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PortugalTravel

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting “Portuguese fairly tale” City – Sintra

by kumamonjeng April 13, 2019
written by kumamonjeng April 13, 2019
Top 16 things you need to know before visiting “Portuguese fairly tale” City – Sintra

I love Sintra because it is one of the most beautiful cities in Portugal, it is only about 28 km away from Lisbon. Many choose to have one day trip in Sintra and still staying in Lisbon. The town of Sintra itself boasts the medieval Sintra National Palace and several 19th-century estates, photo opportunities everywhere.  Check out the top 16 things you need to know before visiting Sintra Portugal.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

1. The city with Castle & Royal Estates

Sintra is a picturesque mountain range with stunning views of the coastline. It has a number of priceless archeological remains from the Roman period. Castles and royal estates are the ruins that you could find here. The rich and the elite of Portugal built their extravagant residences and gardens here because of the cooler climate.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

2. Sintra Transport

There are a number of ways to explore Sintra, by local town buses- (the hop-on & hop off buses), the local green trains or hire a Tuk-Tuk for a day. Tuk-Tuk can cost a little more but you get to personalize your day tour.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

3. Sintra National Palace

The National Museum of Sintra is located in the town of Sintra, the architecture is well preserved medieval royal residence in Portugal.  The windows have intricate details and design which incorporating maritime elements – the Manueline Architecture.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

4. Spot the Twin White Chimneys

Please pay extra attention to the twin chimneys at the top of the National Palace Museum building, it also the icon of the city.  This is how it looks like from far.  Can you see the twin white chimneys?

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

The buildings in the central square of Sao Martinho, across from the Sintra National Palace.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

5. “Portuguese fairly tale” City

Some people regarded Sintra as the “Portuguese fairly tale” because the city has a number of the historical sites full of ancient tales, architecture, and beautiful monument.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

6. UNESCO World Heritage site

Sintra as a whole is a UNESCO World Heritage site, so there is no shortage of ruins and sites in this city. These are the 4 main castles in Sintra that you may want to visit – Monserrate Palace, Pena Palace, Moorish Castle, Quinta da Regaleira.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

7. Lawrence Hotel Sintra

Lawrence Hotel is located in the town area, considered the oldest in Iberian Penisula. Several famous people have stayed here before such as Bill Clinton.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra7. Traditional Mosaic tiles at Sintra city

Street cafe restaurant with mosaic tile facade Sintra Portugal is located next to the National Museum Palace.  Do check out the beautiful mosaic facade of this building.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

8. Carlos Franca Statue

If you stroll around the village of Sintra (uphill), you will come across the statue of Carlos Franca, he is the greatest names in Portuguese medicine.  At the bottom of the statue, there is a print of a microscope.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

9. Pisoes Fountain on the road to Quinta da Regaleira

There are a number of fountain in Sintra city, Pisoes Fountain is on the uphill of Quinta da Regaleira. You will get attracted by the bright yellow color.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

10. Port Wine

Port wine is famous in Sintra, it is a Portuguese fortified wine, taste sweet and often served as a dessert wine.  We went into Binhotecca Wine Bar to taste some port wine.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

Fortified wine means it is a wine that is blended with a small amount of distilled spirit, usually brandy. How is the taste? Like I mentioned earlier, tasted like the dessert wine, rather sweet. Well loved by Asian.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

The name “Port” is derived from the coastal city of Porto, Portugal’s second-largest city.   The price range of these Port wine cost around Euro 50 and above.  There are mini bottles in a set of 5, cost lesser, around Euro 25.00

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

11. Where to have lunch?

We have our lunch at Adega das Caves, the blue outstanding building at the corner of Sintra City.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

We ordered a Pepperoni Pizza (Euro 12.00), Gambas or Prawn pasta (Euro 14.95) and a BBQ octopus (Euro 16.95) for 4 people.  The portion of each dish is huge for Asian standard.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

Whole Octopus in BBQ & Fresh salad.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

Piri-piri Hot Sauce

We used piri-piri hot sauce to dip with the BBQ octopus. Piri-piri is the local hot chili sauce also known as bird eyes chili.  Was it hot enough? Yes.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

We ordered a beer and a soft drink which gave quite a surprise when we have our bill.  The beer cost Euro 5.00 and a can of local Fanta soft drink cost Euro 3.00. The prices of the drinks were not listed on the menu. It is considered very expensive for Portugal standard I feel.  A glass of wine or a beer usually cost about Euro 2.00 in the restaurant.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

12. Ginja or Ginjaha

As you walk in the ancient cobblestones of Sintra, you will notice a small bottle of gina appeared on tables and window ledges of the shops. Ginja is a local liqueur specialty made by infusing Ginja berries (sour cherry) in alcohol with other secret ingredients.  Ginja is tasted sweet and well-liked by the Portuguese. It is also known as “grandparent” wonder cure of all manner of illnesses.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

13. Queijadas Finas

There are a number of famous pastries you should try while in Sintra and one of them is Queijadas Finas wrapped in a white paper, just like our “tau sa pia”. The size of the pastry is like the Portuguese egg tart or pastel de nata. The ingredients consist of cheese, eggs, milk and sugar.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

14. Casa Piriquita

Casa Piriquita has a long history of 160 years, it is a famous bakery in Sintra which is more famous than the castles here. There is various type of pastries but the top-selling items are travesseiros and Queijadas (Above). Travesseiros look like a pillow shape and inside there is kind of chocolate Nutella filling.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

This is how you should order, do not order directly from the counter staff as he will not look at you. Instead, do get the ticket and wait for your number. Most shops and market has this ticketing system

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

A visit to this Sintra isn’t complete without tasting a travesseiro (pillow) & queijada (cheesecakes).  It is very sweet for me but who knows you may like it.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

Shopping in Sintra

The narrow hilly cobblestone in Sintra old shopping street is fun as if stepping back in time. There are a number of things that you may want to bring home.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

Siesta in Sintra

At around 1 pm, most of the shops will be closed for their Siesta.  In Portugal and Spain, people usually have their siesta at noon.  Hence it is common to see shops or restaurants closed for their lunch and nap time (about 2 hours). They will eat and rest. The nap time usually takes about 15-20 min, not over an hour.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

15. Portuguese Pottery & Ceramic

The decorative tiles are simply adorable, usually done in blue and white but sometimes in multiple colors too. When you explore Spain and Portugal, you see these ceramic tiles embedded on the corner of the building, a section of tiles over a doorway or over a window.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

These typical colors of the ceramic are blue and white and the designs tend towards the seafaring scene.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

16. Cork Products

Cork is one of Portugal’s biggest and most import-export.  Also, Portugal is the biggest cork producer in the world. You can find bags, purse, accessories, shoes are made from cork sold in here. In case you don’t know what cork, it is usually made into wine bottle stoppers. Cork is made from the bark of a tree, these trees are big (I spotted some cork trees farm on our road trip in Portugal & Spain).  They look similar to the olive tree (From far) but the cork tree is very big and tall.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

Bag made from cork cost Euro 25.00 (below).  The pairs of fish earrings are made from cork too. (above)

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

Final thoughts:

Do I like Sintra?  Yes, very much indeed.  I just wish I have a longer time to explore the few famous castles in Sintra.  The city is full of tourists so please be careful of tourist traps, only visit the restaurant that has the price listed on the menu.

Top 16 things you need to know before visiting "Portuguese fairly tale" City - Sintra

 

 

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Adega das Caves Restaurant Review SintraBinhotecca SintraBinhotecca Wine BarCarlos Franca StatueCasa Piriquitacintracork product in PortugalCork Productsginja drinksGinja or GinjahaGinjahaIberian PenisulaLawrence Hotel SintraManueline Architecturemedieval Sintra National PalaceMonserrate PalaceMoorish Castleoldest hotel in Iberian PenisulaPena Palacepiri-piri extra picantePisoes Fountain on the road to Quinta da Regaleiraport wine portugalPorto winePortuguese Pottery & CeramicQueijadas FinasQuinta da Regaleira.Sao MartinhoShopping in SintraSiestaSiesta in PortugalsintraSintra National PalaceSintra Port WineSintra PortugalSintra Transportsintra Tuk-TukTraditional Mosaic tiles at Sintra citytravesseirosUNESCO World Heritage site“Portuguese fairly tale” City
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19 comments

Lydia Smith April 13, 2019 - 5:58 pm

Beautiful places to visit but one day trip won’t be enough to visit all the places you listed. So a 3day trip would do.

Reply
kumamonjeng April 22, 2019 - 12:23 pm

Dear Lydia,

I agree if you have time you can spend about 2-3 days and enjoy the Sintra countryside vibe.

Reply
twinspirational April 13, 2019 - 8:14 pm

We’ve never been to Portugal, but your pictures make this city look like fairytale! It looks like you had a fun time.

Reply
kumamonjeng April 22, 2019 - 12:24 pm

Sintra is about half an hour from Lisbon and people usually do a day tour to visit this little fairytale town which is full of beautiful castles and plenty of greenery too.

Reply
Style by Julianne April 14, 2019 - 6:21 am

What an amazing photo diary of Portugal! I would love to travel here some day and experience the beauty!

Reply
kumamonjeng April 22, 2019 - 12:25 pm

Dear Julianne,

If you are traveling to Portugal, Sintra is a city not to be missed.

Reply
Monidipa Dutta (@MonidipaDutta51) April 14, 2019 - 8:10 am

Sintra looks really good. And the list is pretty awesome.

Reply
kumamonjeng April 22, 2019 - 12:26 pm

Dear Moni,

There are few things that you cannot miss in Sintra, their Port wine and the Sintra pastries.

Reply
Indu April 14, 2019 - 9:21 am

I have not been to this beautiful destination yet. Amazing photographs of Sintra I love these.

Reply
kumamonjeng April 22, 2019 - 12:27 pm

Dear Indu,

You may want to include Portugal in your bucket list since you are an avid traveler.

Reply
Kalyan Panja April 14, 2019 - 2:14 pm

Sintra and the atmosphere around looks splendid. The awesome photos make it all the more inviting.

Reply
kumamonjeng April 22, 2019 - 12:29 pm

Dear Kalyan,

Sintra has an old atmosphere which is great for tourists, I love the narrow alley and the cobblestones street.

Reply
Jasmine - LoveLifeLaughMotherhood April 15, 2019 - 1:04 am

i have never been here but i really want to go now! so beautiful and interesting

Reply
Lisa April 15, 2019 - 12:24 pm

I loved visiting Sintra when I was there. The fountains are so romantic too, and reading your post brought back such good memories of my travels there.

Reply
kumamonjeng April 22, 2019 - 12:30 pm

Dear Lisa,

Glad to learn that you have also been to Sintra and I am sure you enjoyed your trip very much.

Reply
Authentically_Mi April 15, 2019 - 7:03 pm

These pictures look amazing! Portugal is one of the places I hope to visit within the next year so these locations are right on time!

Reply
kumamonjeng April 22, 2019 - 12:35 pm

I hope you do visit some of the castles in Sintra, they are just breathtaking and really beautiful!

Reply
Irina April 18, 2019 - 4:59 pm

The transportation is so cute. Thank you for such a detailed post. So much good info.

Reply
kumamonjeng April 22, 2019 - 12:33 pm

Dear Irina,

The cute transportation is called Tuk-tuk and can be seen in many of the tourist spots in Portugal, such as Lisbon and Sintra. We have that kind of transportation also over here in South East Asia, such as Thailand and Combodia, and it is named as tuk-tuk.

Reply

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