Sintra and Cascais

It took me only about 10 days to finish this post… progress!

I wanted to do a day trip nearby and after some googling I wanted to go to Sintra. The train to Sintra takes just 40 mins from Rossio train station and the return ticket costs 5 € (50 cents for the card itself). From Sintra train station it is easy to take the bus to the Pena palace, the round trip costs 5.50 €, or if you want to have multiple stops, you should take hop on hop off ticket which costs 12 €. I walked to the National palace of Sintra and visited that first, then took the bus to the Pena palace. It is not that far but the road there is really steep and narrow so I really advice not to walk there! I should’ve gone to the Pena palace first, because it is more popular, and it gets crowded… so you should go there either first thing in the morning, or later in the afternoon. I was there in rush hour, so it was a bit too crowded but not as bad as I thought it would be. Busses were totally full and the lines were quite long. You know that for me too crowded means there is someone else too. Beautiful sunny Sunday and someone else than me also got the same idea to visit one of the main sights in Portugal. Can you imagine that?

The entrance fee to the National palace is 10 € and to the Pena palace 14 €, those are prizes during the high season, from November it will be a bit cheaper. The Pena palace is really amazing and the view is just unbelievable! There is also Moorish castle near Pena but I didn’t visit that, but it looks interesting too. Then I just took the bus from the Pena palace back to train station. Lovely day! Also had lunch next to the train station at a chinese restaurant (I know).

Photos of the National palace

A few photos of Sintra. The restaurants near the National palace seemed very expensive! I just had a cup of tea but I looked at the menu and even a salad was like 14 €! So don't eat around there, they really are charging the tourists big time. 

Photos of Pena Palace

The next weekend I went to Cascais which is also just 40 mins by train. The train leaves from Cais do Sodre and return ticket was 4,50 € (because I already had the train card). The train goes along the coast line so it is worth just for that! Absolutely gorgeous! Cascais is a small town, very idyllic centre and beautiful beach. I spent a great sunny Sunday there and had very good Indian food ☺. Totally recommend it for a day trip from Lisbon.

Photos of Cascais

Lots of photos in this post, so this was a very typical travel blog post! Hope you enjoy them, I sure enjoyed visiting these places ☺.

Been almost a month in Lisbon now. Still live in a hotel and still enjoying the city and everything here. I am having a great time with friends and job is quite easy. It is very relaxing to be here! I have also found a Mexican restaurant that serves bloody good strawberry Margaritas 👍. Have to go back there, the food was also good. This weekend I will have 3 days off so I am going to Porto, leaving on Saturday and coming back on Monday. Also the next weekend I will have 3 days off, don't have plans for that yet… maybe Salamanca? So my next post will be about Porto but I should not even hint when I will do that 😂.