Sintra National Palace

The Palácio Nacional de Sintra is the oldest continuously inhabited royal residence in Portugal, occupied by the monarchy from the early 15th century until 1910. Its core is Moorish, adapted after 1147, but the building took the shape you see under João I around 1415 and Manuel I in the early 1500s, which is why it mixes Gothic mullions, Mudéjar tilework and Manueline windows without embarrassment. The two conical chimneys, 33 metres tall, vent the palace kitchens and have become the emblem of the town. Inside is the largest and oldest collection of Mudéjar azulejos in the country, laid in the 15th and 16th centuries and never ripped out. Afonso VI was imprisoned in one of these rooms for nine years until his death in 1683, and the pacing marks worn into the floor tiles of his chamber are pointed out to every visitor.

The route runs through around twenty rooms and does not take long, but each has a specific hook. The Swan Room, the great hall, has 27 swans painted in the octagons of its ceiling. The Magpie Room's ceiling carries 136 magpies each holding a rose and the motto "Por bem" — a joke by João I at the expense of court gossip. The Coats of Arms Room, the finest space, has a gilded domed ceiling bearing the arms of 72 noble families over walls sheathed floor to ceiling in blue-and-white 18th-century tile hunting scenes. The Arab Room, the Chapel with its Mudéjar ceiling, and the vast vaulted kitchens beneath the chimneys complete the circuit, and windows throughout give sudden views over the town's tiled roofs and up to the Moorish Castle on the ridge.

This is the easiest of the Sintra palaces to fit into a day, because it sits in the middle of town rather than on a mountain, and takes ninety minutes rather than half a day. That makes it the ideal second or third stop: do Pena early, come down, eat, then do this. Tickets can be bought at the door most of the year, though in July and August an online purchase saves twenty minutes. There is no obligatory time slot in the way Pena has one. The audio guide is worth having here because the ceilings carry stories that the panels only sketch. Photography without flash is allowed throughout, and the tile rooms reward it.

From central Lisbon, the Sintra line train leaves Rossio station roughly every 20-30 minutes and takes 40 minutes, €2.40 each way with a Navegante card; trains also call at Oriente and Entrecampos. From Sintra station it is a downhill-then-flat 10-minute walk into the historic centre, or one stop on the 434 circular bus. The palace entrance is on Largo Rainha Dona Amélia in the middle of the old town, unmissable under the chimneys. Driving into Sintra's centre is genuinely miserable — the streets are one-way, narrow and often gridlocked, and the nearest car parks are on the edge of town with a 10-15 minute walk in. Tuk-tuks and taxis wait at the station for €5-10 into the centre.

Adults pay €13, over-65s and ages 6-17 pay €11.50, and under-6s are free; a family ticket for two adults and two children costs around €43. The audio guide is a few euros extra. Combined tickets with Pena, the Moorish Castle or Monserrate are sold by Parques de Sintra and save roughly ten per cent if you visit two or more sites, which most people do. Nothing inside costs extra — there is no café within the palace, though the town's cafés are one minute from the door. The Lisboa Card does not cover the Sintra palaces, a frequent and irritating discovery for visitors who assumed it would.

Come at 9:30 and you will have the Swan Room and the Coats of Arms Room to yourself, which matters because they are small and photograph badly with people in them. The busiest hours are 12:00 to 16:00, when Pena visitors come down the hill and coach groups arrive; the last hour before 18:30 quietens again. There is no closing day except 25 December and 1 January, which makes it a reliable Monday choice when Belém is shut. April to June and September to October are the best months, warm and clear. Summer is crowded, though the thick walls keep the interiors cool. Winter is quiet and the tiles look superb in low light through the mullioned windows.

It suits people who like interiors, decorative art and stories — the ceilings alone justify the ticket. Families do surprisingly well because the swans, magpies and giant kitchens hold children's attention, and the route is short enough not to exhaust them. It is far better for anyone with limited mobility than Pena: mostly one level with some steps and a lift serving part of the route, and no mountain climb to reach it. It is an excellent rainy-afternoon choice and an excellent one-hour choice, which few Sintra sights are. Visitors who came to Sintra chasing the fairy-tale exterior of Pena may find the outside of this palace plain.

Everything in Sintra town is within minutes. Piriquita on Rua das Padarias, 3 minutes uphill, sells the travesseiros and queijadas the town is known for. The Moorish Castle is a steep 45-minute climb on the Santa Maria footpath from behind the palace, or a short 434 bus ride. Quinta da Regaleira is 15 minutes' walk west along Rua Barbosa du Bocage. The Sintra Toy Museum and the small Museu Anjos Teixeira sit nearby. If you are making Sintra a two-day trip rather than a day-trip sprint, an overnight in the old town means you walk to this palace door before the first train from Lisbon arrives — the single best planning decision available here.

The honest caveats: the exterior is genuinely unremarkable apart from the chimneys, and visitors expecting a second Pena are deflated on arrival. The circuit is short, and at €13 for ninety minutes it is not the bargain of Sintra. Some rooms are small and become uncomfortable when a group fills them. The Afonso VI imprisonment story, told with relish, is the sort of detail guides embroider — the worn floor is real, the pacing legend is tradition rather than record. And nobody mentions that the town square outside is one of the busiest tourist bottlenecks in the country between noon and four.

Hours & entry

Not free

Daily 9:30-18:30 · Last entry 18:00 · Closed 25 Dec and 1 Jan

What to see

• Coats of Arms Room gilded dome and tiled walls — Upper floor, east range
• Magpie Room ceiling with 136 birds — Ground-floor state rooms, near the Swan Room
• Vaulted kitchens under the twin chimneys — North end of the visitor route

Tips from the ground

• 9:30 opening gives you the Swan and Coats of Arms rooms empty for photographs.
• Combined Parques de Sintra tickets with Pena or the Moorish Castle save around ten per cent.
• The Lisboa Card does not work here — buy separately.