Iwan2go,
We've always used Lisbon Taxis Splendid Journey for our Lisbon-Sintra or Cascais transfers. We've found them very dependable.
https://splendidjourney.com.pt


And no, a car in Sintra is an albatross, as the historic quarter, as of the beginning of 2020, is now closed to car traffic except for residents, and there is no where to park at the monuments--Pena National Palace, Moorish Castle, Pena Park, and others, are no longer acessible by rental cars, private cars.

I took the train from the airport station after spending my first night at the Star Inn.

You have to transfer at that cool station (Oriente). Worth it just to see the station. Most people got on later. From the train depot in Sintra I took a taxi to my lodging.

It was a little confusing finding the ticket vendor at Oriente so allow for that. And with a passport I got the Senior Discount!

Not sure of the Uber/taxi fare to Sintra but that is another option, maybe worth while for two people traveling together.

I do remember paying in cash at the Ginjinha Bar (Lisbon), don't miss it!

And a few of the pastry places.

Whe I was researching a trip, I identified a number of places like Monserrate and some of the coastal areas actually NW of Sintra that I wanted to see. Also, Cabo da Roca obviously.

Also seemed like a day trip circuit to the coast, Cabo da Roca, Cascais and then back to Sintra was feasible by car.

It also seemed like driving down from the center of Sintra to Cstelos dos Mouros and Palacio Pena might allow flexibility as well. I'm sure there are buses but especially because of the pandemic, I'd minimize public transport.

The latter two sites were indeed on the bus circuit. Back then....

Lack of parking makes any vehicle incovenient. Maybe Uber/taxi if you don't want to take a bus.

Quinta de Regaleira was easily walkable as was the National Palace.

Iwan2go,
Since you'll have only 1 full day in (usually quite crowded) Sintra and you hope to see at least 3 of its major monuments, choosing carefully among these: the over-the-top Pena Palace (that now has timed entries), Moorish Castle, National Palace, Quinta da Regaleira or Monserrate, I honestly don't think you'll have time for a taxi ride to Cabo da Roca or a trip to Cascais during your time there.

Here are my Sintra-Cascais notes, if you're interested.

Maybe a trip report or two will be forthcoming?

Good luck Portugal travelers!

Thanks again, all, for your advice! I will definitely do a trip report! Maribel, thank you for the transfer info, will book them ahead. :) Now...just to wait. And pray.

Now that we’ve returned, I wanted to relate what happened in case others check this thread.

We used a company to transfer from the airport to Sintra, then again from Sintra to Lisbon. For some reason, they did not have access to their credit card machine for us to use. They offered to come to the hotel later that night to get payment, but we just decided to give them cash. Well, between those transfers (about 175E), leaving tips daily for the cleaning people and breakfast servers, simple snacks, etc, we used about 400 - 450 E. We’d brought along 500, so needed to get some cash.

We’re Bank of America, and there are no reciprocal banks there, so we had to use a MultiBanco ATM (we’d been warned about EuroNet). That stupid withdrawal of 100 E cost us $124.00 - plus an additional $5.00 fee from BofA. So I would advise (unless your bank has an arrangement, like BofA with BNP Paribas, Barlays, Scotiabank) - take more than you think you’ll need. C’est la vie, but wow, what a bummer.

That 100 euro withdrawal from the Multibanco that cost $124 dollars is most likely because you unknowingly accepted the DCC, the currency conversion to dollars rather than rejecting the conversion to dollars and instead choosing the transaction in euros. The wording is extremely tricky. It's easy to be taken! This happened to my husband on our first day at a multibanco in Chiado, the CTT on Praça Luis d Camões. I posted about this on one of the Portugal trip planning threads (can't remember which one, as there have been so many).
We used our credit cards whenever possible to avoid the mulltibanco transactions. We're BoA customers too and they don't have an agreement with Portugal banks.

"That 100 euro withdrawal from the Multibanco that cost $124 dollars is most likely because you unknowingly accepted the DCC, the currency conversion to dollars rather than rejecting the conversion to dollars and instead choosing the transaction in euros. The wording is extremely tricky. It's easy to be taken!"

Ditto -- one should always choose to have the withdrawal calculated in local currency. There is a double hit when the account is with BofA, because on top the the local DCC hit, BofA's fees are higher than many banks.

You can say that again, janisj!!

I was so bummed. I read your post, Maribel - but didn’t see any place NOT to accept the fees. Anywhere you can see what the wording is? So others can avoid?

I just did an internet search and came up with this on a 2020 TripAdvisor thread: "Ok I figured out the issue because it happened to me today in Lisbon. I was charged a rate of 1.24 at a multibanco ATM when the exchange rate is something like 1.12. So basically I got ripped off by about $24 on a 200 EUR transaction. But on my second attempt, I rejected the multibanco rate. It gave me a prompt and asked me if I was sure i wanted to reject their rate and after you hit yea, it will give you your banks rate. On my second exchange, I got a rate of 1.12”.

So maybe the trick is NOT to accept the rate, then it goes to Euros?

The wording at the Portugal multibancos is so very tricky that it makes you think that declining the transaction, converted ("for your benefit") into dollars, would be canceling entirely the transaction. That's what confused my husband who is a long standing veteran of the dreaded DCC,and rails against it, which we've experienced so very many, many times.
He was in a rush on our first day since late 2019 and just didn't focus, rushing back to pay for our lunch at the delightful "Taberna Rua das Flores" in Chiado.

When we rented in Chiado on that square previously, that particular multibanco CTT bank on the Praça Luis de Camôes was our most convenient multibanco, but that was prior to the arrival of the rip off DCC.

Visitors just need to reject the transaction conversion into dollars at all Portugal and Spain ATMs ("multibanos" in Portugal and "telebancos" in Spain).

And of course, as you know well, never use the ubiquitous Euronet ATMs, which astonishingly for me, are all over Lisbon now.

Yeah I made a few withdrawals in Portugal but found that most places took credit cards. I used Apple Pay from my watch most of the time, so just tap and pay.

Only exceptions were a couple of hotels and rental cars where they wanted the physical card. Also Amex isn't accepted at most of those contactless terminals. However in a couple of instances, I inserted the physical Amex card and it worked, bonus points for travel.

I have a Schwab Investor Checking Debt Visa. They refund all ATM fees worldwide. I didn't have any fees from the Portugal withdrawals. I noticed men the ATMs in front of international banks (mostly Santander) had these multibanco banks which tried to get you to select the DCC options.

I opted to take out some extra cash because the exchange rate was good, just under 1.05 towards the end of my trip. But once ATM gave me ten 10 Euro notes so I went inside the bank and exchanged it for 50 Euro bills.

The train from Lisbon to Sintra is only few Euro, even less with a Senior Discount (paid with my CapOne MC). I was actually able to walk to my hotel in Sintra (dragging my rolling bag). I used a taxi back to the train station and probably did pay in cash. I had to use Uber once in Lisbon and that just went to my US card.

Paying for a private transfer on the spot obviously changes the math for emergency cash. That downed credit card machine situation is always a bummer.

I have avoiding banking with Bof A for some time, due to their excessive fees. Thanks for the warning.

I would have liked to have used Uber more but they canceled on my in Lisbon and Sintra.

On Sunday morning, I had to get to the airport by 7 AM for a 9 AM international flight.

Around 6:30 AM, near Rossio, they weren't finding any drivers to connect me so after about 5 minutes, I canceled and found a taxi immediately, which turned out to be less than the Uber ride I canceled.

Some taxis carry around those credit card terminals but most don't seem to, so definitely need cash for taxis.


It seems like when it's hot and humid, taxis and Ubers might be a good way to get around instead of walking up hills all the time, for an occasional trip or two.

<<I would have liked to have used Uber more but they canceled on my in Lisbon and Sintra.>>

Could you tell us what happened? Did you book earlier and then they didn't show up or what exactly? I know Uber can be problematic but I was wondering what the circumstances were when they canceled. I don't want to depend on something that won't show up.

I had to use Uber because there was a strike that closed the subway station I had intended to use (near the Corte Ingles). It worked fine at the time. Never tried in Sintra, just Scotturb, walking to closer sites and one taxi to the train because it was raining. My hotel called them. But I could have walked if necessary.

PS we have had issues with Ubers cancelling here at home, also. They hate to pickup/dropoff at LAX because of the new system.