Sintra, Pena Palace, Quinta da Regaleira, Cabo da Roca and Cascais in a day

Sintra is the day trip almost everyone takes from Lisbon, and for good reason. The hills above the town hold a run of romantic palaces and gardens that UNESCO listed as the Cultural Landscape of Sintra in 1995, and this tour puts two of the most famous, Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira, into one day with the Atlantic coast. You leave from central Lisbon, where GetYourGuide's map pin for the start sits beside Rossio station, and travel out with a live guide in English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian or German. The listing gives 9 hours in all.

Pena is the yellow, red and blue palace on the summit, the one on every poster of Portugal. Parques de Sintra, the public company that runs it, calls it the pinnacle of Romanticism in Portugal and the legacy of Ferdinand II, the King-Artist. Its Essential Visit ticket covers a self-guided route through the palace's New Wing, the terraces and the park around it, and entry to the palace is only at the time printed on the ticket. Quinta da Regaleira, down the hill near the old town, is a garden of grottoes, towers and tunnels around a private palace. Its most famous sight is the Initiation Well, a spiral staircase sunk nine storeys into the rock, and the listing says you descend it.

From the hills the road runs west to Cabo da Roca, which Parques de Sintra describes as the westernmost point of continental Europe: a lighthouse, a stone marker and sheer cliffs above the ocean. The day ends in Cascais, the old fishing town turned seaside resort on the line back to Lisbon, where the listing promises time by the waterfront before the drive home. The route along the coast is the part a train day cannot easily match: Sintra and Cascais are on separate railway lines from Lisbon, and Cabo da Roca lies between them.

The price is the thing to understand before you book. On 7 November 2026 the tour cost from 24.20 euros on GetYourGuide, down from 44 euros. Parques de Sintra sells the Pena Essential Visit at 20 euros for an adult, and Quinta da Regaleira's own ticket office sells adult entry at 20 euros, so the cheapest option cannot include both tickets. GetYourGuide lists a private option and hotel pickup as well; the calendar shows each option and what it includes.

On 7 November 2026 this was rated higher than any other Sintra and Cascais day trip on GetYourGuide with more than 10,000 reviews: 4.8 from about 12,600. Its nearest twin, Lisbon: Sintra, Pena, Regaleira & Cabo Roca & Cascais Coast, costs the same 24.20 euros and has twice the reviews, about 24,900, but rates 4.7, runs 9.5 to 10 hours, and its listing shows Cascais only as a panorama from the coach. This one gives you time in Cascais itself, offers hotel pickup and a private option, and is half an hour or more shorter. If you would rather have everything paid for in one price, Lisbon: Sintra, Pena, Cascais & Cabo Day Tour With Tickets is a small-group day rated 4.9 from about 2,000 reviews, from 68 euros, with the tickets included. If you want Sintra alone and an earlier finish, From Lisbon: Sintra, Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira takes 8 hours, rated 4.7 from about 2,600, from 35.20 euros.

You can also do Sintra without a tour. Trains run from Rossio station to Sintra in 40 minutes, 5.10 euros return, and Scotturb's 434 bus climbs to Pena; CP's 14 euro Train & Bus day ticket covers both (our Lisbon notes have the timetable). Add the two adult tickets, 40 euros, and the do-it-yourself day costs more than the cheapest tour option, takes more planning, and leaves out Cabo da Roca and Cascais. It is the better choice for anyone who wants a slow day in Sintra with the palace interiors. For a coast day without the palaces, see our Arrábida and Sesimbra day trip (from 75 euros); for a shorter outing in town, our guided Belém and Jerónimos Monastery tour (from 49.56 euros).