand residence’s Initiation Well. This was, in fact, one of the first travel images I ever pinned! I had been dreaming of seeing this well the entire day, so no amount of rain or cold was going to stand in our way. We managed to find a parking spot in an alley not too far from the entrance and told ourselves we were only going to stay long enough to see the well…
Imagine our pure surprise and excitement when we found out 1.) we would have to walk through the residence’s extensive gardens to find the Well, and 2.) the Well was actually only the tip of the iceberg!
There was an entire world to discover once we descended those stairs. Dimly lit tunnels that connected to other wells on the property and, most impressively, a secret waterfall garden.
Our hearts were full and we’d lost all concept of being dry ever again. So, after a quick bite in a tiny nearby town – where we promptly ordered everything warm on the menu – we decided we might as well take advantage of the fact that we were more than halfway toward the western-most point of continental Europe. Just 25 minutes more and we found ourselves at Cabo de Roca. There is a beautiful lighthouse, Ireland-esque cliffs, and a visitors center to relax and take in the view. We barely glimpsed all of that! From the car, we booked it to the farthest edge of the cliff, took a moment to appreciate we had made it, took a couple of awful videos to mark the visit (thanks, wind), and near-sprinted back to the car. It was one of those you-had-to-be-there awesome experiences that probably sounds nuts to everyone else!
From there, it was just a nice warm and laughter filled ride drive back to Lisbon to get ready for our final day, which included exploring the Alfama District and eating at our first Michelin starred restaurant. Stay tuned!
Big hugs,
Jules