How to visit Monserrate Palace in Sintra (Portugal): opening hours, prices

In the essential visit of the Sierra Sintra durante a trip to Lisbon, PortugalWithout a doubt the best known corner is the Palace of Pena.

But there are other places that are also well worth visiting in said mountain range, such as the Quinta da Regaleira and the Monserrate Palace with its beautiful gardens.

In fact, they were priority stages in our most recent trip to Cascais.

Curiosities about the history of the Monserrate Palace in Sintra

Specific Monserrate It is a palace from the mid-19th century romantic style with Arabic influences, which was ordered to be built by the millionaire Francis Cook.

After amassing his fortune thanks to the textile industry, he built this palace as a family summer residence.

The visitable complex of Monserrate in Sintra they form it palace and his enormous english style gardens.

To get to the Monserrate Palace, which is located 4 kilometers from the center of the town of Sintra, you must go up a narrow road to the side of the hill where it sits.

There is also a regular bus that can take you to the entrance, or if you prefer, you can take the Sintra tourist bus, which takes a tour of palaces and landscapes that are found around this historic and tourist town near Lisbon.

This is the experience of visiting Monserrate in Sintra, what to see

As soon as you enter the park, what you will find are the enormous gardens that are more than 100 years old, which is clearly reflected in the size of the trees.

Winding paths surrounded by impressive trees and plants welcome you as you approach the palace.

Monserrate Gardens 

The Monserrate gardens They are located in a very good area for growth since the Sintra Mountains It has a micro-climate that makes a great variety of native plants flourish and the species that were brought from other countries adapt extremely well.

You can also see beautiful corners such as some architectural remains, small ornamental lakes and waterfalls.

Of note are the remains of a false chapel.

The grounds of the Monserrate park They have different zones depending on the origin of the plants and trees found there.

For this reason we can find areas such as Japan Garden, the Garden of Mexico, o the Rose Garden.

As a curiosity, I will tell you that the lawn at the foot of the palace was the first in Portugal in which irrigation was installed.

Monserrate Palace

For its part, the palace does not attract attention for its size, but for the feeling of entering a fantastic world due to its details in each arch, door and dome that you find in the rooms.

In front of the façade the beautiful Triton Fountain.

Upon entering the palatial building the first thing that catches your attention are the details in all aspects of the interior decoration.

Although the palace is almost empty of furniture, you can find informative posters informing you of the original use of each room, as well as some photos showing its original state.

A central hallway acts as the common thread of the house, where the decoration stands out with spectacular arches that emerge from marble pillars and walls stuccoed with floral motifs.

On the sides you find the different rooms, such as the library that it was the office of Francis Cook.

Worthy of note in this room is the solid wooden door on which you find a tree perfectly carved in high relief.

Perhaps the most impressive room is the Music room where you can see a huge dome.

The marble staircase leads to the upper part of the palace where the rooms that were used as bedrooms are located.

In the lower part of the house what was the kitchen is maintained with the original copper utensils with which they cooked.

All rooms have large, vertical windows, and through them you can see beautiful panoramic views of the Sintra Mountains.

Visiting hours of the Monserrate Palace

The Monserrate Palace visiting hours They are, under normal conditions, every day from 9,30:18,30 a.m. to 18:XNUMX p.m., with last access at XNUMX p.m.

You can visit the gardens from 9:19 a.m. to 18 p.m., with last access at XNUMX p.m.

Monserrate Palace ticket prices

The ticket prices It is 12 euros for adults; and 10 euros for those under 18 and over 65, with the visit being free for children under 6 years old.

Map: where it is and how to get to Monserrate in Sintra

El Monserrate palace It is located just a quarter of an hour by car from the town of Sintra, and 30 kilometers from Lisbon.