Sintra and also Porto or Lisbon

Hello,

My husband and myself are thinking of going to Lisbon in September but I'm not sure.

I have my heart set on Sintra but I'm not sure it's worth a 5 night stay. So we thought we would do 3 nights in Lisbon as well. Porto is a longer drive from Sintra but is another possible destination.

Weather wise I can't tolerate temperatures in the late twenties and I'm not sure how enjoyable I would find a city with lots and lots of hills.

We don't know which city to pick.

Does anyone here have any experiences or advice?

granturismo

I was in Lisbon in mid may for 4 nights. Temps were 25C. If you dont like hills then Lisbon isnt for you unless you want to take ubers which are relatively cheap. Trams and funicular are also an option.

I found Sintra underwhelming, We queued to get into Sintra grounds for about 30 minutes and then another 45 wait in the sun until our booked time slot into the castle. The walk to the castle is a very steep 10 minute walk but there are buses available, (dont know the cost).

The queue into Mosteiro dos Jerónimos was about 45 minutes. Booking tickets online before hand is the only option for entry to both these. Castelo de S. Jorge is best visited for its views and had a minimum hour long queue to buy entry tickets and online booking is available a few days in advance - there are equally nice views in at least two other locations for free; Miradouro da Senhora do Monte and Miradouro do Jardim do Torel but walking or transport of some sort is required. For me, neither were worth the queuing.

We never took a tuk-tuk, they didnt look very comfortable in the cobbled streets, some of the drivers seemed to be entertaining, instead did a lot of walking, took a few ubers and took the train to Sintra, Carcavelos and Cascais. Cascais was worth a day trip if youre staying in Lisbon. If you're getting the train to Sintra, we queued for 45 minutes to get tickets in Rossio station - the queues for the staffed ticket counter move much quicker that the queues for the ticket machines even with a staff member helping at each machine. From then on, we always queued at the ticket counter to load our train card.

Queues are to be expected in such a popular tourist destination, huge queues for the Santa Justa lift when there is queueless free alternative to get to the same spot, huge queues for the 28 tram and you might get stuck standing with any views blocked by other tourists crammed in, but there are private trams that run the same route and start at the same place - there was no queue for the private tram when I passed by.

I've never been to Porto but will definitely go back to Lisbon. I really liked mooching around Lisbon.

Thank you.

I had forgotten that I made this thread. Hills are fine really but there are hills and there are hills 😆

We've decided not to go to Portugal this year but when we do Sintra will be a day trip from Lisbon and we will go maybe in April when it's quieter.

grimm2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120930771#Comment_120930771

I can highly recommend your plan to go to Lisbon in April, I've been a couple of times, once in September also and the weather is fantastic, hot but not sweltering and very pleasant. Day trip to Sintra is also highly recommended, I've had the opposite experience to granturismo in Sintra, crowds pretty mild with short to no queues for any of the main attractions there. I've also gotten the hop on/hop off bus each time, and this is a great option if you're not completely sure which attractions you want to go to and you'll avoid all the hills and wondering the best way of getting to things. If you get there early in the day, you'll have time for probably 3 major attractions, depending on your pace and they do a 10 minute stop at Cabo de Roca for photos and a brief wander. What I would agree with previous poster on is to queue for a ticket at the normal desk at train station, everyone pretty much is going to the same place so they fire out the tickets quickly while people are fumbling with the ticket machine.

With Lisbon, there does tend to be crowds on the 28 tram but I would still recommend it due to its historical relevance. It's not too crowded in April and if you pick it up at its terminal you'll likely get a seat. I've been to Lisbon quite a few times and it's one of my favourite cities, so if you need any advice on where to stay/what to do etc, feel free to post back in here or PM me for more info!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121133472#Comment_121133472

Very informative. Thanks grimm.

We are going to Malaga instead. It should be sunny and warm without being hot 🤞🏻 A colleague of mine is going to Lisbon in a few weeks so I am a tiny bit regretful but I think Spring will be best.

Any experience with Christmas markets? 😛 That's on the cards for December.

grimm2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121143925#Comment_121143925

No problem! Definitely Spring is a good time to go.

Yes, me and my partner go someone different for the markets every year in December. We've been to quite a few but I think the ones in Germany are probably the best we've been to so far, specifically we've been to Munich and Nuremberg. I think Munich probably pips it as the better one but more because its a bigger city and they have different themed markets dotted around different areas in the city. The Nuremburg ones are great as well, they are huge but all localised in the one area. Also I think Dublin to Nuremburg direct flights are no longer running in Winter so Munich is probably easier (granted the cities are close to each other so you could do either flying into Munich).

Special mention to Vienna ones also, we had a great time there and the city also is lovely. You can also do Bratislava as the cities are only an hour apart and both have direct flights so you could fly into Vienna and out of Bratislava for example (we did this), but definitely spend more time in Vienna.

This year we had planned on Budapest as they are highly rated and we both love the city, I've been a few times, but we opted for Cluj Napoca in Romania in the end as neither of us have been and we're both interested in doing some tours around the Transylvania region where Cluj is based.

delboythedub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121143925#Comment_121143925

Cascais is a 30 minute train ride from lisbon ( Cais de sodre) and its has Christmas market. Lovely area. You could also get a taxi from Cascais up to sintra