Pena Palace , Sintra and Cascais Tour - Travel With Locals

Extremely poor access arrangements to the pena palace. lots of coaches arriving and only a small number of ticket machines. Q scanner codes at gates not working.... Also poor signage and only a few people organising. once you get in if you want to get the bus up the steep hill to palace "which most people use" you need a 3 euro ticket....which is back outside the gate. Entering the actual palace is set out in different time slots that you set when buying tickets but the queues are long and people stand in wrong queues. A nice place to visit and the moorish castle is very close also and worth a visit ....but very poorly organised. And this is low season in November.

Honestly, if you're short on time don't waste it here unless it's off off OFF season. The town of Sintra itself is lovely but the Pena Palace experience is a complete bust. It's ridiculously overcrowded and badly managed. We had been warned that it's busy and that afternoon tickets were better for lighter crowds but it was still a nightmare. When you enter the park area it is still a 30 minute uphill walk to the castle unless you pay for the bus shuttle (worth it). Many people were missing their timed ticket entry times because no one tells you that you are so far from the entry point. After close to an hour waiting (even with timed ticket) the interior was so crowded that we were swept along with the crowd rather than walking at your own pace. It is a one way path so you have no choice but to shuffle with the masses and there was no way to see anything. We eventually followed someone out who had a medical issue and was allowed to proceed to an exit. From what we could see the gardens are lovely but we were so frustrated that we just left. Upon exiting the park, the queue for the bus back to town was at least 100 deep. We just grabbed one of the private drivers who are clogging the exit and got out! If you do want to go, either be sure to get the first entry time or go in the winter. It's a shame because the area is lovely but this just made us hate it.

Incontestablement a voir, mais réserver les billets avant avec l’ heure de visite, prendre la navette à l’intérieur du parc pour rejoindre le château ( 500m en montée) et surtout s’armer de patience, se munir d’une bouteille d’eau, car il y énormément de monde. Pas facile pour les photos ????