Friday, April 19, 2019

Sintra & Cascais, Portugal

Cascais is a laid-back fishing village known for it's coastal views. Taking the train out to there was such a simple process and we were there in about 30 minutes! 

We didn't have much planned here beyond renting a bike and stopping where we felt like it. There are bike lines everywhere, so it was very easy to follow the path out of town and toward Boca do Inferno. It was a pretty calm day (I've heard it's pretty crazy when the waves are higher!), but the coastline was still beautiful!

We had lunch at a wonderful place right next to the Boca - at Mar do Inferno. It ended up being one of our favorite meals! I had a prawn pasta dish and Jason had a catch of the day (finished off with a bottle of vihno verde of course)!


We ended up biking all the way to Guincho Beach, but wow, was it windy! This made our ride there much harder, but the way home was MUCH faster!

It was a bit cold to swim in the water, but we saw plenty of windsurfers out there!


Once the sun went down, we caught a quick train back to Lisbon. A round trip ticket was about $6, so definitely a day well-spent!

Our last full in day in Lisbon, we caught a slightly longer train to Sintra. Sintra used to be a royal sanctuary - a beautiful town situated in the foothills of a mountain. We had plans to hit a few of the major sites that day, but honestly, we would have loved spending the night in this picturesque town.

Quinta da Regaleira is 20th century home (also a UNESCO world heritage site) that is mainly known for the extensive gardens surrounding it.

The initiation well, series of caves, and towers throughout the garden were honestly fabulous! We had a great time exploring! The home was beautifully preserved as well.


It was a quick downhill walk back to the town, where we stopped at Piriquita to sample a travesseiro (a sweet puff pastry made with an almond cream filling) and another pastry for Jason.

For our next leg, we caught the tourist bus up to Pena Palace. We didn't pay to go inside, but simply enjoyed walking around the gardens and facade of the building. Everything was so vibrantly painted - it seriously felt a bit like Disneyland.

It was a gorgeous day, so we got some great views of the Moorish Castle too!


I think these are some of the day trips you can take from Lisbon! 

Up Next: Our 4 days in Porto!

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