Serra de Sintra

Stretched out to the west of Lisbon, the enchanting Cascais Coast (sometimes affectionately referred to as the ‘Portuguese Riviera’) is brimming with leisure activities and wide-ranging tourist appeal.

One of the jewels in Portugal’s tourism crown is the rocky, windswept headland called Cabo da Roca, mainland Europe’s most westerly point.

One of Portugal’s most striking architectural landmarks is the Romantic-style palace commissioned in the first half of the 19th century by D. Fernando of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on the site of an old 16th-century convent.

Located at an isolated spot high in the Sintra hills, the Convento dos Capuchos is an extraordinary hermitage comprising just twelve tiny cells hewn from the living rock above a wooded dell in a densely forested setting.

One of the greatest treats for people visiting the historic village of Sintra is the chance to ride on an old tram through vast swathes of verdant countryside to the glorious beach town of Praia das Maças.

Following in the footsteps of the great English Romantic poets, few tourists can resist the lush, green setting of Sintra just a few kilometres west of Lisbon.