This is a beautiful castle and the walk up from the historic city center was easy, beautiful, and…read moreworth it! Walking the ramparts of this ancient castle, which you can see from anywhere you are in Sintra, is a must do. My husband is afraid of heights and he was not overly excited about walking the castle because it is pretty sketchy - there aren't guard rails to prevent falling off. Views of the town of Sintra and the Pena Palace are stunning. Absolutely worth the visit.

The Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors) is a set of open-air castle ruins on a hilltop. Most…read moreof the visit experience consists of climbing up and down stone steps and walking along castle walls. It unexpectedly rained during most of my visit, even though the skies were clear earlier in the day, and even directly after my visit. The height, occasional lack of guard rails, light-to-medium rain, and mist flowing uphill all combined in some places to create an eery mystique, not easily expressed through photos. However, there were moments when the mist and clouds cleared to show spectacular broad views of the town and countryside below. Make sure you wear sturdy shoes with grip, as most surfaces are cobblestone. Consider bringing a hooded jacket, wide-brim hat, or umbrella in case of rain or excessive sun. The only structure with a roof, other than the ticket office and restrooms, is the church (Ingreja de São Pedro de Canaferrim) building. I took the 434 bus to and from the castle due to rain, but might have walked from town otherwise. The 434 bus has USB-A plugs that can slow-charge one's electronics.

Wow, I did not expect to see this when walking into the church. It appears destroyed on the…read moreinside, as it basically was due to earthquake and fire. Have never seen anything like it. Definitely a neat experience.

The third of three churches, my wife and I visited in Lisbon, Portugal, during a transatlantic…read morecruise, the Catholic Church of St Dominic was heavily damaged/destroyed by fire in 1959. It reopened in 1994, with much of that damage clearly indicating burn marks throughout the church. It has daily mass, with signs asking for visitors to respect the religious reasons for visits.

One of the most beautiful buildings from the outside in all of Portugal is the adjacent Jeronimos…read moremonetary. This church, like all Catholic Churches in Portugal can be visited for free. In addition to hosting the tomb of famous explorer Vasco de gamma it is notable for its soaring ceilings and arches and the elephants seen around the inside, ancient symbols of power. As a gothic style church it is quite austere and has a solemn contemplative feeling with dim lighting. As Lisbon is getting more touristed, when we arrived around opening time, 10 am, we were behind several large bus-tour groups. While there is no fee to enter, they do control the crowds by metering the number of people at a time. We spent no more than 20 minutes inside and we had the benefit of a private guide who explained important features of the structure and architecture. Definitely worth a short visit. Come later in the day, say 4 or 4:30 for smaller crowds.

The church is stunning and beautiful inside. I attended Sunday mass. It was peaceful inside. The…read moreonly bad interaction was with this man on my way out telling me "no visitor." I attended the mass already and I walked around the church. I recognized him. He was the one lighting the candle at the beginning of the mass. He was by the other exit door on my way out and there was a door open so I was trying go around that way so I will end up where I came from. I understand at times they don't want visitors but someone already inside the church, & attended mass. I didn't feel like arguing with him. I don't know if it is just me or the churches I attended near where I was from, there are visitors coming in during mass. They do welcome visitors. If they wanted to leave they leave quietly. Aside from that man's attitude, it is a beautiful church.

A 100% must visit in my opinion! One of the most stunning properties in Sintra and from the…read moreoutside, you don't think much but WOW, the gardens are spectacular. Expect lots of walking but there's so many areas to see from the towers to the caves, to the sculptures. Enchanting is just the word for it. We took an uber after seeing other landmarks in Sintra and it was relatively easy to book and affordable.

UNESCO World Heritage Site…read more The palace is also known as "The Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire." The exterior is a sight to behold. Beyond the palace, there is an extensive park that features lakes, grottoes, wells, fountains, etc. The initiation well is a must. It consists of a spiral staircase with 9 platforms. I enjoyed our visit here, but wished I had more time exploring the grounds.

Se de Lisboa is known in English as Lisbon Cathedral. Construction of this Catholic church began in…read more1147, making it Lisbon's oldest church. Masses are held here, and tourists may tour for a fee (currently 7 euros per adult, 5 euros per child aged 7-12, and free for younger children) on most days of the week. The building consists of the Baroque-style main chapel, the High Chorus with stained-glass windows, the Transept with Romanesque vaults and a dome, the nine Gothic-style radiating chapels, the Patriarch's dressing room, the chapel of Bartholomew Joanes with Renaissance paintings, the Baptistery, and the sacristy that is not open to visitors. My husband has been inside fancier churches such as those in the Vatican, but Lisbon Cathedral is probably the fanciest church that I have ever entered. We walked around the interior for quite some time and marveled at and photographed the gorgeous architecture.

Made a brief stop here as we were walking through Alfama and happened upon the cathedral. I…read moreappreciate the age but wasn't wowed by the interior - not very ornate or interesting. But still neat to see.

Beautiful fairytale-like palace. Purchased palace entry tickets for first thing in the morning. Due…read moreto delays in travel, we got to the the entrance gate at the bottom of the hill just 15 minutes before our entry time. While the recommended time to walk up the hill is 30 minutes, we were able to jog and get there in less than 15, out of breath. The palace itself is quite beautiful and views from the terrace are gorgeous and picture worthy. The outside of the palace is what we most admired though. Because of the palace popularity, the self guided entry tour is one big line through the palace rooms. It felt somewhat like a cattle line moving through the palace. After touring the palace, we spent time exploring the many trails in the gardens. Lessons learned from taking the train and ride share from Lisbon: Although we left plenty of time to get here from Lisbon by train abd ride-share, we were delayed at the train station trying to get an Uber. There were no Ubers accepting our request and the 2 that did cancelled after we waited 15 mins for them to arrive. We eventually got a Bolt, and lesson learned that despite the map showing pickup on the street right outside the station, we had to go over one street to meet the Bolt after it arrived.

We decided to book the earliest ticket and most of the time in mid-December, and it felt like we…read morehad the castle all to ourselves a lot of the time. It's a beautiful palace and what makes it stand out from others is the bright yellow paint. Lots of cool look outs and each viewing room was well kept. I like how there are various pathways from here to get to other landmarks in Sintra (we used Google Maps). I read a lot about what public transportation to take and it goes from a train to a bus, but honestly the uber was so affordable so it was nice to only spend 30-45 minutes on there and if you have more than one person, could be worth it. There's a bit of a uphill walk to get to the entrance as an FYI.

Known for the white exterior and dual bell-towers, Basílica da Estrela warrants a brief visit to…read moreview Queen Maria's tomb and an impressive pulpit. Less ornate than other churches in Lisbon, there is an outside terrace available for a small fee but the view is fairly limited.

The inside is pretty, but not really of interest to me as I am not Catholic…read more We paid the €4 each to climb the narrow circular stairs up to the roof. Expansive views of Lisboa. Worth the money.

This azuleo lined church of Saint Mary was originally a Visigoth Temple in the 8th century. Located…read moreright off the square on Rua Direita.