A week around Lisbon!
 

We're flying in and out of Lisbon and will stay for a week around Easter. So, what do you think, should we stay at one hotel in Lisbon (any recommendations for under 100 euros for double?) or should we spend a few days there and a few somewhere else? Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks! :)

Siiiiinnnntrrrraaaa! siiiiinnnnttrrrraaa...
sinnnntrraaa...
(Oh, hi, Peep. I suggest staying in the old part of Sintra and going into Lisbon by train. And hiking up to the Moor's Castle and looking down over the valley and then on to Pena Palace...and the spooky gardens of Monserrat and the Cork Capuchin monastery...)
I stayed in the Explorer apartments there for two weeks and had a great time; Cabo da Roca and Obidos were two good trips out from there as well.

Hi Amy! Is Sintra a much better pick than Cascais?

Well, I liked it better! Cascais is a "beach town" and has lots more of the atmosphere of the Monty Python travel agent sketch (if you're familiar with that one).

Sintra, to me, has a lot more character and charm, especially the old part. You can take a bus into Cascais--I'm not sure if the open top ones would be operating then, but if so, wear sunscreen! (I didn't. Ouch.) Sintra does get daytrippers, but in the evenings it's really not crowded and the surroundings are lovely. It's a nice walk down to the train from the old part, and you can be in Lisbon in about 45 minutes.

Happy planning! I'm jealous :)

Thanks! Where are you off to next?? :) We're going to South Africa next month!

Peep, I agree with the idea of staying outside Lisbon, but we have chosen Cascais twice because of the ease of the commuter train into Lisbon. If I had a week, I would spend at least 2 nites in Obidos with a car and see that area as well--including Nazare, Batahla etc.

I think you should spend a few days there and a few somewhere else (Estoril, Cascais or Sintra; Coimbra or Porto if you're willing to travel that far). The Alfa expres train takes 3-hours to Porto. It also stops at Coimbra.

I don't do hotels: Residenciales are more my 'speed' & priced better for my budget. In Lisbon I like Estrela do Saldanha Avda. de la Republica, 17. It's at Metro Saldanha (Duque de Avila exit) and it's next door to Pasteleria Versailles, one of Lisbon's 'golden oldies.' Centraly located, clean and comfortable!
Carlos Ferreira, co-owner/manager speaks pretty good English.

I hadn't thought about Porto or Coimbra. Where is Obidos? Of all the places we could take the train to for say 3 days, which would you recommend? We've never been to Portugal except a week on Madeira. Thanks!

We spent two full days in Lisbon and one in Sintra and that was enough. Loved Obidos...tiny and picturesque. It's north of Lisbon via the A8. We stayed at Estalagem do Convento there. We had a car, so I don't know if you can get there via train. I also agree with bobthenavigator that Batalha is worth a visit.

We traveled Lisbon 2 years ago. WE spent 2 days in Sintra, took the bus to Cascais(did not care for here) then took the train to Lisbon for 3 days. Train travel between Lisbon and Sintra is very easy. Have fun!

How about this idea?

2 days Lisbon
2 days Nazare
2 days Sintra

Obidos sounds cool, but is it overrun with tourists?

hi peep

I'm sure you don't want to stay 2 days at Nazare. A better split would be:

Lisbon - 3 days
Nazare and (Obidos or Alcobaça or Batalha) - 1 day
Sintra - 2 days

Obidos has a train station however is not a major stop. Check carefully which are the trains that stop there, because only regional (slow) trains should do that.

Obidos is in the Oeste line. The head station in Lisbon is Rossio train station (the same you should use to catch trains to Sintra, except the actual trains are obviously diferent).

If you wish I could email my very favourites spots in Lisbon. To get the taste of Lisbon, 3 days are not too much.

Are you daft?? Nazare will be freezing in early April. It is cool in early September, let only April. Nazare is a beach community and there is very little to do if you aren't going to lie on the beach or swim.

You would be better off staying the extra days in Sintra or Lisbon. You could do Nazare as a day trip along with Bathala/Fatima (which you should visit for its spookiness and kitsch factor).

Freezing?? I wasn't planning to lounge on the beach. Isn't Nazare a cool little fishing village? Are you saying it's not worth spending a day there just to wander around?

Lobo_mau, thanks for the offer! My e-mail is [email protected].

Obidos sounds cool, but is it too touristy? Is every street lined with tourist shops?

Nazare is a beach resort. Many well-heeled Portuguese have summer homes there. Yes, there is a fishing village behind the beach. However, I wouldn't spend two days wandering around. It is worth no more than two-three hours. It would be a different story if you were there to sun yourself.

When I was in Nazare in early September, 2000, it was no more than 65F (and VERY windy), even though it was 90F in Lisboa. You couldn't even stick your feet in the water it was so cold. My ex-husband, Rogerio, lives in Lisboa and we went there for the day to sun. He told me it would be too cold, but I wanted to go anyway because it was on the way home from Bathala. Also, because it was off season, there were very few people around, just tour buses filled with day-trippers who come to shop at the stores that line the beach.

I am just giving you my experienced opinion, which you ASKED FOR in your posting. Do whatever you like, I don't care. Happy Travels.

No need to get your panties in a wad! I appreciate your opinion and have decided against Nazare. I think we'll spend a few days in Sintra and a few in Lisbon, and maybe one in Cascais.

Actually, I don't wear panties, but if I did they would be Chanel. :)

My posting was not meant to be bitchy. I must always state "IMO" in my postings or others jump on my back screaming, "We were in Nazare in April and it was 110F and the sea was like bathwater."

Last month some shrew jumped on me because I dared to say that it is wet and dreary in Lisboa in February. She and her husband were there in February and it was sunny, which is an anomaly. This woman was to Lisboa ONCE IN HER LIFE, yet my Rogerio is a native, and he said it is not a good time to visit Lisboa in February. Now, who would you take advice from?????

I was in Lisbon for a week over new year's holiday last year and stayed three nights in Lisbon, two nights in Cascais, and another two nights in Lisbon. Stayed at a wonderful boutique hotel called the Estelagem do Farol which I would return to in a heartbeat. Its a bit of a splurge but well worth it if you get one of the master suites with jacuzzi and balcony opening out to the sea. Its just a walk from the town center and on the main road to the beaches of Guincho. Rent a car and visit sintra and cabo de roca from cascais and maybe make it up to Mafra one afternoon. There should be a few local festivals going on for the holiday which may be nice if you can find one. In Lisbon I recommend the Americano hotel. It's right in the Baixa district central to everything and clean and cheap. For dinner Pap Acorda is a great place. My only warning is to stay away from fado houses that attract throngs of tourists. Ask a local for a good reccomendation for a Fado house if this really interests you. Other places not to miss in lisbon include the ferry ride to Cristo Rei in Almada - great vistas of lisbon and the Ponte 25 of abril. the statue of christ himself is a bit stark though. ALso visit the monestary and monuments in Belem, the aquaduct of aguas livres,, just wander around the alfama and the castelo de sao joao. Also, if you like modrn architecture visit the site of the world's fair in 1998. It now houses an interesting aquarium and the park of nations.( iwould only go here if you run out of other thing to do though).

Can anyone recommend Tivoli Palacio de Seteais in Sintra ? their two day packages sound good.

Is anyone familiar with these hotels in Sintra?

Miradouro
Quinta da Paderna
Residencial Sintra
Villa das Rosas

Miradouro has availability but at 125 euros, it's a bit more than I really want to pay (may anyway, though). We're not planning to rent a car (might for a day) so we want to be able to walk to the sights and restaurants.

Is it feasible to take a daytrip from Sintra to Obidos and Nazare, without a car? Or would it be a million times easier and faster with a car?

How about the Hotel Almirante in Lisbon?

I'm still undecided about this small matter: spend an extra night in Sintra and maybe daytrip to Cascais or somewhere else, or spend 1 night in Cascais, before heading to Lisbon for 3 days. Any thoughts? I like the idea of spending a night right by the water.

Thanks!

We stayed at the Miradouro last spring and would recommend it.

This is my take on Obidos: It was the first walled town we visited after leaving Lisbon and Sintra. We were "wowed" by it. As we moved on through the country, we realized that there were many, many walled towns and we liked many of them better. It is heavily visited during the day. Is it worth seeing...I believe so, especially if your time is limited (as it appears to be) and it will be your only opportunity to visit such a village.

We had a car to go from Sintra to Obidos. From Obidos, we daytripped to Tomar & Fatima and to Alcobaca & Batalha. We picked up the car before leaving Sintra. The rental office was in Cascais (Europcar via AutoEurope). Frederic, from Casa Miradouro, was kind enought to drive us from Sintra to Cascais to pick up the car (for a price). He also picked us up at the airport in Lisbon upon landing.

Thanks, xxxx. We've been to many walled hilltop villages, but not in Portugal. We enjoy wandering around them but if we don't go to Obidos, I don't think we'll feel like we missed something.

Any scoop on these 2 places in Sintra?

Quinta da Paderna
Residencial Sintra

I can't find anything on the net about the first one, but according to my book it sounds good. The second has availability, but the book says, "it's on the high road between Sintra-Vila and Sao Pedro." Does that mean it's too far to walk into town and to the sights?

Thanks!

In case I haven't asked enough questions already, :) what is the best way to get from the Lisbon airport to Sintra after arriving at 21:30 and about how much will it cost?
Thanks!

Sao Pedro isn't ringing a bell right now and I don't have any of my maps/notes with me to reference.

I would check with where ever you decide to stay to see if they are willing to pick you up. I don't remember what Frederic charged us or if 21:30 would be an acceptable time to him for airport pick up. I do clearly remember however that it was worth every penny we paid to see him waiting for us after nearly 24 hours of traveling (can't fly direct from the Midwest to Lisbon!)

Decided on the Residencial Sintra. In case anyone else is ever looking for this info, here's what the hotel said about their location.

We are situated in a residential area of Sintra 800 meters away from the
historical center, 10 minutes walking time. There are various good restaurants 5 to 10 minutes walking distance from us. If you like to have some more information you can find us in the following
site: www.specialplacestostay.com

And here are some comments I dug up on fodors.

Message: We were at the Pensao recommended in clip below in May, paid 54 euro/night including breakfast. A great, great bargain for the comfort and charm. Sintra is a small place. Other 2 hotels mentioned are very nice and centrally located but perhaps double and triple your budget (repsectively). I liked Sintra very much and would love to spend 2 nights there again someday!

Message: I was in Sintra last week for 3 days. We stayed at the Pensao Residencial Sintra, a converted great house that is somewhat faulty towers, but quite charming and with a beautiful garden and pool, just up the hill from "downtown." All the rooms are huge and have en suite bathrooms. We checked out the Lawrence (right in town and also maybe a converted house) and the Tivoli Hotel Sintra (also right in town and rather posh looking, tho very "hotel-ish"). We walked out to the Setais Palace--very, very nice, but a good walk from town. There are quite a few taxis at the stand right in town and seemed to be $3-5 to get just about anywhere, so we didn't miss a car. Also so beautiful we wanted to walk a lot, tho at night did take taxi back to the Pensao

Message: I think that might be the same mention I saw on this board last fall for this hotel. We tracked it down and stayed there for 4 nights in July. I think the price was around 50-60 euro, we paid cash and got a 10% discount. From a number of the rooms and from the grounds you can look up at the Moor's castle, beautifully lit at night. We dealt with them by Fax: 21-923-07-38.
Sintra, Cascais, and Lisbon are all incredible (especially Sintra - hiking to the two castles on the hill!!!) and I wish I had stayed in that area for my whole trip rather than driving around everywhere. Driving on the toll road was great, however, it seemed like if you want to get on going northbound, you could only do so from Lisbon. We took lots of windy backroads...the motion sickness factor was extremely high!

Message: PS I noticed you asked, "Sintra or Cascais?". I suggest staying in Sintra and taking a day trip to Cascais. Sintra is beautiful - wooded, mountainous, and quaint, while Cascais is a harbor / beach town (small beach)full of tourists and little shops.

There is a FABULOUS pension in Sintra where I stayed - a quintissential European manor house with beautiful gardens and a new, gorgeous outdoor pool. The hiking trails to the castles started right across the street from it. But I cant remember the name - ack! It was something very simple like Residencial...

One more thing, they'll send a taxi to pick us up at the airport for 30 euros.

I am going to Portugal on May and somebody recommended www.novasintra.com to stay in Sintra.. It seems to be a nice place to stay...

Peep:

If you're still checking, I'd love to read about your trip when it is over. My wife and I and our 2-year old will be spending two weeks just outside of Sintra in May. Chances are anything you find intriguing will be worth checking out ourselves.

Our challenge is that we will be far enough from the train that it is inconvenient, but not impossible. I'm especially interested in any experiences you have in and out of Lisbon on the train.
We're likely to try to do the '$3-$5 taxi' from the other message you found, but we are as curious as you are about the 'would it be a million times easier and faster with a car?' question. Of course, rental rates in Lisbon seem pretty high.

Hope you have fun.

Just back from our trip! Thanks to those who gave me advice!

We spent the 1st 4 nights in Sintra at the Residencial Sintra. It's about a 10 minute walk from the center of Sintra up and down hills. It's not far, but there aren't sidewalks the whole way so you have to watch for cars. :) Otherwise, we loved it! The people who run it are very friendly and helpful. Nice rooms. We spent one day in Sintra at the Pena Palace, Moorish ruins and around town.

We arranged for a rent car at the hotel. It was about 80 euros for 2 days for a little, standard car. Over 2 days we used about 20 euros of gas. Apparently there are no car rental companies in Sintra, just in Cascais or elsewhere. They delivered the car and picked it up. It seemed like tolls were expensive on the highway, like 5-8 euros.

One day we drove to Obidos and poked around there for a few hours. It's really touristy but it's still nice. Then onto Nazare. I'm glad we didn't overnight there. It's a very developed beach town and on Good Friday, it was packed! It was really windy and chilly but there were some people sunbathing on the beach.

Next day we drove to Ericeira. We really liked it! It seemed less touristy and much more like a normal town. Then onto Cabo da Roca and the cork monastery. The monastery was cool and definitely worth visiting.

On Easter we took the train from Sintra to Lisbon Rossio. It only cost 1.30 euros each one way and trains go back and forth every 20 minutes, and the trip takes about 45 minutes. Very easy. In Lisbon we stayed at the Residencial Alegria. I found it and the place in Sintra on this sight:
http://www.specialplacestostay.com/home.html
We had reserved a top floor room with a view out the front of the park and were quite pleased. 48 euros per night. It's right off Avenida Liberdade (sp?). We loved Lisbon! What a great city for wandering around!

Nice to know that you enjoyed your time. I was in Nazare the day before you did. Nazare has a marginal avenue with a relaxed atmosphere and the views from Sitio (the hill above the beach) are really interesting.

Hey Lobo! Thanks again for the info you gave me! I think we might like Nazare more in the summer, or just not on a public holiday. :)

I know Hotel Tivoli Palaio de Seteais is just outside of Sintra, but has anyone stayed there and/or experienced their package deals ? Any recommendations or comments would be more than greatly appreciated ???