Sintra and Pena Palace

Forty minutes by train from central Lisbon, the hills of Sintra rise out of the coastal plain wrapped in mist and forest, and their summits are crowned with the most extravagant buildings in Portugal. The jewel is the National Palace of Pena, a nineteenth-century Romantic fantasy built for King Ferdinand II, the German-born consort of Queen Maria II, who bought the ruins of an old Hieronymite monastery on the peak and turned them into a palace that mixes Manueline, Moorish, Gothic and Renaissance motifs in bold reds, ochres and yellows. Inside, the royal apartments are preserved as the family left them in the early twentieth century, and the terraces look out across the whole Sintra range to the Atlantic. Around the palace spreads the Pena Park, a sprawling Romantic garden of exotic trees from around the world, hidden lakes, follies, fern valleys and the high point of Cruz Alta, the best view in the hills. Sintra's wider Cultural Landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the town below holds more palaces and estates than one day can absorb, from the National Palace with its twin conical chimneys to the mystical gardens of Quinta da Regaleira and the ramparts of the Moorish Castle. The palace interior is visited only with a ticket for a specific date and time, and if you miss your slot you lose your entry, so book ahead and build the rest of the day around it. Private cars are not allowed up to the monument, so take the train from Rossio and the bus up the hill, or join a guided day trip that handles the logistics.

Ferdinand II, nicknamed the artist-king, was steeped in German Romanticism, and Pena was his manifesto. Work began in the 1840s around the surviving chapel and cloister of the monastery, which you still walk through inside the palace; around them rose towers, a drawbridge, crenellated walls, a monumental gateway guarded by a fierce sea monster in stone, and terraces from which the king could survey his kingdom of forest. The colours had faded over the twentieth century and were restored to the original strong reds and yellows, which is why the palace looks so startling in photographs. The interior rooms, from the ballroom to the royal bedrooms, keep their furniture and decoration from the last years of the monarchy, which ended in 1910.

Planning the day: book the palace ticket with a timed slot for mid-morning, which gives you time to reach Sintra by train from Rossio station in central Lisbon and take the bus up the hill. Ticket options range from a park-only visit to an essential palace ticket and complete passes; the park-only ticket does not include the palace interior. From the park entrance a shuttle runs up to the palace, or you can walk uphill through the trees in about twenty minutes. After the palace, spend time in the park, then head down to the historic centre for lunch and the local pastries, travesseiros and queijadas. In the afternoon, add one more site rather than three: Quinta da Regaleira and its initiation well, or the Moorish Castle on the next ridge. Trying to do every palace in one day is the most common mistake.

Getting around: Sintra's roads are narrow, steep and congested, parking near the monuments is scarce, and the town has tightened traffic rules for coaches and ride-hailing drop-offs, so public transport and walking are the sensible choices. Buses connect the station with the historic centre and the hilltop monuments. Guided day trips from Lisbon are a good option if you want to combine Sintra with Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, and Cascais on the coast. Bring a layer even in summer: Sintra is cooler and mistier than Lisbon, and the views can vanish into cloud.