Sintra

UNESCO fairy-tale royal town with Pena Palace and mystical gardens in the Serra hills.

A UNESCO World Heritage town draped across the mist-shrouded Serra de Sintra, this romantic village captivated European royalty and poets alike. Lord Byron called it "Eden," and it is easy to understand why: fairy-tale palaces rise from forested peaks, exotic gardens conceal Masonic chapels, and centuries of royal patronage have left an unrivalled architectural legacy. The colourful Pena Palace, the Moorish Castle ruins, and the enigmatic Quinta da Regaleira are its crowning jewels. The historic village centre, with its artisan shops and pastelarias serving the famous travesseiros pastries, enchants visitors as much as its hilltop monuments.