Sintra day trip from Lisbon by train, with kids and without a car (2026)

Short answer: take the train from Rossio (about 40 minutes, €5.10 return) [1][2], pick two sights, not five, and book timed tickets on the official sites before you go. With children, Quinta da Regaleira plus either the Moorish Castle or the Pena park is a full day. Without a car you lose nothing: cars are not allowed up to Pena or the castle anyway [7].

Getting there by train

• Train: CP Sintra line from Rossio (also from Oriente and Entrecampos) [7]. The run takes about 40 minutes. In CP’s current timetable data trains leave Rossio for Sintra every 20–40 minutes on weekdays; at weekends only the :01 goes all the way to Sintra in the daytime (the :31 ends at Mira Sintra-Meleças), so it is one an hour from Rossio, while trains from Oriente and Entrecampos run every 30 minutes [14]. Check the CP journey planner for your date.
• Tickets: return Lisbon–Sintra €5.10, or €2.05 per Zapping validation on a Navegante card (the reusable card costs €0.50). Children aged 4 to 12 travel on half-fare single tickets [2][3].
• Train & Bus day ticket: €14.00, valid for a day on the CP Sintra line and on buses 434 and 435 [2]. Worth it only if you will ride the 434 up and down.

Getting around Sintra without a car

• On foot: the National Palace of Sintra is 10–15 minutes from the station [7], and Quinta da Regaleira is also near the town centre, downhill from Pena (OSM points). Marked trails climb to Pena and the castle: the Santa Maria trail (1,770 m, about 1 hour) and the Villa Sassetti trail (1,850 m, about 45 minutes) [7]. Steep, so plan for slow little legs.
• Bus 434: loops from the station to the Moorish Castle, Pena and the National Palace; 435 serves Regaleira, Seteais and Monserrate [11]. The operator sells a 24-hour hop-on hop-off ticket for both at €13.50, less online [10]. Parques de Sintra and CP still name the operator as Scotturb; the bus’s own website names Viação 434, Lda. [7][2][10] Same bus, different labels.
• Inside the Pena park: a shuttle between the park entrance and the palace costs €4.50 per person over six [5].

Tickets 2026: what a day costs

Prices read on the official sites on 10 October 2026 [5][6][8]. Book timed palace tickets online; Regaleira warns against tickets bought on unofficial websites [9].

Sight	Adult	Youth	Family (2 + 2)	Free
Pena, park only	€12	€10 (6–17)	€40	under 6
Pena, Essential Visit (palace state rooms, terraces, park)	€20	€18	€65	under 6
Moorish Castle	€12	€10	€33	under 6
Quinta da Regaleira	€20	€15 (6–17)	€60	up to 5
National Palace of Sintra (in town)	€13	€10	€35	under 6
Monserrate	€12	€10	€33	under 6

A family of four (two adults, two children aged 6–17), our example: Regaleira family ticket €60 plus the Pena park family ticket €40 makes €100 in entry fees (Regaleira plus the Moorish Castle instead: €93), plus the train (two adult returns €10.20; children aged 4–12 travel half fare, older ones full) [2][5][8], before food and the 434 bus. Children under 6 are free at all of these sights.

Opening times: the Pena park 9:00–19:00 and the palace 9:30–18:30 (last admission 18:00); the Moorish Castle 9:30–18:00 [5]. Quinta da Regaleira opens 10:00–18:30 from October to December (last entry 17:30), 9:00–19:30 from April to September and 10:00–18:30 from January to March, with entry slots every 30 minutes [8]. Every visitor needs a ticket, including free ones for small children, and snacks are not allowed inside Regaleira [8].

Which two sights with kids

1. Quinta da Regaleira. Grottoes, tunnels and the spiral “initiation well” in a garden estate near the town centre. Timed entry with up to one hour’s grace [9]. The obvious first choice with school-age children.
2. The Moorish Castle, for walls and views, or the Pena park if your children prefer paths, lakes and the Countess of Edla’s chalet (included in the park ticket) to rooms [5]. The Pena palace interior is a timed visit; for under-6s the park alone is often enough.
3. Skip with small children: the full Pena palace plus the castle plus Regaleira in one day. That is three substantial visits, with timed entries and steep walking.

A simple day plan

• 9:01 Train from Rossio, arrive about 9:41 (check the current timetable) [1].
• 10:30 Your booked Regaleira slot (the walk from the station is on the town roads; allow extra time with children, and up to 1 hour’s grace applies) [9].
• 12:30 Lunch in the town centre.
• 14:00 Bus 434 up to the Moorish Castle or the Pena park; walk the park.
• 17:00 Bus 434 down to the station and back to Lisbon.

Sintra or Cascais for one day?

	Sintra	Cascais
Getting there	Train from Rossio, about 40 min	Train from Cais do Sodré, about 40 min (see getting around)
What you do	Palaces, gardens, castle, forest	Town beaches, promenade, Boca do Inferno
Effort	Steep, timed tickets, queues	Flat, free, flexible
Cost for a family of four	€73–125 in family tickets for two sights (€100 in our example), plus train	Beach day, no entry fees
Best with	Children over 6, spring and autumn	Toddlers, hot summer days

Both in one day is possible by bus between Sintra (Portela) and Cascais: the 1624 via Cabo da Roca about every 30 minutes in the daytime, 52 to 87 minutes, or the quicker 1623 via Alvide, 37 to 52 minutes, which runs only 9 times each way on weekdays and 3 to 5 times at weekends (October 2026) [12]. With children, choose one, and keep the other for another day: both are under an hour from Lisbon. More on Cascais in Cascais, on the beaches below the Sintra hills in Praia da Adraga. Other trips by train and bus (Évora, Óbidos, Setúbal): day trips from Lisbon; city days with children: Lisbon with kids.

Should you stay overnight?

For most families, no: Lisbon and Cascais are better bases, and Sintra is easy as a day trip. An overnight stay helps if you want the first palace slots before the day-trippers arrive. See where to stay on the Lisbon coast and Sintra. Sintra’s tourist tax is €2 a night from age 13, for the first 3 nights only (tourist tax in Portugal).