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sintra patrimony & nature
This itinerary suggests a visit to emblematic places and monuments of Sintra, such as the Parque da Liberdade, the Historic Center of Sintra, the National Palace, the Museum of Natural History, the Moorish Castle, the Pena Palace and the beautiful Viewpoint of Vigia (3 Montes, 3 Castles).
All this while having fun listening to our speaking cart in Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, Italian, German or Dutch
This tour is a partnership between Live Electric Tours and LAS Tours
In this 3-hour self-drive city tour in Sintra, your independence and privacy are guaranteed. Do you wish to change your route and take an alternative road? Don’t worry, your tour is customizable! Go wherever you want! Just you and yours, no one else to disturb!
All of this on board of the fantastic Renault Twizy, a little and funny 100% electric car made for 2. With this totally sustainable and eco-friendly vehicle we have managed to save tons of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, making the city and our world cleaner places. That is why we were considered the best “Sustainable Tourism” StartUp in the world in 2020, for the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
For your safety, and in accordance with DGS and WHO standards, we have implemented extraordinary measures to protect you from the Covid-19 pandemic. We adopted all published and approved standards so that you can enjoy your tour in a completely protected way. Our cars are disinfected at the beginning and end of each tour. This procedure is performed by our team, which complies with all the rules established for this purpose. We remind you that all of our tours are completely private, so you will not have contact with other people, except the friend/relative which is with you at the car. Interactions with our team will be reduced to a minimum, occurring only at the beginning and end of each tour, with all the security measures adopted.
Join us for this incredible adventure in the city of Sintra. Be at the scheduled date and time at Rua Dr. Alfredo da Costa 62, 2710-523, where the fun little Renault Twizy will be waiting for you for an unforgettable journey.
TOWN HALL
After the inauguration of the Lisbon-Sintra railroad in 1889, Sintra underwent important changes in its urban fabric. However, the impossibility of Vila itself gaining more ground in the Serra, happily led to the building of a new neighborhood, relatively remote and named Estefânia, in honor of Queen D. Estefânia, wife of D. Pedro V. There was, therefore, the displacement of the economic and social center, which also forced the transfer of the main administrative entities that remained installed in an 18th century building, close to Paço Real. For the construction of the new Town Hall, an accessible place was chosen, both for the so-called Vila Velha and for the Estefânia town. For this reason, the modern Paços do Concelho were built between both neighborhoods, in the place where, until then, the old chapel of São Sebastião stood. The construction of the new building in the Paços do Concelho, started in 1906, according to a project by Adães Bermudes, was completed in 1909. The building has austere facades, with soberly decorated neo-Manueline windows. On the main elevation, due to its magnificence, it stands out a tower topped by battlements, and by a pyramidal roof covered with tiles, which alternately represent the Cross of Christ and the National Shield. At the top, the armillary sphere appears majestically. Four other smaller ones flank this curious roof, crowning "sentry boxes" that form its corners. On this same elevation, a balcony stands out, full of Manueline-style arches and topped by a pediment on which the municipal weapons are inscribed. Inside there is a magnificent cloister, whose balconies on the upper floor have a rich neo-Manueline and Renaissance ornamentation.
VIGIA VIEWPOINT
The Miradouro da Vigia is located just 2 km from the historic center, in São Pedro de Sintra, and comprises a magnificent view, comparable only to a painting of the most beautiful postcards. It is possible to observe three hills, each with a stunning construction: the Pena National Palace, the Moorish Castle and the São Gregório Castle, a revivalist palace.
SABUGA FOUNTAIN
The current fountain was built in the 18th century, but the waters of Sabuga are already drunk and spoken, at least, since the century. XII, when the Crusader Osberno said that they ceased to cough. In the century. XVIII the fountain was redone, twice, once due to the damage caused by the earthquake of 1755. It has alternating spiers with pediments of Baroque taste, having, in the center, the weapons of the municipality surrounded by a thin border. Until 2005, the 3 walls of the fountain were covered with tile panels from the 19th century. XX, taken from the recent reform that proposed a more romantic view of the fountain. Today, it is impossible not to notice the contrast of its colours - blue and yellow.
SINTRA HISTORICAL CENTER
Sintra looks like a fairy tale, an ethereal or enchanted forest that has bewitched poets throughout time. It's where Lisbon cools off, thanks to a Twilight Zone-like microclimate that also attracted nobility to build palaces over the centuries. The result was Europe's first center of Romantic architecture, and it has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (the first "cultural landscape" in Europe to be listed).
It's where the Celts worshiped the moon, the Moors built their "great wall," and royalty erected their dream palaces. The most spectacular of all is Pena Palace, looking like a Disney extravagance but an actual royal residence from the 1800s. Other almost surreal constructions include Quinta da Regaleira, the Capuchos Convent and Monserrate Palace, plus fountains and waterfalls further adding to the mystical atmosphere whose spell no one is able to resist.
Just outside the center of town is Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of the European continent.
"PIRIQUITA" - DELICACIES HOUSE
Just as you cannot visit Belém without stopping at the Pasteis de Belém, you shouldn’t leave Sintra without trying a few sweets at the Casa Piriquita pastry shop. Look out for the travesseiro – a sticky, flaky and sweet rectangular cake filled with egg cream and flavored with almonds. This 155-year-old shop is also known for its queijadas. Stemming from the word queijo, which means cheese, queijadas are round cakes filled with cheese, sugar, eggs and cinnamon, surrounded by a delicious flour crust. Try to grab a seat inside to enjoy these Sintra-favorites with a coffee, or take your cakes to go.
SINTRA NATIONAL PALACE
You’ll know this palace right away for its pair of white conical towers above a mishmash of halls and annexes.
The Palace of Sintra is the oldest palace in the town, and no royal medieval residence is in a better state of preservation in Portugal.
Royalty lived here on and off from the 1400s to the 1700s, and each successive occupant added a bit of their own personality.
One, King Manuel I was responsible for a lot of the interior decoration, cladding the walls with eye-catching Seville azulejos.
These are in the Mudéjar style (Moorish revival) and have geometric, carpet-like patterns.
Another of his works was the magnificent Sala dos Brasões (Coats of Arms Hall), where the coffered ceiling sports the 72 coats of arms of the Portuguese royalty and nobility.
LAKES VALLEY
The Vale dos Lagos do Parque is located at the northern top of the central area of ??Pena, between the slope of the Palace (to the east) and the slope that gives access to the Abegoaria, Feteira da Condessa and Chalet (to the west). It is still bordered to the north by the property wall - two gates are very close to it open - and to the south by the Jardim da Feteira da Rainha, where there is another lake, fed by the same waters (Lago dos Fetos).
CASTLE OF THE MOORS
Built by the Moors in the 9th century, this castle monitored the Lisbon coast and included secret passages and a large cistern, which were vital in case of siege. In medieval times, after the Christian reconquest in 1147, a church dedicated to St. Peter of Canaferrim was built within the castle’s walls, and its ruins now house artifacts collected in archaeological excavations, and present videos telling the castle’s history.
There’s a magnificent panoramic view over Sintra from the ramparts, looking out to Pena Palace and over the Sintra National Palace, Chalet Biester, Quinta da Regaleira, and all the other palaces up to the Atlantic coast. It’s possible to walk along the wall’s 450 meters and climb to the top of the five turrets.
PARK AND NATIONAL PALACE OF PENA
This fairytale palace is one of the world’s most spectacular and one of Europe's most eclectic constructions. It was built in 1840 over an old convent, which was incorporated into the new building (including a Manueline cloister decorated with tiles from 1520 and a 16th-century chapel with a marble and alabaster altarpiece). It’s a fantasy palace mixing neo-Gothic, neo-Manueline, neo-Moorish and neo-Renaissance features, creating one of the finest examples of European Romanticism. There are watchtowers of various shapes, one of the gateways is topped by the half-man half-fish Triton, and much of the interior (untouched since the last royals left in 1910) is decorated with oriental porcelain and European furniture. In the kitchen are displays of large cooking utensils used to prepare the royal banquets.
SAINT PETER FOUNTAIN
At the entrance to the square, where, on the second and fourth Sundays of each month, the ancient São Pedro fair takes place, there is a fountain devoted to the patron of this picturesque sintra neighborhood. The fountain, designed by architect Raul Lino, was, according to a plaque affixed to its interior, offered by the Parish Council to the City Council in 1928. With an erudite conception, the centralized building with a dome surmounted by the “keys to heaven”, crossed out by Lino, is very close to the Renaissance architectural canons. A colonnade centered by the access gap leads us to the interior of the building, which remains bordered by benches lined with tiles imitating the typical 17th century carpet. The faucet, surrounded by a radiant relief sun and surmounted by a ceramic panel similar to those already described, leaks into a small circular-shaped tank based on a column.
