FULL DAY Private Tour to Sintra, Queluz, Cabo da Roca, and Cascais

In the village of Sintra, we can find testimonies from practically all periods of Portuguese history and, not infrequently, with a dimension that, due to its importance, surpassed the limits of this territory. In Sintra's candidacy for World Heritage/Cultural Landscape with UNESCO, it was a matter of classifying an entire area that assumed itself as a cultural and environmental context with specific characteristics: a cultural unit that has remained intact in a plethora of palaces and parks; of manor houses and respective gardens and woods; of palaces and chalets inserted in the middle of an exuberant vegetation; of extensive walled sections that crown the highest peaks of the Serra. Also a plethora of meditation convents between cliffs, woods and fountains: churches, chapels and hermitages, secular centers of faith and art; finally, an intact cultural unit in a plethora of archaeological remains that point to occupations several millennia old.

The National Palace of Pena, popularly referred to simply as Palácio da Pena or Castelo da Pena, is located in the village of Sintra, parish of Sintra (Santa Maria and São Miguel, São Martinho and São Pedro de Penaferrim), municipality of Sintra, in the district of Lisbon, in Portugal. It represents one of the main expressions of 19th century architectural Romanticism in the world, constituting the first palace in that style in Europe, erected about 30 years before Neuschwanstein Castle, in Bavaria. On July 7, 2007, it was chosen as one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal. Pena Palace has been classified as a National Monument since 1910, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.

The Palácio da Regaleira is the main building and the most common name of Quinta da Regaleira, also called Palácio do Monteiro dos Milhões, by the nickname of the owner António Augusto de Carvalho Monteiro who, having been distinguished by King Dom Carlos I on 16 August 1904 as Baron de Almeida, he was the one who commissioned the construction of the palace in its current configuration. It forms an integral part of the cultural landscape of Sintra, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. António Augusto, through the lines of the Italian architect Luigi Manini, gives the 4-hectare farm the palace, surrounded by lush gardens, lakes, caves and enigmatic constructions, places that hide alchemical meanings, such as those evoked by Freemasonry, Templars and Rosario. cross. It models the space in mixed layouts, which evoke Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Manueline architecture.

The initial building built by Gerad DeVisme was an elongated construction topped at the ends by two cylindrical towers and covered by cone-shaped roofs (this being the essential structure that has remained until today). It was a neo-Gothic castle that underwent alterations by Beckford, having been the scene of numerous parties. In this way, he manages to become the center of an elite of intellectuals that Beckford gathered around him. One of the most celebrated is George Byron, an Anglo-Scottish poet and figure of the Romantic movement, who in 1809 would refer to Monserrate in his work "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage". It is known that around 1840 the original building was abandoned, the lead roofs had already been stolen and some of the roofs had collapsed.

The National Palace of Queluz, also called the Palace of Queluz and the Royal Palace of Queluz, is an 18th-century palace located in Queluz, a city in the municipality of Sintra, in the district of Lisbon. The palace was conceived as a summer retreat for D. Pedro de Bragança, who would later become the husband and then king consort of his own niece, Queen Maria I. It served as a discreet place of imprisonment for Queen D. . of his family, remaining so until the royal family traveled to the colony of Brazil in 1807 after the French invasion of Portugal. Work on the palace began in 1747 under the command of the Portuguese architect Mateus Vicente de Oliveira.

Cabo da Roca is the westernmost point of mainland Portugal and continental Europe. The site can be visited, not to the extreme, but to an area at an altitude of 140 m. The cape forms the western end of the Serra de Sintra, plunging into the Atlantic Ocean. Luís Vaz de Camões described it as the place “Where the land ends and the sea begins” (in Os Lusíadas, Canto III). A stone pattern with a tombstone marks this geographical feature to everyone who visits this place. Its flora is diverse and, in many cases, has unique species, being the object of several studies that also extend to geomorphology, among others. It is part of the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, in an area with easy access and a large number of tourists, with many people visiting it.

Its origin as an independent entity dates from the Charter of the Town, of June 7, 1364, in which King D. Pedro I of Portugal separated it from the term of Sintra due to its economic development. Administratively, it only became independent in 1514, when it was provided with its own charter. Occupied since the Palaeolithic, and with an important archaeological heritage, the municipality was from early on focused on agricultural production, fishing and the extraction of resources. The Tagus contributed to its importance, having today a vast military architectural heritage. Due to its natural and scenic values, both the village and the municipality experienced a surge in popularity that saw it become the preferred destination of Portuguese and foreign elites from the 19th century onwards. The arrival and electrification of the railway were essential for the progress of the municipality, being the main factor for its urbanization from 1930 onwards.