Monserrate Palace

Mum suggested we spend a day at the Palácio de Monserrate and the surrounding garden. I'm so glad we did! The site is about an hour's walk past Sintra on a hill in the forest and it's beautiful!

The palace was built in the 18th and 19th centuries in the neo-Gothic style. After being owned by Portuguese noble families for some time, the site was leased to an English millionaire in 1793. It then remained in British ownership for a long time until it fell into disrepair and was restored and opened to the public by a Portuguese state company at the end of the 20th century.

We spent most of our day walking around the grounds, drinking coffee and eating travesseiros (a traditional Sintra pastry) on a shady terrace and, after a very relaxing time, taking a little red convertible to drive us back to Sintra. There we had a pizza before heading back to Lisbon.