Pena Palace and Park Tickets

Pena Palace

Pena Park

Notes: The latest you can enter the park is 18:00, though; that last hour is just for late-arriving visitors to linger and watch the sunset.

The best time of day to visit Pena Palace and Park is the late afternoon, after 15:30. It’s usually much less crowded than midday, and the weather is gorgeous. Mornings befor

If you’re coming from Lisbon, head to a station serviced by the CP Sintra line – either Oriente, Rossio, or Entrecampos. It’s about 45 minutes to Sintra. From there:

Pena Palace and Park are very accommodating to visitors with mobility issues. Available amenities include:

• Disabled parking spaces onsite
• Manual wheelchair rental (be sure to reserve in advance)
• Motorized traction equipment (e.g. Swiss Track) is available to help wheelchair users ascend steep inclines unassisted
• The electric vehicles running from the park entrance to the palace are wheelchair-friendly

The only non-accessible area of the Park and Palace is the palace interior, which has steep steps and no ramp or elevator inside.

• Don’t pick flowers or tamper with plants in the park.
• Stay on marked paths – some areas of the park look tempting for shortcuts, but veering off damages fragile landscaping and can be slippery.
• Don’t lean out of windows or balconies in the palace.
• Limit photo stops inside – corridors are narrow and crowd easily.
• Mind your voice indoors – the acoustics in the palace’s ornate chambers amplify noise, so keep conversations low.
• Respect roped-off furniture and artifacts – staff are vigilant; touching or leaning is strictly enforced.

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Pena Palace’s exterior alone justifies the trip. It’s painted in bold blocks of yellow, red, and purple, with turrets, domes, and battlements rising into the sky. Our favorite spot along the facade is the Queen’s Terrace, which offers one of the best photo angles of the palace’s mixed architectural styles.

The palace’s main courtyard showcases intricate tilework and arches decorated with traditional Manueline carvings.

A few of the most distinct and exciting rooms inside are:

• Manueline Cloister – A small but cavernous courtyard with no ceiling, a checkered tile floor, and a large fern in the middle.
• Great Hall – chandeliers, grand portraits, and an echoing vaulted ceiling.
• Arab Room – designed with Moorish-style stucco and gold-painted geometric patterns.
• Dining Room – fully set as though the royals were about to sit down for dinner.
• Chapel – with original stained-glass windows and a Renaissance-style altarpiece.

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This dramatic entryway between the cloister and the palace’s new wing is one of Pena’s most iconic details. A majestic statue of an angry-looking merman crouches among coral-like stonework, symbolizing the link between land and sea.

Pro tip: crowds tend to bottleneck here. If you want an unobstructed view of the arch, plan to arrive at the palace as early as possible and head straight to this spot before moving on.

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The 200-hectare park is as much a highlight as the palace. King Ferdinand planted species from every continent, creating a botanical collection designed to surprise at every turn.

Notable features:

• Camellia Garden, which blooms in winter and early spring.
• Fern Valley, a shaded ravine filled with giant tree ferns from Australia.
• The greenhouse, where exotic species were cultivated for the estate.

Because the park sprawls across steep hills, plan at least 60–90 minutes if you want to explore beyond the palace itself.

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Five artificial lakes lie in the lower park, lined with stone banks that are great for a shaded stroll. The area feels cooler and quieter than the palace terraces. Be sure to look for the castle-like duck houses floating in the lakes, whimsical touches that echo the palace’s design.

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The highest point in the park, marked by a simple stone cross at 529m elevation, offers the most complete panorama of the palace. It’s a full 30 minutes uphill from the palace, but it’s well worth it. You can see the full silhouette of the palace rising above the forest, plus the Atlantic Ocean in the distance.

If you only hike to one viewpoint in the park, make it this one. Do it after 17:00 for the best experience; the Sintra Sunset + no crowds is stunning.

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This bright yellow alpine chalet looks like the cottage from a fairy tale. Built by King Ferdinand for his second wife, it sits on the western edge of the park.

The wood-lined interiors and decorative cork trim on the facade set it apart from the rest of the estate, but the exotic plants from Australia and the Americas in the chalet’s private garden unify it with its surroundings. It’s less visited than the palace and far quieter, which adds to the air of surrealness.