Our guide, John, picked us up and we drove for about 30 minutes to Sintra. He described different buildings along the way, including the Parliament Building. We stopped at a lovely look-out point where we could see Lisbon. We then went to Pena Palace and did a guided walk through the gardens with John which took about 30 minutes. John explained the royal history and the architecture – he is very knowledgeable. We did an independent tour of the Palace and skipped the long lines since we had a group booking. John met us at the end of the palace tour. The palace is quite colourful and fairy-tale like outside. John took us to some of the terraces and showed us an interesting gargoyle at the entrance to the cathedral courtyard. He then took us to the chapel with a beautiful stain glass window. We walked the walls and saw the Moorish castle from afar. John dropped us off in the historic center of Sintra so we could walk around, grab lunch and then go to Quinta da Regaleira. We walked 15 minutes to Quinta da Regaleira. We had purchased tickets on line so we did not have to wait in the long line up – we walked right up to the door and went in. In Quinta da Regaleira we saw the amazing Initiation Well and the series of caves which lead to grottos with a small waterfall. We missed our connection with John and he had to drive around the block again since he could not stop so we had time to see Regaleira Chapel. When John picked us up and we told him that we did not have time for pastries, he offered to drop us off in the historic center again to pick up pastries and use the washroom.
I suggested to John that he didn’t have to do the rest of the tour since we were late but he insisted. We drove us about 20 minutes to Caba da Roca which is the westernmost point of mainland Europe. There is a lighthouse and a view point. We then drove along the coast to a town called Cascais. We saw many castles and beaches along the way. When we arrived in Cascais, John dropped us off for 45 minutes to have ice cream and walk around the beach area. John was so patient and kind - it was clear that he really cared about his tour and ensuring his guests had a great time.
