My husband and I will be visiting Lisbon for a week between Christmas and New Years and will be taking along our kids (16, 12 and 5). With the dollar taking a dive, budget is a big concern. Will it be difficult to get to Sintra by train, or should I look into tours (cheapest one I found was 60 Euros per person)? My kids are used to walking and taking public transport. What is the easiest and cheapest way to get there? Finally, I read somewhere that the Rossio station is closed til the end of the year, and that was the station to be used to go to Sintra. What would be my alternative? Thanks for any input anyone can give me.

Easiest and cheapest way to get to Sintra is train.
Rossio station is closed. Jardim Zoologico (zoo) and Entrecampos used as alternatives. Both have metro stations.
Budget a few euros and 30 minutes ride.

Thanks Lobo Mau. I have learned a great deal from the postings you and Matt have provided. Since I am dragging my kids with us, which of the Sintra sights should I make a must to see? There seems to be so many places, and I only want to stay there a day. Also, do you know if there is a site on the train schedules to Sintra that I can look into? I don't want to end up like that one poor family who missed the last train back to Lisbon.

Lisbon to Sintra train service stops between 1:30 am and 6 am.
These are frequent trains running each 10 or 20 minutes, depending on the hour. The cost is 1.60 euros /person/each way. Check in the ticket office if your 5 yo pays (I don’t think so)
Don’t wait for the last train, personally I think 9 or 10 pm is a good time to return.
Attractions in Sintra are Palácio da Vila, the local icon with twined chimnies, castelo dos mouros (Moorish castle, 11th cent), convento dos capuchos (monastery), palácio da pena (Disney like fantasy), and Periquita, the famous pastry shop, near by Palacio da Vila. Put your diet away for one day and indulge youself with some sweets. The most famous are travesseiros, but I prefer queijadas.
I’ve never been to Museu do Brinquedo (Toys Museum) but I think it might be interesting to show the kids how their fathers grandfathers enjoyed themselves before the Nintendos and Playstations and alike.
An absolutely most is the century old Comboio da Praia das Maças (Apples Beach Tramway), but I think is closed during the winter.

As an historical note, Palacio da Vila (Sintra), is the place where Columbus visited king John II in March 1493 on his way back to Seville, after 1st voyage to the Americas, while his flagship caravel was making a technical stop (one week) in the Belem area of Lisbon's harbour.

The train is easy to get to Sintra, I think it cost us about 3 euro each. Much cheaper to do it yourself. I'm pretty sure I posted on Fodors after our Lisbon trip, if you click on my name, you might find it. We spent the day in Sintra, you catch a bus from the Sintra train station to the palaces. Entrecampos station is quite close to Rossio station, you want the train section, not the metro section. There are toilets as well, near the ticket office in Entrecampos train section. Always handy to know with kids.

Another thing you might all enjoy is catching one of the old trams from the centre of Lisbon, along the waterfront to the Jeronimos Monastery. It takes about 20 mins. Even if you don't go into the Monastery, it's nice along the waterfront there, there are cafes and a great monument by the water.
Kay

Many thanks once again Lobo Mau and Kay, for such detailed information. It will make my planning a lot easier. Don't worry Lobo, since we are visiting during the holidays, we will abandon all thoughts of dieting . Specially after reading about your LDC escapades, we will definitely try some of the places you've dined at. Kay, do you recall when you wrote the thread on your Lisbon trip? You have several and I couldn't locate it.

Hi Krimom,

I tried topping the thread but it didn't seem to work. The thread is titled: Lisbon and Sintra,Portugal Question


Here is my post:

We were just in Lisbon on the weekend (from the UK) and visited Sintra for the day. Rossio mainline train station is an absolutely beautiful building but it is closed. Rossio metro may be open but we didn't use that station.

To get to Sintra, we caught a train from Restauradores metro station and got off at Marques Pombal station to change metro lines, continuing on another train to Entrecampos station. This was all quite quick and fairly easy to buy tickets. The station staff were helpful.

We caught a train then from Entrecampos to Sintra. Sintra is the end of the line. At Entrecampos, you leave the metro station and walk to the train station, they are next door to each other. The whole trip from Lisbon/Restauradores to Sintra took about an hour.

Once at Sintra, walk out to the road and turn right and walk along to catch the circular bus that stops at the palaces etc. The tourist desk at the station will give you a free map of Sintra and a bus timetable.

Hope this helps.
Kay

Thanks a bunch Kay. That was very succint info. By the way, I've been reading about the Lisboa one day pass that is supposed to be applicable to trips to Sintra. Is this worth buying?