Monserrate Palace and gardens

What it is

Monserrate is a palace and park on the western slope of the Sintra mountains, about 4 km from the centre. The British industrialist and collector Francis Cook turned it in the 19th century into one of the great works of Romanticism in Portugal: a palace of Oriental inspiration, designed by the architect James Knowles Jr., with domes, openwork arches and stucco that looks like lace, surrounded by a garden with plants from every continent. Before Cook, the estate had already been a refuge for British writers and travellers.

It receives far fewer visitors than Pena, and you can tell: here you stroll in silence.

What you see

The park is the main thing. You go down paths among enormous trees and pass through themed gardens:

• The fern valley, with tree ferns.
• The Mexican garden, of dry-climate plants.
• The rose garden and the Japanese garden.
• The great lawn in front of the palace, with the open view of the valley.
• The ruins of the chapel, the Indian arch, Beckford's waterfall and the Vathek arch, which recall another famous British tenant of the estate, the writer William Beckford.

The palace can be visited inside: the central gallery, the music room beneath the dome and the salons decorated with carved stucco. Note that its roof is under restoration works, with scaffolding, until the first quarter of 2027.

In the park there is also a nature interpretation centre and an old farm.

Opening hours

The park is open from 9:00 to 19:00: the last ticket is sold at 17:30 and the last entry is at 18:00. The palace is open from 9:30 to 18:00, with the last ticket sold at 17:00 and last entry at 17:30. The ticket office closes from 12:00 to 13:00, but there are automatic machines. Parques de Sintra announces occasional closures on its website.

Tickets and prices

Entry to the park and palace costs €12 for adults aged 18 to 64 and €10 for young people aged 6 to 17 and over-65s. The family ticket, for two adults and two young people, costs €33. It is bought on the Parques de Sintra website or at the ticket office.

How long

Two hours for the palace and a full tour of the park. At a relaxed pace and with a picnic, half a day.

How to get there

From Lisbon, take the Sintra line train to Sintra station and from there Scotturb bus 435 or Carris Metropolitana 1253. Parques de Sintra currently recommends arriving via Colares, because of roadworks. The electric Hop On Hop Off shuttle that linked the monuments is out of service.

By car, Monserrate is on the road from Sintra to Colares. If you continue west, by mid-afternoon you reach Cabo da Roca.

Accessibility and with children

The park is on a slope: the paths go down from the entrance to the palace and the valley, and then you have to climb them. There are dirt stretches and steps.

Children like the farm, the waterfall and the giant ferns, which look from another age. It is a good place for them to run, because there is lots of space and few people.