Sintra · UNESCO Cultural Landscape · Palace and park
Pena Palace: tickets, hours and how to get there
The colourful palace on the hilltop above Sintra. Official prices and Tiqets prices side by side, the timed palace entry explained, and the 434 bus from the station.
Today
Opening hours for every month are on the Opening hours page.
Checked against the official website on October 22, 2026 · Official source
In short
- On the official site an adult pays 20 € for the Essential Visit (New Palace, terraces, the whole park and the Chalet of the Countess of Edla), 45 € for the Complete Visit (it adds the private apartments, in timed groups of up to 20) and 12 € for the park alone. Children under 6 enter free. Tiqets sells the Essential entry at 22.40 €, the Complete Visit with audio guide at 45 € and the park at 12 €. Prices read on 22 October 2026.
- The palace is visited at a fixed date and time, so book your slot before you go: the official site warns that there may be no availability for the same day.
- Hours: park 9:00–19:00 (last entry 18:00), palace 9:30–18:30 (last entry 18:00). Closed 1 January and 24, 25 and 31 December. The official page gives no year, so check before you go.
- Getting there: train from Lisbon Rossio to Sintra in about 40 minutes, then bus 434 to Pena. Private cars cannot go up to Pena. Allow 2.5 to 3 hours for the palace and the park (our estimate).
- The official image-capture policy does not allow taking pictures inside the palace.
A monastery turned into a royal palace
King Manuel I founded the monastery of Our Lady of Pena in 1503 and entrusted it to the Hieronymite order. The 1755 earthquake damaged it, and the religious orders were abolished in 1834. In 1838 Ferdinand II, a prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and the king consort of Maria II, bought the ruined monastery.
Ferdinand II built the palace under the direction of Baron Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege. After Maria II died in 1853 he lived in the old monastery with his second wife, Elise Hensler, Countess of Edla. The façades mix yellow, red and grey, and the colours seen today are a restoration: we could not confirm the year.
The New Palace and the terraces
The Essential Visit takes you through the New Palace, the representative wing built by Ferdinand II: the Stag Room, the Great Hall with its 72-candle chandelier, the Smoking Room, the Queen’s Terrace, the Arches Courtyard, the chapel and the kitchen.
Outside, the terraces and the battlement walk run under the clock tower and the monumental portal with the Triton, with views over Sintra, Lisbon and the Atlantic when the mist allows.
The Old Palace and the private apartments
The former monastery, called the Old Palace, is visited only with the Complete Visit: a Manueline cloister and the rooms of King Carlos I, of Manuel II and of Ferdinand II. Groups are limited to 20 people and the official site lists six times a day: 11:15, 14:15, 15:00, 15:45, 16:15 and 17:00.
The park and the Chalet of the Countess of Edla
The park covers 85 hectares, according to the official site, and it is described as the most important arboretum in Portugal. Its paths pass the Valley of the Lakes, the Queen’s Fern Valley, the Camellia Garden with the Asian collection introduced in 1840, the Temple of the Columns and the Monk’s Cave.
The Cruz Alta, at 528 metres, is the highest point of the serra. The Chalet of the Countess of Edla, built in an Alpine style, won a Europa Nostra award in 2013.
Before you go
Mornings in Sintra often begin with drizzle and mist that clears after lunch, says the official blog: take a jacket even in summer. The park is steep, so wear comfortable shoes. There are lockers at the park entrance and at the start of the palace route.
Pena is a hill, and from the main entrance the palace is a steep climb of about 0.6 km. A shuttle runs between the two for 4.50 € round trip.
