Sintra and Cascais

[Thu 5/18 - Sat 5/20] 

We left Sagres around 11am and hustled north through Lisbon then west to Sintra. It's about a 4-hour drive and we had tickets for 4pm entry to the main attraction in town - Pena Palace. Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage site nestled in the hills about 30 minutes west of Lisbon. It dates back to the 8th century and is home to some of Portugal's oldest castles and attractions. We checked in to our hotel, Chalet Saudade, a beautiful converted century home. Parked the car and, at the hotel's recommendation, called an Uber to take us to the palace. It's a 30+ minute steep climb to the top of the tallest hill, through busy, incredibly narrow, winding streets up to the Palace gates. From there, it's 10 minute uphill walk to a 2nd gate where we joined the already-long line for the 4pm tour. 

We waited a while for the line to start moving, then shuffled to the palace entrance, eventually realizing that the entire tour was a slow-moving, snaking line of tourists following a specific path through the palace - not what we were expecting, but we made the most of it. It's a unique, colorful palace - reminiscent of something you'd see at Disneyland (the long line of tourists reinforces that association). It was commissioned as a royal retreat in the 19th century by King Ferdinand II on the site of a former monastery.

Pena Palace from below, while waiting in the '4pm entry' line

Colorful spires and turrets

Dining room

After touring the main palace the tour empties to a courtyard where we were (finally) free to wander and explore a bit. 

Great views in every direction

Vibrant stained glass

After the tour, we decided to walk about 20-minutes to the Moorish Castle, only to find that 'closes at 6:30pm' means 'closes at 6pm'. We continued walking down the hill, through a lovely park with winding trails, eventually ending up in the historic center of Sintra. We wandered a bit then found a restaurant, Becco de Sintra, with outdoor seating and local fare.

Walk down from Moorish Castle

Inspecting the armaments of the outer castle wall

Dining al fresco at Becco de Sintra

After dinner, we hustled back to the hotel to catch the sunset from the rooftop deck of our room.

Walk back to the hotel - that's the Moorish Castle at the top of the hill

Entrance to our hotel - Chalet Saudade

Sunset over the Atlantic from our rooftop deck

We got a reasonably-early start on Friday, hoping to explore 2 or 3 more castles. We started at the Palacio Nacional de Sintra, a mish-mash castle initially built by the Moors in the 10th or 11th century, then expanded and remodeled by various kings and queens over the next several centuries. It was beautiful and interesting and, best of all, not too crowded. We enjoyed wandering around.

Approaching the National Palace - those towers are the chimneys of the palace kitchen(!)

The main entrance

Several rooms had painted ceilings that gave them their name, e.g., Swan Room

Mermaid Room

(A portion of) the kitchen - under the 2 massive towers

After exploring the castle, we wandered in the gardens a bit, then walked to our next stop, Quinta da Regleira, a 19th century castle known for its surrounding park and gardens.

Quinta da Regleira

Fountain with mosaic stonework

A cool attraction in the gardens is the Initiation Well, also known as the 'Inverted Castle'. It consists of 2 spiral staircases that descend 90 feet below ground level. It's believed to have been built for initiation ceremonies and/or self-discovery, but its origins aren't fully known. There's a series of tunnels at the bottom that add to the mystique.

Starting our descent

Took a while to realize there were 2 separate staircases

The bottom

Looking up

Tunnels below

The Quinta

After touring the gardens, we briefly walked through the castle before heading out to find some lunch. Thomas and Caroline found a cafe while Karri and I stopped at a shop to buy fresh berries, bread and cheese for lunch on our deck.

Mmmm

After lunch, we climbed up the hill again to the Moorish Castle, which dates to the 10th century when the area was controlled by Moors. There's no 'castle' per se, just stone walls and towers with spectacular views of the area. Really cool.

Castle walls

Impressive views

Pena Palace (slightly) above

We walked back down to the town center, had a nice dinner on the square, then headed back to the hotel and to bed. Saturday we had breakfast, then packed up and drove about 20 minutes to the beautiful coastal town of Cascais for a quick look-around before continuing on to Lisbon.

Coast at Cascais with daring fishermen dotting the rocks

Boca de Inferno (mouth of Hell)

The Algarve

[Tue 5/16 - Thu 5/18]

We decided to take a slightly-longer coastal route for the drive south to Sagres in the Algarve. Stopped to stretch our legs and walk to what we thought would be a beach and ended up on a spectacular cliff overlooking the Atlantic.

Drive through Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina

Boardwalk stroll to overlook

Overlook at Praia da Baía da Arquinha - Beach of the Little Arch (I think)

Continued another 90 minutes south to our hotel/B&B, Nook, outside the beach town of Sagres. Nook was unique and lovely. It's on a dirt/gravel road in the middle of open fields with barely another building in sight - and a distant view of the ocean to the south. It has maybe 10 rooms, with a shared kitchen and lot's of space to unwind.

Entrance to our B&B

View south from our patio

We settled in, then drove about 5 miles to a lighthouse at the southwestern tip of Portugal. The spot is renowned as the last piece of mainland Portuguese and Spanish explorers would see before heading off to the new world. Pretty cool.

Lighthouse of Cabo de São Vicente (Cape of Saint Vincent)

View to the north

View to the southwest

St Vincent (appropriately, patron saint of wine)

We drove about 5 miles east to Sagres, a classic beach town with surf shops, coffeeshops, restaurants and bars. Had a delicious seafood dinner at A Tasca - a converted fish market with a great view of the ocean. Thomas and I both had cataplana - a traditional seafood stew served in a clam-shaped metal bowl. So good!

Cataplana

Wednesday was our first - and possibly only - beach day of the trip. After breakfast at the hotel, we drove about 15 minutes over dirt/gravel roads to the western coast. Parked at the top of a steep hill then walked down to Ponta Ruiva Beach - a large, sandy cove surrounded by rocky hills and cliffs. 

Relaxing morning coffee on the patio

Walk down to Ponta Ruiva Beach

Almost there; several 4-wheel drive surf-mobiles made the drive down

A beautiful beach with a handful of surfers in the water (while their dogs waited anxiously on shore) 

Postcard day

Stratified rock formation

We walked the beach and relaxed for 90 minutes or so before heading back to the hotel to grab our dirty laundry (9 days into the trip!) and head into Sagres. Dropped Thomas and Caroline at another beach while Karri and I headed to Laundry Lounge for laundry, a beer and some snacks - great spot. Thomas and Caroline walked back as we were finishing up the laundry and we headed back to the hotel to drop our clean clothes - and clean up ourselves - before heading to dinner back in Sagres. Caught a gorgeous sunset before enjoying a great meal at Armazem, where we tried Percebes (barnacles) - a popular local appetizer that were surprisingly good!

Sunset from Sagres - the peninsula below the sun is the Cape of St Vincent (lighthouse)

Praia do Tonel beach at sunset

Percebes (barnacles) - our waiter was very proud and excited to show us how to enjoy them

Thursday we had breakfast at the hotel again, then packed up and hit the road for Sintra, near Lisbon. We loved our brief time in the Algarve and all agreed we'd love to come back and explore some more!

Bussaco National Forest and Tomar

[Mon 5/15 - Tue 5/16] 

We were on the road from Pinhão before noon, retracing our path along the south side of the river for the first 30 minutes or so. Stopped to quickly check out a dam until we realized it also had a lock to allow boats to pass through, so ended up staying to watch a boat be raised about 90' in a single, gravity-powered lock - very cool. 

'Elevator going down' - this guy entered the lock after we watched a smaller boat get raised

Continued southwest for about 3 hours then decided to check out Buçaco National Forest, a park with several historic buildings, including a Carmelite convent from the early 1600s that is now a luxury hotel. The grounds were once maintained as an arboretum with trails to several smaller religious buildings. We decided to walk a bit and found ourselves on a trail of several small chapels representing the stations of the cross.

The convent of Santa Cruz - now a luxury hotel

Gardens behind the hotel

We took a brief stroll through the hotel before we were asked to leave (oops)

One of the stations of the cross buildings with a statue depicting the scene inside

An overlook in Buçaco National Forest

Drove another hour to the town of Fatima and Our Lady of Fatima, where Mary is said to have appeared to 3 shepherd children in 1917. The site was initially marked with a small chapel and statue, but now is home to two massive basilicas and is a popular destination for Catholic pilgrims.  

Basilica of our Lady of the Rosary

Stained-glass windows inside the beautiful basilica

We drove another 40 minutes to our final destination for the day, Tomar. Navigated some insanely narrow streets to drop bags at our hotel, Casa Dos Oficios, parked and checked in. We walked the small but charming town for a bit then had a delicious meal on the riverside patio of Beira Rio restaurant.

The beautiful town of Tomar on the Nabão River

Tuesday we grabbed a quick breakfast in the hotel, then walked a long uphill path to the main attraction in Tomar - Convento de Cristo. The convent is housed inside a former castle that was headquarters of the Knights Templar from it's founding in 1160 until the order was dissolved in 1314. It later became home to the Knights of the Order of Christ, who were responsible for funding Portugal's maritime discoveries in the 1400's.

Church of St John the Baptist in Tomar

Hike up to the castle; it was easy to imagine knights on horseback climbing the same hill

A well-protected castle (on a beautiful day!)

We walked along some of the outer wall before going inside

Ceiling in one of the smaller chapels

The Oratory

So many beautiful touches

Central courtyard

Afterward, we stopped at the hotel to clean up and check out. We grabbed a couple delicious roasted pork sandwiches from a small cafe, then walked the town a bit more before hitting the road again - heading south to the Algarve. We all loved our brief time in Tomar.