Sintra
from Alfama

Sintra is 25 km to the west of Lisbon and the recommended means of travel is by train. We strongly discourage driving to Sintra, as the narrow hill roads are not designed for the heavy tourist traffic and there is virtually no car parking once there. 

There are bus services to Sintra, but the journey times are longer than by train and the locations of the bus stations are not as convenient as the train stations.

The trains to Sintra are operated by CP (Comboios de Portugal), the national train company of Portugal. There are two rail routes between Lisbon to Sintra, both equally useful for tourists. These services are:

 
1) Rossio Station to Sintra

 2) Oriente station to Sintra, via Areeiro, Entrecampos, and Sete Rios stations.

The nearest station from our apartment is Rossio Station, that you can easily reach by metro: you can walk to Santa Apolónia Station, where you can take the metro for just three stops. You exit in Restauradores metro Station, where the Rossio Station is located. The metro exit you have to take is the one indicated as “Comboios” (Trains).

The Sintra railway is an important commuter route, so there are multiple hourly departures, and trains continue late into the night. The Oriente route has a journey time of 47 minutes, while the Rossio train takes 40 minutes to reach Sintra, both services have an equal number of departures. For the latest timetable please see the CP website:

As the Lisbon to Sintra railway is an urban route, tickets and seats cannot be pre-booked, but there is no real need as there is usually plenty of free seats. Due to the popularity of Sintra there can be long queues at Rossio station for tickets (not to mention the queues at the monuments of Sintra), our advice is always start a trip to Sintra as early in the day as possible.

In the station there are ticket offices and ticket machines, but it can get very busy at peak tourist times, as everyone is buying tickets or asking the same questions. 

From Rossio station there are two train services; one to “Sintra” and one to “Mira Sintra – Meleças”, but as tourists you will want the service to Sintra.

All of Lisbon’s train stations are considered as being in the same fare zone, so no matter the departing station the fare to Sintra will always be the same. A single from Lisbon to Sintra passes through four fare zones and costs €2.20/€1.10 (adult/child). There are no reductions for a return ticket, and the return fare will be the price of two singles, €4.40.

The train fare is charged to the reusable “Viva Viagem” public transport ticket, which is used for Lisbon’s buses, metro and trams. The initial purchase price for this card is €0.50. The train fare must be charged to an empty “Viva Viagem” card, if there are any unused metro or tram fares still remaining on the card, a new card must be purchased. The Viva Viagem ticket holds the fare for one person, meaning each traveller in a group will need their own card.

The train journey to Sintra passes through the non-descript residential housing estates that surround Lisbon and there is not much to see. These estates are some of Lisbon’s most deprived and tough areas, so you should use the same common sense you would back at home. The train is safe, but if you are travelling late at night, sit with other passengers, stay away from dodgy looking people and never show off expensive items.

Often tourists exit Sintra station a little confused (as it's not that obvious where to go) and are pounced upon by tour guides, tuk-tuk drivers and other random means of transport to explore the hills. The two sensible options from the train station are to walk or to catch the 434-tourist bus.

The Pena Palace and Moors castle are high in the hills of Sintra, and it is a very challenging up-hill hike to them. The 434-tourist bus service provides a one-directional loop from the train station, to the historic centre and then into the hills for €5. The 434 bus is seasonal dependant, and there are up to four departures every hour, but there can be very long queues in Sintra. For a full guide to this bus, please click here.

The walk from Sintra train station to the historic centre has no steep climbs and is very scenic, with great views over the National Palace and surrounding countryside. If you are only planning to visit the National Palace and the Quinta da Regaleira just walk as it’s easier than catching the bus.