Sintra Travel Forum

Hello, I'm planning a trip to Spain and Portugal this summer. If I only have one day for a side trip from Lisbon, would you recommend Sintra, Cascais or Estoril? Which is the most entertaining destination? Thanks.

I'd definitely recommend Sintra of those three. Although the other two are attractive seaside resorts, they are not all that different from seaside resorts in many other places. Sintra has loads to do and see, in fact you could easily spend more than a day there.

Sintra is the best choice, no doubt...

OK. Let's say I go to Sintra for my last day in Lisbon. My next destinations are Fatima and Porto. Would you recommend staying in Sintra overnight and continuing onto Fatima from there? Or would it be easier to go back to Lisbon that night and drive on from there (just make a day trip out of Sintra)? Thanks!

You can travel onwards to Fatima and Porto by way of Sintra without having to go back to Lisbon. However, in Lisbon, you'll have more travel options in terms of transportation - bus or train. From Sintra, there probably isn't any direct bus to Fatima or Porto but you can take a bus to the nearest big town such as Ericeira or even Cascais then from there connect to another bus to take you there. But the tourist office in Sintra definitely will be able to help you. By the way, you can combine Sintra and Cascais in a day and see and enjoy both. I suggest, you take the electric train to Cascais from Lisbon (40 minutes) and when done with Cascais, there's a bus from there which takes you in a beautiful ride along the coast and little farm villages up to Sintra (about an hour). But give yourself ample time. Sintra itself is a magical place which deserves a full day, if not a good two days, of sightseeing.

Sintra is the best choice, alot to see and much better and different from Cascais or Estoril.