Sintra in a nutshell is where fairytales are born . It is a place where you believe in romance, princesses, dreams and sword fighting on horses. It is a place where Walt Disney must have spent time and it puts actual Disneyland to shame ( ok that’s a lie but almost!)
I had read up on this town- about 40 minutes from Lisbon- before our trip and mapped out the must see sights. Although I did my research and saw the photos- visiting the town surpassed any expectations I had dreamt up in my head. It was so much better. Sintra is set in the mountains and has a woodland vibe to it. There are moss covered rocks and bushels of flowers that surprised us at every turn and as evident in the photos below- Castles! Colourful ones!
Like any true Castle builder, the people that did this one up- decided to build it up in the mountains. The effect I assume they were going for definitely worked because even from the bottom of the mountain in the little town below- you could see the bright yellow peaks and crevices peering from the clouds. It looked enchanting and inviting even on a small scale. Naturally- we decided to walk up to the two main sights instead of taking a bus or cab. After putting in some serious miles in Lisbon the day before -my legs were definitely feeling it on our walk up and at certain times I felt more like Paperbag Princess instead of Rapunzula being dainty on her balcony. The minute we made it up though- I felt like the latter and shifted into “I’m in a Fairytale mode”. I was overwhelmed with how beautiful this place was and I couldn’t help but skip around and smile from ear to ear.
My only regret from visiting Sintra is not spending a bit more time there.
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