After our brief tour around the small town of Sintra we did an hour long hike up the mountain to the National Palace of Pena. It's a Portugese castle that is arguably the biggest attraction in the area and the likely reason why so many people visit the town.
We arrived just a little before noon and bought tickets outside the gates of the property. I would actually recommend buying your tickets in advance though to avoid long lines. It was quite busy there during our visit in May so I can only imagine what its like in peak tourist season.
The walk from the ticket sales to the castle is about 15-20 minutes through the gardens and a large forest and you have to book a specific timeslot to go into the castle. We headed straight there without any dilly-dallying.
When the castle first came into view through the trees I was immediately impressed by it.
It's unique mix of colors, (bright yellow and red paint with intricate blue colored tiles) made it something quite special and unlike any castle that I had seen before.
We stopped briefly at the outer courtyard to take some photos but headed in shortly afterwards.
The line to get in was crazy long.
It snaked down the stairs and around the bend out of sight.
You are supposed to only line up for your allotted timeslot, but it was impossible to tell how long the line would take, so we got in immediately. After about 30 minutes we arrived at the entrance with about 5 minutes to spare.
Is it just me or do queues make other people anxious as hell? There was a couple in front of us that was driving me bonkers the entire time which really added to my anxiety.
They would constantly get out of line to go and explore the exterior of the castle and take photos of each other.
Then they'd come back like 5+ minutes later and get back in front of us. They did this multiple times to the point where it felt like we were just place holders for them.
I wasn't going to argue about it or anything (they spoke a different language besides) but I find that sort of thing really selfish and inconsiderate.
"Don't worry folks, you guys go and enjoy yourselves. I happen to love wasting my time in queues being bored so I'll just watch your spot for you..." *Rolls eyes so hard his head flips upside down.
Fucking twats.
Better yet... ("uh oh now he's ranting") let's just do away with the line all together. We will all just push and shove our way to the front and yell and scream over top of each other at the door guard.... I personally find that disorganized chaos tends to increase the level of calmness of large crowds and make things run more efficiently.... (note the sarcasm).
I don't think that I will ever understand the places that refuse to use queues and instead opt for the trample your neighbor, free for all approach. Okay I think I'm done. All of that is neither here nor there when it comes to the National Palace of Pena - it had a line, with only a few people who didn't care how it worked. Everyone else was fine.
All of that was just a little insight into my mind and why I refuse to wait in lines on vacation, and pass on most things that cost money.
I'm an anxious person and I don't need the extra stress.
Anyway, if you dont want to wait in line and if you have no desire to see the interior of the castle then you'll be happy to know that you're able to explore the courtyard and exterior with your ticket for the gardens. Going inside cost an additional fee but the exterior is included with the price of admission to the property.
The Interior
The interior of the castle was decorated beautifully. Many of the rooms were fully furnished and had plaques describing the rooms purpose and/or a little bit of history of what we were seeing.
I don't recall what all of the rooms were labeled as,
but most of the rooms were quite nice to experience.
One of the first things that you come to is the inner courtyard, also referred to as an atrium.
This area was the busiest spot in the castle and had a line that moved very slowly around the square on two floors.
The crowd did disperse a little as we continued our self guided tour though.
People stopped to read signs and view art pieces, which allowed others to move on ahead.
The level of detail in the rooms and the artwork were impressive.
I'd say that this particular palace was among the most decorated that I have seen in Europe so far.
Among the top 3 at the very least.
Not all castles show off the kitchens, so it's sort of a bonus (an added treat) when they do.
In my opinion, the kitchens are always one of the most interesting rooms to see in any castle,
especially if they showcase the tools and appliances used during the time period.
Eventually we finished up inside and headed back out to view the exterior and the panoramic look outs.
The back terrace was a particularly nice location.
It looks out over a wide forest with farmland, and townships in the distance.
The palace is surrounded by ramparts on at least three sides from what I remember.
On one side you can see the castle ruins that I mentioned in my previous post on the small town of Sintra.
We spent a decent chunk of time at the Palace of Pena, exploring the interior and then the gardens and the grounds. Overall, we really enjoyed our time there and thought that it was very much worth the visit.