Quinta da Regaleira is a 10-mim walk from old Sintra and well worth a visit. The gardens are lovely, lush and quite magical. My kids loved walking/running around and playing make believe in the grottos & tunnels. You can easily spend a nice morning here - highly recommended!
This place was the reason I wanted to visit Sintra on our trip to Portugal and it didn’t disappoint. It was excellent value for money. The grounds are magical with a different vista at every turn. The palace is beautiful and the great hall my favourite room.
The initiation well was incredible.
Absolute must see
Our guide Hugo had it all. A casual, friendly yet very professional in his approach to ensuring we had a grasp of the often complicated history. His excursion into the freemasonry rituals, advice on food options without pushing anything in particular was appreciated. Our tour went overtime but he was as sweet and caring for the customer experience at the end as he was at the beginning
We visited this place as part of a day trip to Sintra. We had already been to Pena Palace and Castle of the Moors so we were quite tired but so glad we decided to keep going and spent a couple of hours exploring the grounds.The place is amazing, I have never seen anything like the 'Initiation Well' inverted tower, it is quite unique with underground tunnels, waterfalls, towers and stepping-stones. The whole place is intriguing and well worth a visit.
I visited Regaleira during a second visit to Portugal, this time I went to see Sintra with my husband. We walked the entire state and explored every corner.
It is worth getting the audio guide but I don’t think the paid guide at around 50 euros is worth it as the audio is well detailed and the staff is able to give info in English. The map helps the visitors to get through as well, even though the day we visited there were no maps in English or Portuguese, so we had to use the one in French! Things sometimes do not work as they should in Portugal, not the most organised in what tourism is concerned, despite being one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. We experienced problems in the train from Lisbon to Sintra, in Lisbon itself and in Cascais, but part of travelling, right?
Regaleira is an amazing place and worth it paying to go in. Full of symbolism, tunnels, beautiful gardens and towers. Really great to all ages and families. There is a lot to walk, steps and tunnels, so might not be entirely ideal for really elderly people, even though they can still enjoy the gardens.
Wear comfortable clothes and shoes. Make sure to arrive in Sintra early in the morning, as the city gets really busy. Do not bother with the tourist packages they try to sell at the station. Regaleira is from a walking distance of the station and you can get the bus pass to visit the other places as well. You need at least 3 hours to see Regaleira properly!
After Regaleira go to the Moorish fortress (get the bus) and then Palacio da Pena.
Get the tickets at the station and for Palacio da Pena get the tickets only for the gardens, I went inside in my first visit to Portugal with my parents and I don’t really think the money is worth it. The beauty of Palacio da Pena is its architecture, the outside. I only did the gardens with my husband this second and I had a better experience. Walk all around the the gardens and let the Palacio itself for the sunset time!
The park is beautiful. You can see the wells, castles and the vegetation around.
The entrance fee is 6 euros. You can take an audio guide, not sure if it's for free. On the entrance you also get a map. They had maps only in French, not even in Portuguese. The scale on the map seemed not so accurate, but it's not hard to orientate.
The biggest problem is the parking. You can't park on the road, however many people do so. There's parking in the hotel across the street, but you're not supposed to use that unless you have a reservation. If you miss the hotel, you can't go back and have to circle around Sintra. It takes about 20 minutes to get back to the park. That's very frustrating.
Consider using public transportation if possible.
