Sintra Private Tour:
Pena Palace and Regaleira

Sintra Tour Itinerary

Hotel pick up
Pena Palace and Park
Sintra Old Town (free time for lunch - own expense)
Quinta da Regaleira
Hotel drop off

Sintra Tour from Lisbon

Lisbon pick up

Depart from your hotel in Lisbon and travel out of the city in your air-conditioned vehicle with free wi-fi for a full day Sintra Tour.

Pena Palace and Park: Private tour with guide and ticket

On arrival, immerse yourself in the magic Sintra. Head inside the Park and Palace of Pena with your guide and hear of the palace's fascinating history and heritage (your guide will go inside with you).

Continue on through the exotic green landscape of the Pena Park, with over five hundred different species of trees, and enjoy a walk into its depths.

Explore Sintra Old Town

Next, hop back in your vehicle and continue onward to the Old Town. Stroll upon the quaint cobbles of Sintra Old Town observing the colorful row of little shops with handicraft tiles, embroidery, cork products and local wine.

Don't forget to taste some local delicacies too, like the "queijadas" and "travesseiros" (pastry). Have a typical portuguese lunch (own expense) at a World Heritage town.

Quinta da Regaleira: Private tour with guide and ticket

Your guide will then join you in a mystical visit to one of the most magical Sintra’s monuments, the Quinta da Regaleira. Unravel the secrets of this romantic property located on the outskirts of Sintra.

Walk down the fabled Initiation Well and snap pictures of its 9 circles from Hell. Explore the fascinating underground tunnels and mystical gardens. After the guided visit, enjoy free time to stroll around as you wish.

Lisbon drop off

Now it’s time to board the van back to your hotel in Lisbon.

Pena Palace
Sintra Tour

Located in the Sintra hills, it was idealized by a Central Europe prince, latter the king-consort of Portugal, King Ferdinand II, becoming the greatest expression of 19th-century romanticism in Portugal.

The palace and the park that surrounds it, which consists of a forest and gardens with hundreds of different species from all over the world, transformed the landscape of Sintra into what UNESCO classified as World Heritage in 1995.

The castle-like building has two wings - one was born from the refurbishment of the ruins of an abandoned 16th-century monastery, the other was build from scratch by King Ferdinand II in the 19th century.

With clear influences from the Manueline and Moorish styles of architecture, the king-consort adopted Portuguese architectural and decorative forms for the palace, at a revivalist style.

The interior is still decorated to the taste of the kings who lived there - Ferdinand II and his grandson King Charles I.

Quinta da Regaleira
Sintra Tour

Romantic property located in Sintra, built from 1904 to 1910, formerly belonging to the Viscondessa da Regaleira, acquired and enlarged by Carvalho Monteiro (1848-1920).

Regaleira's revivalist style

The property, also known as "The Palace of the Moneybags Monteiro" due to its owner vast fortune, was designed by the italian set-designer and architect Luigi Manini in a romantic revivalist style recovering Gothic, Manueline and Renaissance architectural and decorative forms, mixed with mysthical and esoteric symbolism.

Quinta da Regaleira Chapel

Built in neo-Manueline and neo-Gothic styles, the chapel has a rich iconological program. The highlight goes to the scenes of the Annunciation and Coronation of Mary, part of the central theme, the Marian and Christic cycle.

Regaleira Park: The Initiation Well

The park has an extensive and enigmatic system of tunnels, more like a labyrinth, with multiple entry points. The most known is the Initiation Well, a 27 meter inverted tower with spiral stairs consisting of nine levels, just like the nine circles of hell in Dante's Divine Comedy.

The inverted tower also symbolizes the maternal womb from which life comes and the grave to which it will return. At the end, in the lower part, is inlaid, in marble, a compass rose (eight-pointed star) on a Templar cross.

When did Regaleira open to the public?

In 1920, following the death of Carvalho Monteiro, the Quinta was inherited by his son Pedro, who sold it to Waldemar D’Orey in 1946.

The Orey family carried out extensive restoration work and decorative alterations to the palace until its sale, in 1988, to the Japanese company Aoki Corporation. During this period, it was kept closed, with only a caretaker guarding it.

In 1997, the Quinta was purchased by the Municipality of Sintra and opened to the public the following year.