Help with Sintra & Pousadas
 

Fodorites, I know you can help me! Lucky "me" was elected to plan a great trip in Northern Portugal, Lisbo and Sintra for three couples late April. In the north, I booked the Historical Pousadas but now I'm not sure if I selected the best room category. Would love to get feedback on the different room types you have used? Next challenge is Sintra. We wanted to stay in the main village & walk but having hard time finding anything.What are your suggestions?

What is the Pousada name ?<BR>Some Pousadas ( like Palmela south of Lisbon are great)but others the rooms can be small ( but very nice).<BR>In Sintra Penha Longa Hotel is very good but not very central. Tivoli Hotel Sintra is so and so ( well, good, but very 60's)and it's central.<BR>Remenber that Sintra is very close to Lisbon ( 30 minutes train).<BR>You could stay in Lisbon...<BR>

Judy,<BR>Summer of '93, my wife and I honeymooned in Portugal. We spent a couple of nights in a incredible converted palace called (excuse spelling) Palacia de Setias. Beautiful rooms, pool area and grounds, but very expensive.<BR><BR>Regards, <BR><BR>Bram

Anthony, The pousadas are Solar da Rede in Mesa Frio, Castelo Pousada in Obidos and Rainha Santa Isabel in Estremoz. Also booked the Palace Hotel Bussaco. Bram, I've been thinking about the Palacia de Setias. Sounds great. Thanks for the info

Judy - I've stayed at the Pousada da Rainha Santa Isabel - loved it! Rooms are great and I think they even have a swimming pool now. However, didn't find much to do around there. I'm not a big fan of the Alentejo. Also have stayed at the Palace Hotel in Bucaco - beautiful. Be sure to walk through the forest. Another beautiful pousada in the north is Pousada de Santa Marinha in Guimaraes. I've never stayed at the Pousada do Castelo in Obidos but lived about 15 minutes from there and spent a lot of time in Obidos. Can't help you with Sintra. We always stayed in Lisbon at the Tivoli. Sintra is really just a day trip. So you might want to consider staying in Lisbon. Enjoy your trip.

Sintra was the greatest singer of all time. Pousadas is the Holy Family knocking on doors and singing for entry in Bethlehem and when they finally get in you get to hit a pinata and eat tamales.

http://www.pousadas.pt also<BR>http://www.discoverportugal2day.com<BR><BR>These sites have everything you need to know.

Judy,<BR>We stayed at the Castelo do Obidos Pousada in 1997. Very atmospheric, wonderful service, nice, spacious rooms. I highly recommend it. Good luck!<BR>Jan

Sounds like I did your exact trip two years ago. Here's where we stayed and my comments.<BR><BR>First off, I highly recommend Karen Brown's Portugal guide in helping to choose your accommodations.<BR><BR>Lisbon: We stayed at the Hotel Lisboa Plaza. It was well located and nice enough, though nothing special. If I were to do it again, however, I'd instead spend all the Lisbon/Sintra time based in Sintra, taking the train in to Lisbon for the one-two days you need to "do" the city. We had two days in Lisbon and only one in Sintra. You could easily have enough to do in Sintra for two days.<BR><BR>Sintra: Quinta da Capela. It was a couple of miles from town, so not as central as you're hoping for. But it was so lovely! And very reasonably priced. We had a great room and the grounds were wonderful.<BR><BR>Obidos: We stayed at the pousada in the castle. Definitely not to be missed. One night in this town is enough. If you can afford it, get one of the suites. The 3 suites are in the towers of the castle, and you can't help but feel like a prince or princess there. It was very dramatic.<BR><BR>Bucaco: Palace Hotel. If I were doing this again, I might skip this place. The hotel was also unique--actually an old palace till sometime in the 1900s. But it's kind of out of the way, and your time might be better spent elsewhere.<BR><BR>Porto: Hotel de Infante de Sagres. There was some construction going on outside during our visit, but it's probably well over by now. The hotel was really nice, and we loved Porto.<BR><BR>Lumego: next we drove inland and stayed right on a vineyard for something like $45 a night. Got this place out of Karen Brown, but I don't recall what it was called. If I were to stay here again, I'd arrange to have the owners make me dinner, as there wasn't much happening foodwise in the town itself.<BR><BR>Crato: We took a major diversion at this point and headed way west and south. You probably won't choose the same route, but we really liked the pousada here, a converted monastery about 3 miles from the border with Spain.<BR><BR>You'll definitely want to visit Guimaraes and may want to book a night there. Viano do Castelo is also supposed to be great, but we didn't have time for it.<BR><BR>Hope this was helpful.