Sintra, Portugal Hotels, Vacations, Tourism

SINTRA is one of Portugal's most spectacular sights, cool, deciduous woodland that once attracted Moorish lords and the kings of Portugal from Lisbon during the hot summer months. The layout of Sintra – an amalgamation of three villages – can be confusing, but the extraordinary Palácio Nacional (10am–5.30pm, closed Wed; €3), about twenty minutes' walk from the train station, is an obvious landmark. The palace was probably in existence under the Moors, but takes its present form from the rebuilding commissioned by Dom João I and his successor, Dom Manuel, in the … more »