{"id":20915,"date":"2019-08-27T05:59:43","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T19:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/?p=20915"},"modified":"2020-07-19T11:27:52","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T01:27:52","slug":"sintra-portugal-%f0%9f%87%b5%f0%9f%87%b9-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelandpamstravels.com\/?p=20915","title":{"rendered":"Sintra, Portugal \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf9 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Date: 25th August 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travelled: 45 kms by bus from Ericeira to Sintra in the Province of Lisboa<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visited: Sintra<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stayed: Ericeira Intermarch\u00e9 aire, free with services. N38.96691, W09.40879<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budget: 77 days @ \u20ac75 per day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We enjoy a quiet evening in the Intermarch\u00e9 aire above Ericeira. There are only 4 dedicated places and the late comers jockey for the un-official spots on either side. The weather forecast has held, another cooler start and only 25 is predicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have an early breakfast, before locking up the Hymer and walking down to the bus depot. Our bus departs on time (\u20ac6.40 pp) and we take in the scenery for 45 minutes on the 45 km trip to Sintra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our bus driver didn\u2019t fill us with confidence. For a start he wasn\u2019t able to get the bus out of the depot by himself.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Map of Sintra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sintra is one of those places listed on the highlights of Portugal. The more we read the more we feel it may be a bit of a tourist trap, only the day will tell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We arrive in Sintra on time. We go over to a tourist booth to purchase a local bus ticket as our guide book indicates. The girl tries hard to up-sell us an all-sites ticket, but we hold firm on the Palace and Castelo at less than half the price (\u20ac6.90 pp).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So by the time we take a second bus up to the historic centro then wait in a queue to catch a third bus up to the Palace, then queue to buy a palace ticket (\u20ac12.50 pp), then queue to enter the Palace more than 2 hours have elapsed since we arrived in Sintra. We notice many members of the Portuguese Olympic Queue Jumping Team, are having a training day. All have their own specialty technique. Such as sending your kid forward, then ostensively going to find them but never going back. Then there are the sidlers who walk like crabs looking into space whilst they sneak past you. I use the Australian remedy, in a load voice I state \u2018your queue jumping please go back\u2019, works well, the queue jumper look at me like I have a gun ! It is without doubt the worst organised place we have ever visited. Then just to top it off, once inside there is a \u2018no photo\u2019 sign…fxxk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ok, I\u2019ve vented. By the way, Sintra is Portuguese for lots of steps. Everything is uphill in Sintra. We finally catch a proper glimpse of the Pal\u00e1cio National de Sintra.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n