Page 103 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Lisbon

SERR A DE SINTR A  101

Tips for Drivers
Length: 36 km (22 miles).
Stopping-off points: There
are cool springs of drinking
water and fountains along the
mountain roads. At Cabo da Roca
8 Seteais The elegant palace, you will find a café, restaurant
now a luxury hotel and restaurant and souvenir shops; at Colares
(see p123 & p135) was built in the there are several delightful Palace of Monserrate, an example of
18th century for the Dutch restaurants and bars. Romantic architecture
Consul, Daniel Gildemeester.
5 Monserrate
2 Sintra From the centre
7 Monserrate The cool forest park of the old town the road Rua Barbosa du Bocage. Tel 219 237
and elaborate 19th-century palace winds steeply upwards 300. @ to Sintra, then taxi or bus 435.
epitomize the romanticism of Sintra. past magnificent quintas Open daily (last adm: 1 hour before
(country estates) hidden closing); late Mar–late Oct: 9:30am–
among the trees. 8pm (to 7pm for the palace); late Oct–
late Mar: 10am–6pm (to 5pm for the
Ericeira palace). Closed 1 Jan, 25 Dec. & 7
Mafra ∑ parquesdesintra.pt
The wild, romantic garden of
this once magnificent estate is
full of exotic trees and flowering
shrubs. Among the subtropical
foliage and valley of tree ferns,
the visitor will come across
One way a waterfall, a small lake and a
e S i n t r a • Palácio chapel, built as a ruin, tangled
road
in the roots of a giant Ficus tree.
d J da Pena Its history dates back to the
Moors but it takes its name
a
r Lisboa from a small 16th-century
r
e Cruz Alta chapel dedicated to Our Lady of
S Montserrat in Catalonia, Spain.
The gardens were landscaped
in the late 1700s by a wealthy
Estoril young Englishman, William
Cascais Beckford. They were later
immortalized by Lord Byron in
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812).
In 1856, the abandoned
estate was bought by another
1 Parque da Pena This huge, Englishman, Sir Francis Cook,
exotic park can be explored on who built a fantastic Moorish-
foot (see p103). It is also possible style palace (which has now
to visit the beautiful Palácio been restored) and transformed
Nacional da Pena (see pp106–7). the gardens with a large
sweeping lawn, camellias and
subtropical trees from all over
3 Convento dos the world. These include the
Capuchos Two huge giant Metrosideros (Pacific
boulders guard the Islands Christmas tree, covered
entrance to this remote
Franciscan monastery, in a blaze of red flowers in July),
founded in 1560, where the native Arbutus (known as
the friars lived in tiny rock- the strawberry tree because of
Key hewn cells lined with cork. its juicy red berries), from which
Tour route There are stunning views the medronho firewater drink is
of the coast from the distilled, and cork oak, with
Other roads
hill above this austere, small ferns growing on its bark.
rocky hideaway. The Parques de Sintra maintains
the house and gardens.
For keys to symbols see back flap
100-101_EW_Lisbon.indd 101 17/10/16 11:06 am