QUELUZ, SINTRA AND ESTORIL COAST: (Full-Day)
This tour adds to the half-day tour to Sintra & Estoril Coast (see details here), a visit to Queluz National Palace of the 18th century and, other visits to two more interesting monuments or places of your choice. By doing this tour, you will be able to visit this zone with much more time available. As an option, instead of visiting other monuments, you can choose, for instance, to spend some quality time on a terrace by the sea, in Cascais or in Guincho, watching the sunset. Other possibility is to spend the remaining time, calmly visiting the commercial area of Cascais. In short, it will be a whole day just for yourself and you’ll choose how to spend it.
In case you prefer to visit other monuments or places of interest, besides the Pena and the Queluz Palaces, here are our suggestions:
* Sintra National Palace (Located in the centre of Sintra. Its date of construction is not very clear, because it suffered several interventions over the centuries. The initial building was a Moorish palace, but the appearance it has nowadays, is due to profound architectural modifications done during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries).
* Pena Park (Natural Park, surrounding Pena National Palace. Here you could spend many hours, if you enjoy nature).
* Sintra Moorish Castle (Fortress from the 9th century, constructed by the Moors, during their occupation period. Due to its privileged location, it allows magnificent views over Sintra and the sea).
* Convent of Capuchos (This convent was built among the trees and the great blocks of granite, which are part of the building itself. Founded in 1560, the small cells, the cork-coating on doors, are proof of the Faith and humbleness of those who lived there).
* Quinta da Regaleira (Built in the end of the 19th century, Regaleira is formed by a Palace, a Chapel and gardens with grottos, wells and subterranean areas. In the palace, as well as in the remaining areas, some symbolic and mythological themes are found, some of them of an esoteric nature).
* Seteais Palace (Today, this Neoclassic palace from the 18th century is a luxury hotel).
* Monserrate Park (Conceived in a romantic environment, where exotic plants grow amongst the local flora, it is today an important botanic museum).
* Colares Wine-Cellar (You will be able to visit the cellars of a precious wine in risk of extinction. Open only on week days).
Note: Pena National Palace closes on Mondays, Sintra National Palace closes on Wednesdays and Queluz National Palace closes on Tuesdays.
Tour Schedule : 9h30 - 18h00 (indicative only)
LISBOA, SINTRA AND ESTORIL COAST:(Full-Day)
This is our best-seller tour! In just one day you can visit the best that Lisbon has to offer (in the morning), adding up in the afternoon a visit to the essential of Sintra and Estoril Coast.
The program of this tour is a mix of the Half-Day Tour to Lisbon (see here) with the Half-Day Tour to Sintra and Estoril Coast (see here).
Tour Schedule: 9h00 - 19h00 (indicative only)
View from and to Pena Palace
QUELUZ, MAFRA, ERICEIRA AND SINTRA: Full-Day (and Estoril Coast as an option)
With this tour we wanted to combine the history and monuments of interest, with the pleasure of enjoying and sightseeing the sea, through the beautiful and preserved piscatorial town of Ericeira. Of course we didn’t forget the “must-see” town of Sintra, World Heritage Site, and we included it in our tour!
Our itinerary begins with a visit to Queluz Palace, an 18th century palace and the official residence for the guests of the Portuguese Republic. Next, we will follow to Mafra, where you can visit the biggest palace of Portugal, built also in the 18th century by order of our megalomaniac king D. Joăo V! This building, besides its function as a palace, was also a monastery and includes an enormous basilica. Just to have an idea of the size of this building, we can say that the palace has a front of 220 meters and that it has more than 600 rooms and, 5200 doors and windows! It has a Natural Park with around 20 km of perimeter (called “Tapada de Mafra”).
From Mafra, we will continue to Ericeira, where you could have excellent fresh fish of the day, for lunch. After that, there isn’t anything better than a small walk in Ericeira, always near the sea, to gain strengths to continue our tour to Sintra...
When we arrive in Sintra, we will walk in its historical centre, following a visit to Pena Palace or Sintra Palace, according to your preference: the eccentric Romanticism of the 19th century, for the first one, and the antiquity and genuineness from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries for the second one!
Note 1: If you wish to know the Cape Roca, Cascais and Estoril Coast, you can do it if you choose not to visit the interior of Mafra Palace (which is more time consuming). However, you can maintain the visit to the impressive Basilica of Mafra Palace.
Note 2: The Pena Palace is closed on Mondays, the Sintra Palace is closed on Wednesdays and the Queluz and Mafra Palaces are closed on Tuesdays. So, on Tuesdays, the program of this tour includes only an external view of Queluz and Mafra Palaces. However the visit to Mafra Basilica is possible. Our alternative proposal for Tuesdays is to visit an handicraft centre near Mafra that has a reproduction of a typical small village of this zone, as it was on the beginning of the 20th century. After Sintra, the journey continues to Cape Roca, Cascais and Estoril Coast.
Tour Schedule: 9h30 - 18h00 (indicative only)
Note: As always, we'll pick you up at your hotel and we will return to it at the end of the tour.
Tour Itinerary (with Estoril Coast as an option)
ÓBIDOS, NAZARÉ, ALCOBAÇA, BATALHA AND FÁTIMA: (Full-Day)
This West Region tour allows you to know the patrimonial “masterpieces” of Portugal. We decided to include in this tour a visit to Fátima, the religious capital of Portugal, and an essential place of visit for many people. However, if religion doesn't interest you, you can visit Mafra instead (please see the options below).
We will start the day with a visit to Óbidos, a magnificent medieval town, that you will explore on foot, with our guide (more details about Óbidos here). Next, we will follow to Nazaré, a beautiful sightseeing spot of the Atlantic Ocean and the Portuguese coast. >From here, we will continue our tour to Alcobaça, famous for its 12th century monastery. This monastery is not only a beautiful architectural example, but it has also the monuments in memory of King D. Pedro I and D. Inęs de Castro (characters of a true romantic Portuguese story from the 14th century, very similar to “Romeu and Juliet”) of magnificent stone handwork.
After lunch in Alcobaça, we will leave to Batalha to visit its marvellous monastery, built between the 14th and the 15th centuries. The Monastery of Batalha is the biggest example in Portugal of the llate gothic Portuguese style, where we can find a mix of the gothic style with the Manuelino Art – symbol of the Portuguese maritime expansion. Finally, we will visit Fátima and its Sanctuary, the site where Our Lady of Fátima appeared in 1917. Since then, Fátima attracts every year millions of pilgrims, thanks to its mystical strength! The Sanctuary Square is so big that it can only be described by numbers: it can receive simultaneously 300.000 visitors and it's twice the size of St. Peter Square in the Vatican.
For this tour we “designed” 3 alternative solutions to meet your specific expectations:
Alternative 2: Fátima, Batalha (passing by), Alcobaça and Óbidos – this solution is for those who want to spend more time in Fátima (about 2 hours instead of 1 hour).
Alternative 3: Mafra, Óbidos, Alcobaça and Batalha – this solution is for those who don’t wish to visit Fátima.
Alternative 4: Mafra, Nazaré, Alcobaça, Batalha and Fátima – this solution is for those who have already visited Óbidos and wish to know the West Region of Portugal better.
Tour Schedule : 9h00 - 18h00 (indicative only)
Note: As always, we'll pick you up at your hotel and we will return to it at the end of the tour.
Tour itinerary
Óbidos |
Nazaré |
Alcobaça |
Batalha |
Fátima |
ÉVORA & ARRAIOLOS: (Full-Day)
This tour invites you to know Évora, classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage City, due to its excellent preservation along the centuries… We can even tell you that little differences exist between walking in Évora today or some centuries ago. This town has been developing itself without losing its primitive characteristics. That’s why it deserved this “prize” from UNESCO.
After leaving Lisbon, we will drive to Évora by the countryside roads of Alentejo, for a beautiful sightseeing tour by car. In Évora, we will have enough time to walk in its historical centre and “feel” the atmosphere of this town. You will visit its famous Roman Temple and its Cathedral from the 12th century. We'll have the pleasure to show you also the interior of Évora’s University, founded in the 16th century. Here, besides the possibility of admiring its architectural aspects, you will feel also the true environment of the Portuguese student youth. This visit is obviously different from the usual tourism programs. But this isn’t our only originality.
When we were were walking in Évora, we found an amazing contemporary handicraft studio and, we wish to “share” this experience with you. The artwork of the young and nice artist couple that owns this place and, that you can meet in their studio, is very original and because of that, they have already received many handicraft prizes! What is good stands out...and they are already referred in some international guides, famous for indicating the genuine spots of each country, like Lonely Planet (2003 Edition). Their name is “Oficina da Terra” and we will visit them (Closed on Sundays). This is for sure an “off the beaten track” visit of our tour.
After Évora (where we’ll lunch), we will follow to Arraiolos, where you will meet the typical Alentejo village: the white immaculate houses with some blue or yellow stripes, the castle at the top of the village that keeps guard over the fields of Alentejo, the typical slow pace of its people that know very well the “art of living” and the embroiderers working in the streets making the famous and genuine Arraiolos carpets.
What we wish to offer you in this tour is, above all, the tranquillity and a sample of the real Portugal, hidden very often by the crowded tours.
Tour Schedule : 9h00 - 18h00 (indicative only)
ÉVORA AND VILA VIÇOSA: (Full-Day)
This tour invites you to know Évora, classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage City, due to its excellent preservation along the centuries… We can even tell you that little differences exist between walking in Évora today or some centuries ago. This town has been developing itself without losing its primitive characteristics. That’s why it deserved this “prize” from UNESCO.
After leaving Lisbon, we will drive to Évora by the countryside roads of Alentejo, for a beautiful sightseeing tour by car. In Évora, we will have enough time to walk in its historical centre and “feel” the atmosphere of this town. You will visit its famous Roman Temple and its Cathedral from the 12th century. We'll have the pleasure to show you also the interior of Évora’s University, founded in the 16th century. Here, besides the possibility of admiring its architectural aspects, you will feel also the true environment of the Portuguese student youth. This visit is obviously different from the usual tourism programs. But this isn’t our only originality.
When we were were walking in Évora, we found an amazing contemporary handicraft studio and, we wish to “share” this experience with you. The artwork of the young and nice artist couple that owns this place and, that you can meet in their studio, is very original and because of that, they have already received many handicraft prizes! What is good stands out...and they are already referred in some international guides, famous for indicating the genuine spots of each country, like Lonely Planet (2003 Edition). Their name is “Oficina da Terra” and we will visit them (Closed on Sundays). This is for sure an “off the beaten track” visit of our tour.
After Évora (where we'll lunch), we will follow to Vila Viçosa, land of Marble and of the Bragança Family Palace. This family reigned in Portugal between 1640 and 1910 (date of the end of monarchy), many times from this palace. In Vila Viçosa you’ll find various references to the marble because in this zone there are many stone quarries. Besides the visit to the centre of Vila Viçosa, where you will find interesting patrimony, you can also visit the Palace, built in the 16th century with magnificent furniture, belonging to the Bragança Family.
Tour Schedule : 9h00 - 18h30 (indicative only)
ARRÁBIDA, SESIMBRA, CAPE ESPICHEL, SETÚBAL AND PALMELA:(Full-Day)
The difference between this full-day tour and the half-day tour to these destinations (see the program here) is that in this one, you’ll have more time to spend in each place and, also, you’ll visit and lunch in Setúbal, a city very well-known for its restaurants with delicious fresh fish!
Note: As always, we'll pick you up at your hotel and we will return to it at the end of the tour.
Tour Schedule: 9h30 - 18h00 (informative only)
Tour Itinerary
