We stayed in Lisbon Portugal for two nights but on the second day we went out exploring a few attractions and towns in the surrounding area.
Our fist stop in the morning was to the town of Sintra, a pretty little village located approximately 30 minutes away from Lisbon by car.
We took public transit that day, which took a little longer but was quite easy nonetheless. It was just a short metro ride followed by a train - easy peasy.
We ate breakfast at Cafe Saudade when we arrived and then headed into town to explore a little.
Sintra is surrounded by forests and is sort of tucked away among the trees.
It's situated at the base of an old castle (see photos above and below) that is now in ruins and it's also very close to the city's main attraction, the Palacio Nacional da Pena.
The buildings in town are painted in bright colors, which gives it a whimsical sort of feel. The inner streets of the old town are narrow and lined with many gift and artisinal shops - worthy of exploration.
While walking around we saw a bunch of vintage Volkswagen van's parked along the side of the road.
I don't know if they were there to be rented for the day or if they were trendy tour busses or just a collection of enthusiasts all gathered in the same place.
Regardless, I thought they were pretty cool. I like their classic paint jobs.
Other common forms of transportation in the town were Portugese tuk-tuks and even a horse-drawn carriage or two, for those who want that old timey experience.
The tuk-tuks were mostly transporting people up the hill to the palace and the other attractions located in the area.
The village itself is quite small and certainly very walkable, despite being a little crowded at times.
Not all the time mind you.
There are several museums in the village, as well as the Sintra National Palace. It's a quaint building painted stark white. I didn't realize that it was a palace due to it modest exterior, otherwise we might have went inside.
The City Hall building was nice from the outside as well, with its tall tower and painted tile roof.
We didn't spend a great deal of time in Sintra itself, maybe just an hour or so, not including the time we spent eating breakfast. We were there mainly to see the Palacio Nacional da Pena, which I keep alluding to. It's the main draw to the area and the reason most people go to Sintra. It's located at the top of the small mountain above the ruined castle mentioned previously. You can take a bus to the top or a tuk-tuk, or if you like hiking you can spend an hour and just walk it. Which do you think that we did? I'll let you know in my next travel post...
Oh it's so bright! I love it! Let me check on pinmapple where it is! It's also the perfect weather for touristic attractions, like the tuk tuk!
It's right by Lisbon. That area was a highlight of the trip to Portugal.
That's a very pretty village and I personally like to see brightly coloured buildings because they look cheerful and give an illusion that the surroundings are well maintained, even if that's not the case.
I love the architecture in general, and the narrow shopping streets.
The campervans would have been all I needed for excitement:)
Yeah colorful buildings are the best. They're so cheery and fun. The campervans were really cool indeed. So many in one place as well. We saw at least 6 in one small area.
That village looks amazing. The narrow streets reminded me a bit of some Italian villages with taller buildings leaning in to each other almost.
I've never been to Italy, so I wouldn't know. But I like those qualities in a town in general
You would like them little Italian towns then! Apart from the ones up high on the hills, they tend to be more open and flat
Yeah that they sound like places that I would like for sure
Such a cute little village. Love the steep streets, the colourful houses and all the forest/ green that surrounds it.
Curious to your next post about it. 😊🤓😎
Happy weekend @leaky20
Yeah it's a cute little village for sure and nice because of all of the stuff to do and see in the immediate area.
Indeed, all of that makes it just wonderful to go.
Have a great Sunday @leaky20 👋🏻😊☀️
Sorry for my late reply. We are moving house today and tomorrow 🚛🚛📦📦
Good luck in your move. I know how much work that can be and how stressful. I'll actually being doing the same in about a week.
Thank you so much @leaky20 all went smoothly today yay 💃🏻💃🏻 We are in the new place. 📦📦📦📦
Happy but exhausted.
Good luck will all the preparations for you move 🤞🏻🤞🏻
Enjoy it, even though it is stressful.
Have a great evening 👋🏻😎
I’ve never been in Portugal but all what I’ve hear about it is that is beautiful, and by looking at your pictures, I can assure that! Lucky you that decided to go to explore! Lisbon and the surrounding area are stunning!!
Portugal is a nice country to visit in my opinion. We were pleasantly surprised. We really liked the culture the architecture and the cost of everything was quite reasonable compared to many other places, so that was a bonus.
I could live there.
That's my kinda village / town.
It's pretty. It's quaint. It looks like it's been frozen in time :)
And those Vintage VW's. Omgosh. I want 'em all. Gorgeousness 💥❤️
Perfect condition, hey? Wow...
Yeah it's a cool little town.
the Volkswagens are really cool as well. Great condition 👍
Oh - I so want one. 😌
But with off-road tyres and a V6 engine! 😈
Take care of you and thanks for the travel shots 😍
Yeah that would be cool. 👍
Enjoy your weekend
Wow what a wonderful view ? Even though it a small village, but seems to be more unique.
Yeah the old town that we saw was quite small. I think there is actually a greater area but mostly is quite small.
You're living a dream life of traveling and exploring beautiful places like this ❣️😍
Yeah it's the perks of being an expat in a foreign country I guess. It's all co.ing to an end though. We are going back home to Canada in 2 weeks. I still have lots of photos from previous trips though lol. So it will appear that I'm still traveling but really I'll just be at home working haha
You'll still relive those moments by posting them here 😁
Yes very true 👍
Fun place to visit. Your photos tell a lot about the uniqueness there and I really like the photos that show the whole village from a height.
Looks like your 2 night time is too short to explore all the corners there, right?
Have a nice trip
Haha yeah there is a lot in that small area so 2 nights is a little too short indeed. Most flights fly into Lisbon though, so if we ever re-visit the country maybe we will be able to see the spots we missed.
I really enjoyed your blog, it feels like you're also touring us on your trip to Portugal.
I just notice how majestic this place is. From aesthetics, the house colors seem to complement each other and the structures are blending in with nature. This is a very different view from the stressful scenario on Metros
Yeah the colors do seem to complement each other. Good point.
I've never been to metro so I don't know much about it. It's a stressful place?
Oh sorry, what I mean about Metros is the city 😅. The city is so stressful so these places are just refreshing to my eyes.
Beautiful place to spend a good time, what I like most is the combination of the buildings with the mountain.
Yeah mountains always make everything better haha
The community looks really peaceful and filled with a hand few of people which makes it easy for everybody to know one another and commute peacefully.
I'm not sure about that but could be. I think there are probably a lot of tourists there everyday, so I don't think everyone would know everyone. 🤔
I will think so too cause looking at the pictures, it's giving me that synergy.
Beautiful place, in my opinion the quality of life will be very high; calm peace and quiet and fresh air. Beautiful your photos are able to protect the viewer in the visited place and encourage you to embark on a journey to see with your own eyes the lands you show us. Congratulations and thank you! I follow you with interest!
I'm not so sure about that since it's a major tourist attraction. Tourists are often a pea eful sort of people hahaha 😆
Well tourists run the economy. But from what I see in your photos it doesn't look very big; in my opinion in a country like this, tourism is quite seasonal and you can enjoy periods of peace, perhaps alternating with periods a little more lively eh eh! Then of course it is a thought that I do about your photos, maybe I'm wrong and there is always traffic and tourists all year round :-)
Yeah you are right that tourism is often very seasonal so they probably do have some periods of peace and quite. Good point 👍
That's a really beautiful village.
I love everything, the structure, the colors of buildings, the vans and the roads. Everything looks so beautiful. The locals must have a peaceful life over there?
Yeah it's a very nice small little town. We really liked it. I'm sure that it's peaceful once all of the tourists go home hahaha
Wow, this place is really a nice place, I want to explore it one day too, I really love the views and the houses there too.
It's a spot worth checking out. I hope you get to see it one day.
So pretty, colorful and heartwarming. 😍
It's certainly all of those things.
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
Hiya, @choogirl here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Top 3 in Daily Travel Digest #1667.
Your post has been manually curated by the @pinmapple team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!
Become part of our travel community:
Thank you for sharing this amazing post on HIVE!
Your content got selected by our fellow curator @priyanarc & you just received a little thank you via an upvote from our non-profit curation initiative!
You will be featured in one of our recurring curation compilations and on our pinterest boards! Both are aiming to offer you a stage to widen your audience within and outside of the DIY scene of hive.
Join the official DIYHub community on HIVE and show us more of your amazing work and feel free to connect with us and other DIYers via our discord server: https://discord.gg/mY5uCfQ !
If you want to support our goal to motivate other DIY/art/music/homesteading/... creators just delegate to us and earn 100% of your curation rewards!
Stay creative & hive on!
Thanks so much. I appreciate the support!