Parques de Sintra-Monte da Lua (PSML) — Attraction in Sintra

Horrible experience at Peña Palace. I bought tickets on line and left to be early and got to the main gate at 12:40 pm for a 1 pm entry. Nowhere on the site does it explain that you need extra tickets for the bus from the gate the the palace entry. I was with my elderly father who walks slow. There also was only 1 line for the bus tickets and when you get close to the windows you finally see a sign for cash only. This palace should have 2 que lines for the bus tickets.l (1 for cash and 1 for credit cards). We got to the palace entry at 1:28 and a very unfriendly Francisco Saraiva from Parques de Sintra Monet de Lau was very rude and totally barking policy. I was told by 3 different Palace Guards that they would be kind to me and that they respect the elderly. Francisco was heartless and turned us away. I will spend the rest of my Hospitality Career telling my story of working hard for 2 hours to get my Dad to the gate only to be turned away from the extremely rude and disrespectful Francisco Saravia. He even told me to complain at the shop - and said “good luck getting any attention”. He was condescending and I hope Mr Francisco is treated horribly when he’s an old man. This guy has VERY bad karma coming to him. What an evil person he was. Even turned away a young couple with a little baby who walked a long way uphill to see this pitiful company Palace. My advice to patrons is to save your money and AVOID this horrible company attraction. Go elsewhere as there are many attractions in the Sintra area where they respect their customers. Disgusting experience especially as multiple guards reassured me the gate would be understanding to the issue with the...

We bought tickets for Pena Palace in Sintra weeks in advance. The ticket stated that we should arrive 30 minutes early and plan for a 30-minute uphill walk from the parking area. We followed the instructions, but there were no signs indicating the palace or parking anywhere. Using our own navigation, we reached a junction where a single policeman told us we couldn't go any further and had to park ahead.

That parking lot turned out to be privately operated, charging an outrageous fee and offering a shuttle for €25 per person. We refused and walked back to the police checkpoint, where we eventually found the official shuttle service for €13.50 per person—though there had been no signage or guidance about this option.

After the visit, on our way back down, we saw a group of police officers at the same checkpoint, and this time cars were being allowed to pass freely. It became clear we had been misled—likely on purpose—into using overpriced private services. The city failed to provide signage, and the lone officer earlier had denied access to the official parking included in our ticket. This felt like an organized tourist scam. We incurred unnecessary costs and almost missed our timed entry. It was a deeply frustrating and dishonest experience...

An architecture that has went through various owners and represent one of the most notable Romanticism inspired landscapes in Portugal. It’s a well known retreat for writers who gets inspirations from the quiet environment surrounding the palace. We get to go through the different rooms to understand how the people in the past used the spaces for hosting parties, preparing meals, spent their times in rooms divided by genders. The ceiling of the ballroom is extremely detailed and impressive! Feeling like a princess walking through the royal corridor. Ticket to this palace cost 8€, 🤯 by the way, I love it that they have this QR code to scan and answer questions to win token.

P/S: if you don’t like crowd like us, this would be a good place to begin cause it’s the furthest and most people would rush off for the popular palace first. Be prepared with...