Sintra, Portugal: Moorish Castle and Pena Palace

Yes, we visited Portugal in September of last year. Yes, it's now April of this year. But there is never a bad time to talk about castles. I still have a vivid memory of the Moorish castle we saw in Sintra, an easy day trip by train from Lisbon.

The ruins of a Moorish castle, built circa 711-714 by Berbers and Arabs, are a big draw. Here is my quintessential idea of what castles should look like. Shrouded in fog on a craggy hilltop (though it was perfectly sunny the day we visited), and whipped by ferocious winds, it has a series of sentry walks and towers that put you in mind of a medieval castle, but not quite. A bird's eye view of the ramparts puts you in mind of the Great Wall of China skirting a cliff, though not so long as to be seen from space. And the castle has many layers, from the 12th and 13th century, and again in the 19th century when King Ferdinand II rebuilt some of the "romantic ruins," to the continued restoration in the 20th century.

Next to the ruins of Islamic houses are Christian necropolises and the Church of Sao Pedro de Cannaferrim with traces of Gothic paintings from the 15th Century. The church now houses archeological finds. You can spend all day walking the grounds, and we nearly did. We braved the wind the walk up to the Royal Tower, highest point of the castle.

From the ramparts you can see various palaces. Sintra is full of palaces - The Monserrate Palace, the Seteais Palace, the Regalaeira Palace, the Sintra National Palace, and the very colorful Sintra Palacio da Pena.

If I didn't know better, I would have thought the Pena Palace had been built by Walt Disney himself. Built on monestary ruins by Ferdinand II and finished around 1860, it is a fantasy castle, in styles ranging from Arabic to Portuguese gothic, with a lot of pastel thrown in. After wisely buying a shuttle bus pass, we used the shuttle bus to visit the Pena Palace, or as much of it as we could. Tickets to see the interior were all sold out, so we strolled on the grounds with one billion other tourists and walked up to the palace until a ticket was required. Fodor's tells me the interior is "ostentatious and bizarre" so I'm sorry I missed it. But the exterior is its own delight.

You could spend several days in Sintra exploring this historic village and royal summer palaces. Arrive by train (parking is nearly impossible), wear sturdy shoes and a windbreaker, and buy that shuttle bus pass. Worth every cent of the 13.50 euros for the day pass.