The Solo Scale:

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Portugal has quickly become one of the most popular destinations in Europe. That’s likely due to a combination of favourable prices, beautiful locations, and a little bit of social media envy in the mix. Still, it’s for a good reason. Heading to Portugal and the Lisbon area gives you plenty to see. You could stay in the city and ride the trams, see monasteries, monuments, and more. You could head out to wine country to sample amazing vintages.

Another option is to venture just outside of Lisbon towards Sintra where you can spend a day exploring the many sights. While you’re in the area, there’s also a view other stops you can make to have a full day of fantastic sights.

This small group tour that takes you to Sintra and several other destinations is a great way to spend a day outside of Lisbon. You’ll find many versions of this tour, but I like this one because it includes multiple stops and admission to both Quinta da Regaleira and Pena Palace. This tour is also great because it does hotel pick up. Just hope that you’re one of the last pickups, or you might spend most of your early morning driving around Lisbon to get the other members of your small group.

So, if you do decide to take the tour, what does the day look like?

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Sintra

The day begins in Sintra the town. The nice part about this small tour is that it goes to the town first. That means that it’s still a decent hour of the morning and the town won’t be flooded with that many tourists yet. It’s true that you might see more closed shops than open, but you can still wander to see the shops on offer. Plus, there’s amazing tilework in every street and alley.

There’s not too much time here before you move on, but it’s a nice start to the day. Above you looms the Moorish Castle in the Sintra Hills. Beyond that is Pena Palace, which you’ll be visiting later in the day.

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Quinta da Regaleira

Constructed in the late 1800’s, Quina da Regaleira is the work of a Portuguese businessman and an Italian architect. With the right admission, you can head inside and explore the house and the views from it. Once you’ve navigated through the house, there’s still plenty to see on the estate grounds. Here, you can walk through tunnels and a grotto (on literal stepping stones). You can see the beautiful mosaic work on the Fountain of Abundance.

The most notable thing you’ll see is the Intention Well. Chances are that you’ve already seen this on the internet somewhere. It’s still incredibly cool to wander down (and it does get a bit chilly at the bottom!) The spiral staircase is not too daunting, so if you’re in good shape, take the trip down.

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Cabo da Roca

The day’s not done yet. Now, it’s time to head to the most easterly point in Portugal at Cabo da Roca. The winds will be whipping heavily here. It’s not a long stop, but other than walking up and down the coast, you don’t need much time.

It is very neat to think about the fact that if you kept travelling onward from this point, you’d start reaching islands and then North America. Enjoy the fresh air and take a few moments to walk around, but don’t get too close to the edge, especially if you have a fear of heights as it can be a fairly daunting drop.

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Cascais

Midway through the day, we settled in Cascais for a lunchtime stop. It’s a beautiful sunny seaside town. You’d think that means that some of the restaurants here have fantastic seafood and they probably do. However, don’t make the mistake I did and pick the first restaurant in the square.

Once you finish eating, you can wander around the gorgeous little squares and do some shopping, but your day isn’t over yet. There’s one more stop left, and it’s a pretty big one.

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Pena Palace

On our tour, the last stop of the day was at Pena Palace, but the order of visit may change for you. This is included in the price of some of the tours, but double check which ones. The palace visit focuses on the colourful palace on the hill, and gives you a couple hours to explore. There’s no included guide for the tour, so keep that in mind when you’re booking.

For more details on Pena Palace, you can read my standalone post here.

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When your time at the Pena Palace, it’s time to head back in your van for a drop-off back at your hotel! This will be around the dinner hour (depending on whether traffic delays you further). That means you’ve had a fulsome day exploring Sintra and the area around it!

I highly recommend this day trip because it gives you stops at some fantastic spots and gives you a taste of what there is to see just outside Lisbon.

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