Sintra Private Walking Tour

If you have the feeling that Lisbon might not be enough for you, then try a one day trip to Sintra and surroundings. Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Sintra might be more than you bargained for. The royal retreats, estates, castles and other buildings, including views of the medieval Castelo dos Mouros, the Pena National Palace and the Sintra National Palace will take you by surprise.

What you thought to be a simple one day trip from Lisbon, might hook you for your entire trip. Not to forget is also the most western point of Europe, Cabo da Roca, at the end of the Serra de Sintra mountain. You might not want to leave.

You will learn about:

*From the Neolithic to the Bronze Age;

*Roman Empire and first settlements of the 2nd century b.C.;

*Muslim domain and the Moorish castle;

*Origins of the name Sintra;

*Christian reconquest and the Kingdom of Portugal;

*Importance of Sintra in the conquest of Lisbon;

*High medieval age;

*History of the Royal Palace;

*18th and 19th century romanticist influence;

*Arrival of European aristocratic elite;

*History of King Fernando II and the construction of the Pena National Palace;

*Retreat for national and international artists and writers (Eça de Queiroz, Ramalho Ortigão, Henry Fielding, Robert Southey, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron and Isaac Bashevis Singer, to name a few).

You will see:

*Views of the Palácio da Pena national palace;

*Views of the Castelo dos Mouros castle;

*Outside view of the National Royal Palace of Sintra;

*City Hall (Câmara Municipal);

*Valenças Palace (Palácio Valenças);

*St. Martin’s Church (Igreja de S. Martinho);

*Lord Byron’s Corner House;

*Fonte Mourisca (Moorish Fountain).

Languages

English and Portuguese