Tour Options from Lisbon to Sintra

Take a day trip to Sintra from Lisbon with Welcome and your own English-speaking, professional taxi driver and discover the beauty of the Portuguese countryside, all the way to Cascais. Start your day by being picked up at your chosen pick up point in a new, comfortable car. Greet your friendly driver before heading off on your own 46km tour. This private expedition is comprised of eight recommended location stops, along with the many personal stops you can choose for photograph opportunities or to satisfy your own curiosity. Your driver is knowledgeable about the area and will teach you about the history and modern culture along the way. Of course, this is fully customizable, just let your driver know at the beginning. Welcome Pickups drivers are handpicked and trained to offer a quality and luxurious service.

Welcome Pickups Tour in Lisbon 2020

• Sintra Town Centre
• Sintra National Palace
• Castle of the Moors
• Quinta da Regaleira
• Palacio de Pena
• Cabo da Roca viewpoint
• Cascais Coastal Town

The Sintra tour from Lisbon will be 8 hours and you can arrange to do what you want within that time frame. It is available every day of the week, beginning at the time of your choosing. The tour can accommodate from 1 to 8 people. The drivers are very knowledgable of the place visited and have been provided with all the necessary material to help you discover the Sintra Castle – Palacio de Pena, and the majestic coastal town of Cascais.

Your Welcome driver can pick you up from wherever you choose, Welcome is a door-to-door service! Just let them know in advance when and where you would like to be picked up, and after an initial friendly introduction, you and your driver can be on your way. When you return your driver will leave you wherever you choose in the city center.   

Everything is fully arranged with Welcome to bring you the highest level of convenience from start to end. Your transport is door-to-door, your driver is your tour guide, your ride is comfortable and has everything you need, including wifi. You can be sure right from the beginning that with Welcome you are getting the best of everything and can leave any concern back home. Welcome Pickups is a 5-star rated company operating in Lisbon from 2017. 

Throughout the center of Lisbon is the network of taxis that are very easy to find and hail down. This is an option that could get you directly to Sintra and Cascais from Lisbon. Taxis are painted a distinctive black and green color (older taxis are cream-colored) and they can be hailed from the street or from specially marked bays. Taxis operate 24/7, so you could take one whenever you choose. There are a number of taxi ranks or collection points in central locations throughout Lisbon, particularly around Rossio and Praça dos Restauradores. When you return, your taxi can drop you off at your preferred location.

Lisbon Taxi

The basic Lisbon taxi fare is €0.47 per km, and there is a minimum fare of €3.25. The taxis charge €14.80 per hour for waiting (or €0.25 per minute stuck in traffic!). At night (9pm-6am) the fares increase by 20% – €0.56 per km with a minimum fare of €3.90, but interestingly, the waiting rate is still the same at €14.80 per hour. There are additional supplements: €1.60 for luggage (all luggage not per piece) and €0.80 for telephone bookings (if your hotel phones for a taxi). Wheelchairs and prams are free of charge. All of the fares are clearly displayed on the taxi window. If you take a taxi out of the city limits (to Sintra or Cascais) the rates are significantly more expensive, and if you travel on the toll expressways, the toll is charged to you. If you wish to have a tour guide in Sintra and Cascais, you will also need to privately hire one. This is, again, going to add an extra cost.

There are higher fare rates for taxis with more than four seats. A seven-seater taxi is 20% more expensive, although the taxi supplements (luggage/phone call/tolls) remain the same. This higher taxi fare for larger taxis is irrespective of the number of occupants; a couple travelling in a larger taxi will pay the same as if seven people were taking the same route. If a larger taxi is at the front of a taxi rank, you can choose the next smaller taxi, but the law requires the smaller taxi to offer the larger one first, to which can be declined. If you require a larger taxi, it is always best to pre-book it by phone or use an app – trying to hail a larger taxi from the street can be difficult.

In the majority of the tourist areas of Lisbon, taxis can be hailed from the street or are found waiting at taxi ranks. When a taxi needs to be called, you can use Radio Taxi as an option to hail a taxi to get you from the center of Lisbon to Sintra. 

If you can find a hail-down taxi that will take you to Sintra and Cascais, then this will be a convenient way to get there. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be so easy on the return journey back to Lisbon, and so may cause unnecessary stress. Alternatively, hiring a pre-arranged taxi can be very expensive and needs extra negotiation. On top of that, finding a tour guide to the destination is extra money and extra searching beforehand.

There are many organized coach or minivan tours from Lisbon to Sintra and Cascais. With this option, your chosen company will arrange a coach to transport you and other passengers on the tour to Sintra and Cascais. Most of these tours have an included tour guide, providing information about the various locations along the way. Some also include stop-offs at various locations of interest en route to Sintra. The tour will take around 8 hours. Leaving is usually around 9:00 am and you will return by 17:00 pm.

Coach at Sintra

Taking a day tour to Sintra from Lisbon with an organized coach will cost around 80€-100€ per person. These may then be subject to increases, depending on the time of year they are booked for and how far in advance you book your tour. The minimum starting price is €58 per person, but many cost closer to €100 per person.

Due to the number and variety of tours being offered, there will be tours running daily throughout the whole year. However, certain tours are limited to a fewer number of days of the week. Saturdays are a popular day of the week that most tours operate on. Each tour runs once per day.

There is a lot of variety in the Sintra and Cascais tours, so you are likely to find a tour with a focus that will appeal to you. There are lots leaving daily from the centre of Lisbon and they include a tour guide on board. However, tours are restricted by the large groups that are typically present on the coach, as well as the schedule, limiting flexibility in where you visit and for how long.

Car hire is another option for you to be able to drive by yourself to Sintra and Cascais from Lisbon. This can be an exciting way for you to journey by yourself to the destination and you will have the ultimate flexibility of choosing your own route, stops, and timing. You will want to make sure this trip is well planned, because it may not be always straightforward traveling 46km from the city center in a foreign country, particularly if you are not used to the roads. The journey time in a private car is approximately 45 minutes. You will need to book your car before arriving because car hire companies can be booked out a month in advance, particularly in the summer season. 

Taking a day trip to Sintra at your own pace by hiring a car can be relatively cheap, depending on when you book, which model you choose, your age and if you pay online or at the pick-up point. Starting from €40 per day, this can easily rise to €120 per day. However, rental companies will also require a deposit on the car, which may begin from €150 but could be as much as €3000, depending on the model. You will also need to pay for petrol, which will cost around €10 each way and no tolls should you take Via Radial de Benfica IC19 N9. Entrance fees to the site and museum will also incur an extra cost.  

This can be a relatively option, easy to access and has the full flexibility of your own decision making regarding leaving time, amount of time spent on the total trip, routes, etc. However, it will require planning, organization, and booking in advance, particularly in high season. You will also need to take on the responsibility to getto Sintra and Cascais yourself, which may not always be so straight forward. Furthermore, it can be stressful driving in Portugal if you’re not used to it, particularly when leaving Lisbon. The narrow hill roads to Sintra are not designed for the heavy tourist traffic and there is very limited car parking when you get there. During the summer season, there is a permanent traffic jam within the historic center.

The trains to Sintra from Lisbon are part of the Lisbon train network and are operated by Comboios de Portugal, the national train network of Portugal. There are 2 trains that get from Lisbon to Sintra and the travel time is approximately 45 minutes each way. First, there is the Rossio Station and secondly the Oriente station at via Areeiro which is the main intercity train station of Lisbon. Both train stations are easily accessible by many means of transportation with the Rossio station being near the popular Alfama Region and the Oriente station just 2.5 km from the Airport connected also by the red metro line. There are several departures within the day starting from early in the morning. The route to Sintra from the center of Lisbon passes through some residential housing estates and there is not specifically much to enjoy during the ride.

Train to Sintra

The cost for a two-way ticket to Sintra is 4.50€ per person. There are no discount return tickets and you cannot prebook your tickets online but only on the train station before your departure. Most of the times even on summer season tickets are plenty so there is no need to get anxious about not getting in. When you get to the Sintra train station in order to reach the famous Palacio de Pena castle you can take the 434 Sintra Tourist bus that takes you to the Palacio de Pena castle. If you prefer you can also reach the castle by walking for 15 minutes. The cost of the Sintra bus is 6.90€ for a two-way ticket and there are departures every 15 minutes during rush hours.

Trains from both stations depart regularly every hour from early in the morning from 8:11 am until late at night around 22:00 pm. It is advised though to begin early in the morning to avoid long queues when arriving to the Sintra castle.

Taking a day trip to Sintra from Lisbon with a train can be a pleasant and comfortable experience since you have the chance to admire the views of the city of Lisbon and its surroundings. In addition, Lisbon trains offer modern amenities and care-free journeys at a low cost. However, this is a good option only if you are staying close to the train station. Otherwise, you will have to use other means of transportation to get to the station.