Private tours in Lisbon & surroundings
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Sintra, Cascais, Estoril - half day
Personalized booking
Program
Estoril coast - the "sunny coast" where the sun shines 300 days per year. Drive close by the largest beach of Carcavelos
and the rocky stretch of Sao Joao and Sao Pedro of Estoril with aristocratic palaces, manor houses and deluxe villas.
Cosmopolitan Estoril with a stop at the biggest casino in Europe, its gardens and esplanades.
Cascais bay and ancient fishing port, stop of many navigators in the past, like Columbus and Vasco da Gama. See the
typical fishing boats unloading the catch and a magnificent panorama of the coastline.
Continue by the seaside with rocky and sandy beaches and the picturesque cliff - the Mouth of Hell.
Guincho, the wind surfer beach and Cabo da Roca - the westernmost point of continental Europe - stop for a marvelous
view of the ocean and seashore at 140 meters high.
Drive across the luxuriant Sintra Mountain and its gardens by twisted roads surrounded by a huge variety of vegetation
- "The Glorious Eden", "The Garden of Paradise". Admire the noble houses - each one in a different style, matching the
variety and originality of the vegetation.
Stop in the medieval Sintra town, with free time to see the most ancient royal palace in Portugal, the narrow streets
with local handicraft shops, the typical local pastry like queijadas and travesseiros, the wine shops, the gardens.
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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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