We booked a car service to take us from the airport to our hotel in Sintra. We landed about 30 minutes early and actually was through passport control, picked up our luggage and through customs in 30 minutes. We arrived at the hotel and since it was only 9am, our room was not ready. We are staying at Tivoli Palacio de Seteais pictured below. We were here early so they upgraded our room to a corner suite with the view of the gardens.
The hotel is a converted former palace built between 1783-1787 and filled with 18th century antiques. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Our selfie in front of the hotel that took several takes for some reason.
The view from the front of the Hotel. The red and yellow castle is Palacio Nacional da Pena. 19th Century built for Queen Maria's husband, Ferdinand Saxe-Coburg.
We decided to walk down to the village of Sintra. It was just under a mile and easy walk down...a little tough on the way back up the hill!
We then toured the Palacio Nacional de Sintra. The palace was established in the 8th century by the Moors. This was the residence of the Portuguese Royal family from the 12th century. It is now a museum.