Day tours in Lisbon & surroundings
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Sintra, Queluz, Mouth of Hell, Estoril - half day
Personalized booking
Program
Queluz: Palace of the 18th century with French influence from Versailles (visit the palace and its gardens. Closed on Tuesdays, replaced by Sintra palace).
Sintra: free time in the typical village historical center. Mouth of Hell (Boca do Inferno): cave carved by the ocean, stop. Cascais: view of the fishing
harbour. Estoril: cosmopolitan center with the biggest Casino in Europe: stop.
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... Described by Lord Byron as “Glorious Eden,” Sintra’s charms have long been celebrated. Once the
summer residence of the kings and Moorish lords, today Sintra is a romantic getaway for people from all
around the world. Inhabited since the pre-history period and by Celts and the Romans who called this area
“The Mountain of the Moon”. In the 8th to 9th century, Muslims built a castle here. During Medieval
times, the Portuguese royal family, overflowing with the pomp and riches from their colonial triumphs
abroad, first came here to escape the heat (and stench) of the summer in Lisbon. Beginning in the 14th
century, the Portuguese aristocrats followed the royals to Sintra, a dwelling place for hunting and relaxing.
Stormy and mysterious, the mountain is covered by more than 1000 different species of plants. Several
artists from different countries came here to work, inspired in the beauty of this place, extolling its beauty:
“The Garden of Paradise”, “Garden of Europe”, “Glorious Eden”…
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...One of the most beautiful parts of the Estoril Coast is a succession of hills dotted with pine trees and houses,
sweeping down to the sea and the local villages with their typical houses and the old palatial villas along the sea
front. Villas from the Roman period have been excavated and inscriptions found of family names, names of the
Gods they worshipped and names chosen for their sons. Cascais became a lookout for Lisbon in the great
maritime era of discovering new worlds. It was the first place the navigators saw when they returned from long
and adventurous voyages seeking their homeland. It was in Cascais during the latter part of the XIX century, that
the Royal Family first began to bathe. It was a custom which was becoming popular in Europe and Cascais was
an ideal place owing to its mild climate. Over the years, many important families have made Cascais into a
cosmopolitan town...
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