Sintra

So it’s November and I still have photos to blog from our holiday in Lisbon at EASTER. Terrible! But I did want to blog these photos because Pena Palace in Sintra is such a ridiculous and photogenic place. The town Sintra sits inland from Lisbon on a hill, and is generally about 5 degrees less hot than Lison itself. This made it a popular summer residence for the royals. Pena palace was built in the 19th century and it’s a mish mash of styles. The Royals were involved in the design and chucked in some medieval and moorish styles, and the architect was German and inspired by Neuschwanstein and the castles on the Rhine. So it is a bit mad and pastichey, but also really fun!

It was crazy busy in the actual palace, definitely (note almost all the photos are framed upwards). All the guidebooks tell you to get there early but what they didn’t mention was that the train that takes you to Sintra town also has a half our queue for tickets, only goes every half hour, and is rammed. So we did not in fact get there that early! But the gardens are large so it does spread out a bit.

When we’d been to Lisbon before, Milo was still in his buggy and we decided not to go to Sintra, which turned out definitely the right decision. Between the train and the bus being completely packed, and the steep paths to get from the gate to the actual palace, this is definitely one for reliably walking children only. The boys had fun though, lots of running around and spotting things opportunities.