Day Trip Sintra Cascais full day tour Sintra

Our day tour from lisbon to sintra goes to the historical center of Sintra where you can see the beautiful old streets and take pictures of the National Palace of Sintra. With its rippling mountains, dewy forests thick with ferns and lichen, exotic gardens and glittering palaces, Sintra is like a page torn from a fairy tale. Its Unesco World Heritage–listed centre, Sintra-Vila, is dotted with pastel-hued manors folded into luxuriant hills that roll down to the blue Atlantic. The Cultural Landscape of Sintra is a few kilometres away from the Atlantic Ocean. This Cultural Landscape is an exceptional mixture of natural and cultural sites within a distinct framework. Seen from a distance, it gives the impression of an essentially natural landscape that is distinct from its surroundings: a small chain of forested granite mountains rising over the hilly rural landscape. When seen from closer at hand, the Serra reveals a surprisingly rich cultural evidence spanning over several centuries of Portugal's history.

Then day tour to Sintra from lisbon continue to Pena Palace, the most extravagant palace built on a rock at 500m Altitude dominating the whole coast to Lisbon.This bulding is a mixture of Moorish and Manueline, architecture. Pena Palace, in the historical town of Sintra and part of the Pena park, represents one of the best expressions in the world of 19th-century architectural Romanticism. On 7 July 2007, it was selected as one of the seven wonders of Portugal.
The Pena Palace is part of a set of Palaces and Monuments where we also include the National Palace of Queluz. Pena Palace was the first Romantic palace in Europe, having been built about 30 years before the charismatic Schloss Neuschwanstein, in Bavaria. The palace and park were designed and constructed as a single entity. From the palace, visitors look out on a mantle of greenery that covers over 200 hectares – Pena Park. This park offers wonderful walks, with numerous garden constructions.

Quinta da Regaleira is one of the most astonishing and unfathomable monuments of Sintra's Cultural Landscape, classified by UNESCO as World Heritage Site.
Set on the elegant promenade connecting Sintra's National Palace and Palácio de Seteais, the state was purchased in 1893 by philanthropist António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro for his family's summerhouse.
Between 1898 and 1913, in the hands of Italian architect and scenographer Luigi Manini, António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro converted his dominion into an ambicious Total Art project, submitted to a complex landscape and architectural program that materalized the imaginary garden concept, much in vogue since the late 17's.
It is nowadays considered the masterpiece of Neo-Manueline Art from the last period of romanticism in Sintra.

The day trip to sintra Cascais from lisbon goes to visit the Cabo da Roca, “where the land ends and sea begins”. The Cabo da Roca is the wild and rugged headland that marks the most westerly point of mainland Europe. These windswept cliffs and barren lands were believed to be the edge of the world up until the 14th century, and even today the region possesses a remote and untamed atmosphere. This isolated ambience of Cabo da Roca is enhanced by the very limited development within the area; there is a lighthouse, a coffee shop and a gift shop but nothing much else. The wind blasted and dramatic landscape is the primary draw of the Cabo da Roca, and is ideal for tourists who appreciate nature’s raw beauty. The Cabo da Roca is a popular destination with organised tours, as a stop between Sintra and Cascais, but it is easy to escape the throngs of tourists. Skirting along the top of the cliffs are challenging hiking trails that follow ancient coastal paths, and lead to pristine cove beach such as the Praia da Ursa or Praia da Adraga.

After Sintra and on the way to Cascais we go through the Boca do Inferno (mouth of hell). The Boca do Inferno is a unique sea-arch and cliff formation close to the town of Cascais. The coastline to the west of Cascais is exposed to fierce Atlantic Ocean waves and storms, and over millennia this has carved out jagged cliff faces and miss shaped rock formations. At the Boca do Inferno these powerful waves have chiselled out a sea arch, which then exposed much weaker rocks, and has been subsequently eroded to form a chasm within the cliffs. Into this opening the waves continual crash, and during violent winter storms water explodes upwards similar to an erupting volcano. Hence the overdramatic name of Boca do Inferno (Hell’s Mouth).

Finally a visit to Cascais - fishing village since the twelfth century and is well preserved until today. Cascais is the finest resort town of the Lisbon coastline, and is a highly recommended day trip from Lisbon. Within Cascais are grand mansions, fascinating museums and attractive parks, while the surrounding coastline offers beautiful beaches. Historically, Cascais was a minor fishing port, but this all changed in 1870 when King Luís I decreed that the town be the summer residence of the Portuguese nobility. This influx of the nobility’s entourage and the elite of Europe transformed Cascais into a sophisticated and refined destination, filled with grand villas and lavish venues. Today, Cascais is a charming town, which elegantly blends the fishing heritage, the 19th-century grandeur, with the expectations of modern tourism. Cascais is a popular holiday destination, but is equally suited for a day trip, with sufficient sights and activities to easily fill a day of sightseeing.

At the end of the day we return to Lisbon for the account along the coast, passing by Estoril until Lisbon, admiring the beautiful coast and it’s beaches.