Thought it Would be Lisbon
 

But now confused. Thinking of having our 3 night trip based out of Sintra. The Ritz has a great deal. What do you think? Would we need to rent a car to get aound and into Lisbon? How is the parking in Lisbon?

The Ritz is in Lisnon..get a guide!!!

Sorry, meant to say the Ritz is in Lisbon...a good guide book would help

Stay in Lisbon and take the train to Sintra for a day. Sintra is beautiful, but there is more to see in Lisbon, better restaurants, night life.

In Lisboa, you should visit Gulbenkian Museum (if you love beautiful art and objet d'art), Castelo Sao Jorge, Elevator Santa Justa, Santa Roque Church, and Jeronimos. This will fill up your remaining two days.

Say "hi" to my ex-husband, Rogerio, if you see him drunk in a gutter.

The Ritz is not in Lisbon, but in Sintra. It is Penha Longa, so maybe you need the guide book

Everybody here is very confused.

If the Ritz is in Sintra, and it has a great deal, I would stay there and take the very short train ride into Lisbon each day to see all of the sights. (maybe 45 minutes?) You don't need a car at all. I think Sintra would be a welcome refuge from the city of Lisbon each night. Be sure to see its historic sites. A charming hillside town.

(going places, maybe YOU need a guide....nevermind)

Topping this for you..really fun thread so far...

There is the Ritz Hotel in Lisbon which is operated by Four Seasons AND there is the Penha Longa Hotel outside Lisbon which is operated by the Ritz-Carlton. As the Ritz Hotel owns the "Ritz" trademarks in Portugal, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company cannot use their name in Portugal, hence the hotel they operate is called the Penha Longa Hotel. Both are excellent hotels, but they are unrelated to each other.

If you stay at the Penha Longa Hotel you would NOT need a car to go into Lisbon, IMO, as you could take a taxi in about 20 minutes or a bit more. As mentioned above, a train is possible, although you would have to get to the train station from the hotel, and at that point, you might as well take a taxi from the hotel, IMO. (The hotel is not in a town.) If you wanted to drive to Lisbon you could, I think parking might be a bit tough, you might want to park at the Ritz Lisbon and just walk.

The car would be nice for getting around other areas of the coast.

The Penha Longa hotel is close to Sintra (again you could taxi and there may even be a bus) and has a golf course which is a plus if you are interested in golfing. It also has lovely grounds and a beautiful little chapel right on the grounds as well as a spa.

Alawes. See the post: Thing To Do and See In And Around LIsbon.

Thanks for all the suggestions

Just a remark: Penha Longa is beautifully placed, in the green style - nothing around, I mean. Ritz in Lisbon is the the core of the city. Depends on the lifestyle you prefer, urban or green "détente".

One thing to consider if you're going to stay in Sintra is that the train line from Sintra to Lisbon has been disrupted by the closure of a tunnel close to the Lisbon station. You now have to take a metro from downtown to another train statin, and then, I think, transfer from one train line to the next. Scheduled reopening for the tunnel was summer 2006, but I don't know how accurate that prediction is.
As far as a taxi from Lisbon to Sintra, I think the 20 minute estimate is an optimistic one, certainly a non-rush hour one. Though taxis are pretty cheap in Portugal, I think the fare from Sintra to Lisboa would not be cheap, especially if you were doing it twice a day.

ttt