Pena Palace from Lisbon: how to get there, and palace or park ticket?
How to reach Pena Palace in Sintra from Lisbon without a car, how long each stage takes, what the time on the ticket refers to, and when the park ticket is enough.
In 1836 a German prince of nineteen, Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, arrived in Lisbon to marry Queen Maria II of Portugal. Two years later he bought, with his own money, a ruin on a peak above the town of Sintra: a small monastery founded by King Manuel I in 1503 and wrecked by the great earthquake of 1755. He gave the job of rebuilding it to Baron von Eschwege, a German mining engineer, and for more than a decade the two of them added towers, domes, a drawbridge and a tunnel of an entrance around what was left of the cloister.
The result is the red and yellow palace on every poster of Portugal. It stands nearly five hundred metres above the sea, on top of a wooded hill, at the end of a narrow road. The palace is easy to love and awkward to reach, and most of what goes wrong on a day trip here goes wrong before the front door.
Lisbon to Sintra
Take the train. The Sintra line starts at Rossio station in the centre of Lisbon, runs several times an hour and takes about forty minutes. Sintra is the last stop, so you cannot miss it. Buy your ticket before boarding and keep it for the gates at the other end.
Do not drive. The roads up the hill are narrow and one-way, traffic around the old town is restricted, and there is almost nowhere to park near the palace.
Sintra station, the last stop of the line from Lisbon. Photo: Andrzej Otrębski, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sintra station to the palace gate
The gate of the park is about three and a half kilometres from the station and a long way above it.
- Bus 434 runs a one-way loop: the station, the old town, the Castle of the Moors, Pena, and back down. In high season the line for it at the station can be long by mid-morning.
- A taxi, a ride-hailing car or a tuk-tuk costs more and saves the wait. Agree where you will be dropped: the main gate is the one you want.
- On foot, a marked path climbs from the old town through the woods in about an hour. It is steep and shaded, and a good way to come down.
The palace on its peak, seen from the Castle of the Moors. Everything below it is the park. Photo: Jakub Hałun, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
The time on your ticket
This is the detail that catches people. The inside of the palace is visited by time slot, and the time printed on your ticket is the time at the door of the palace, not at the gate of the park.
Between the two there is a second climb: a steep ten to fifteen minutes on foot through the gardens, or a short ride on a small shuttle that is paid for separately. Add the check at the gate, and you should be walking into the park at least half an hour before your slot. If your train or your bus runs late and you miss the time, the staff are entitled to refuse you.
So work backwards. For a slot at eleven, be at the gate by half past ten, on a bus by ten, and on a train out of Lisbon before nine.
Palace or park ticket?
There are two kinds of ticket, and the cheaper one is not a mistake.
- Palace and park gets you inside the building at your time slot, and into the whole park before and after.
- Park only has no time slot. You walk the grounds and see the palace from outside, close enough to touch its walls. It has also let visitors onto the outer terraces of the palace: check that this is written on the ticket you buy.
What do you get inside? The cloister of the old monastery, lined with tiles. Its chapel, with an altarpiece in alabaster and black marble carved around 1530. And a chain of small royal rooms kept as the family left them, down to the kitchen and its copper pans: the last queen of Portugal spent her final night in the country here in October 1910. The rooms are narrow, the route is one-way, and on a busy day you shuffle through in a slow line.
Outside is the part everyone photographs: the coloured walls, the Triton archway, the wall walk with its views to the Atlantic, and a park of some eighty-five hectares that Ferdinand planted with trees from every continent. The High Cross, a viewpoint on the top of the Sintra hills, looks back at the palace from above.
The Triton above the archway into the palace. Photo: Husond, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Choose the palace ticket if you like royal interiors, if you are here on a quiet weekday or out of season, or if this is your one palace in Portugal.
- Choose the park ticket if you are short of time, travelling with small children, visiting on a summer weekend, or cannot get a time slot that fits your trains.
Red for the old monastery, yellow for the palace built around it. Photo: Chabe01, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Reading the partner's listings
- A palace entrance ticket is entry at a set time. Read which areas are listed.
- A ticket with an audio tour adds a guide in the partner's app on your phone. One version covers the palace; another names both the palace and the park. Bring earphones.
- A priority entrance ticket. Open its "included" section before you pay more for the word priority, and make sure something is written there.
- An audio tour on its own is commentary only, with no entry.
Several of these are listed twice, once under Sintra and once under Lisbon. A title that begins with Lisbon does not mean transport from Lisbon: none of these products includes the train or the bus.
These are the Pena Palace tickets and audio tours our partner sells, with today's prices:
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Art & Museums Sintra: Pena Palace Ticket & Audio Tour of the Portuguese Fairy Tale
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Attraction Tickets Pena Palace Entrance Ticket
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Attraction Tickets Sintra: Pena Palace & Park Ticket & Audio Tour
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History & Heritage Lisbon: Pena Palace Ticket & Portuguese Fairy Tale Audio Tour
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Museum & Attraction Tickets National Palace of Pena & Park: Priority Entrance Ticket
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History & Heritage Sintra: Pena Palace Audio Tour
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When to go
- The first slot of the day, reached by an early train, is the only one without a crowd in summer. Late afternoon is second best.
- Sintra has its own weather. The hill can sit in cloud and wind while Lisbon is in sunshine, so bring a layer, and do not count on the view.
- Weekends and Portuguese public holidays are the busiest days.
Opening hours and last entries change with the season. The current ones are on our page for Pena Palace.
From here
The Castle of the Moors is a ten-minute walk downhill from the Pena gate, a line of ruined walls along a ridge with a ticket of its own. Down in the town are the National Palace with its two white chimneys and, a short walk beyond it, Quinta da Regaleira with its spiral well. Three sights are too many for one day: choose two. See what else there is in Sintra, or plan the days around it with the trip planner for Portugal.
Cover photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Frequently asked questions
How do you get to Pena Palace from Lisbon?
Take the train from Rossio station in Lisbon to Sintra, the last stop, in about forty minutes. From Sintra station take bus 434, a taxi or a tuk-tuk up to the gate of the park, or walk up in about an hour.
What is the difference between the palace ticket and the park ticket at Pena?
The palace and park ticket lets you inside the building at a set time, as well as into the grounds. The park ticket covers the grounds only, with the palace seen from outside, and has no time slot.
What does the time on a Pena Palace ticket mean?
It is the time at the door of the palace, not at the gate of the park. The walk between the two is steep and takes ten to fifteen minutes, so enter the park at least half an hour earlier.
Is the inside of Pena Palace worth it?
It is if you like royal interiors and can visit at a quiet time. The rooms are small and the route is a slow one-way line on busy days. The best-known views of the palace are all outside.
Can you walk from Sintra station to Pena Palace?
Yes. A marked path climbs from the old town through the woods in about an hour. It is steep, so many visitors ride up and walk down.
