Sintra (Pena Palace & Quinta da Regaleira)

Palácio Nacional da Pena · Quinta da Regaleira

A storybook-coloured palace and a spiral well into the earth

⚠ Timed tickets

Hours

Pena park 09:00–19:00 (last ticket and entry 18:00); palace 09:30–18:30 (last ticket 17:30, last entry 18:00). Regaleira hours change by season; check its site

Tickets

Pena: Essential (palace + park) €20, park only €12, with youth/senior discounts. Regaleira: adults €20, ages 6–17 €15, over-65s €15, under-6s free, family €60 (from Jan 2026)

Address

Pena Palace on the hilltop above Sintra; Quinta da Regaleira is at the west edge of the old town (2710-567 Sintra)

The misty hills west of Lisbon where royals and the very rich built summer houses. Pena Palace on the summit mashes yellow and red towers, Moorish arches and medieval battlements into something that looks like a toy from below; from its terraces you see the Atlantic and the plain back toward Lisbon. Down by the old town, at Quinta da Regaleira, the Initiation Well corkscrews nine levels into the ground through a wooded garden; at the bottom a dark grotto tunnel leads out to stepping stones by a waterfall. Those two alone fill a day.