Pena Palace or Quinta da Regaleira 2026: Which to Pick

Booking choice: The half day from Lisbon, from $90 per person. Check dates Tour details

Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira sit about 2.5 km apart on the same mountain, but they have different owners, different ticket shops and very different days in store for you.

Prices below are the 2026 rates from Parques de Sintra and from Quinta da Regaleira.

The quick answer

Pena is a royal palace with furnished rooms, bright colours and huge views; Regaleira is a stranger, smaller estate of tunnels, grottoes and the Initiation Well. Pena costs EUR 20 for palace and park, Regaleira EUR 20, in two separate shops. Both fit in one day: Pena first, bus 434 down to the village, then an afternoon Regaleira slot. If you only have time for one, pick Regaleira for atmosphere, Pena for the palace.

What is the difference between Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira?

Pena is a 19th-century royal palace run by Parques de Sintra. Regaleira is a private millionaire's estate from about 1904 to 1910, run by the Sintra council's foundation, Fundação Cultursintra.

That ownership split matters more than people expect. A Pena ticket does nothing at Regaleira, the two sites sell on different websites, and their rules differ: Pena's palace interior runs on timed entry with no flexibility, while Regaleira gives you one hour of grace after your slot.

Pena was built for King Ferdinand II from the 1840s on the ruins of a monastery. Regaleira was built for António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro, a coffee and gem fortune, with the stage designer Luigi Manini. Both belong to the UNESCO Cultural Landscape of Sintra.

The grey carved stone facade of the Regaleira palace with its pointed tower — Regaleira's palace is grey, carved and small. The garden behind it is the main event.

How much do Pena and Regaleira cost in 2026?

Regaleira is EUR 20 for an adult. Pena is EUR 20 for the essential palace and park visit, or EUR 12 for the park and terraces only.

Many tours sell Pena's park ticket, which they call "terraces" or "gardens". It gets you onto the outside of the palace but not into the rooms. Read the listing before you assume you will see the interiors.

Ticket 2026	Adult	Youth / senior	Family
Quinta da Regaleira	EUR 20	EUR 15	EUR 60
Pena, essential visit (palace + park)	EUR 20	EUR 18	EUR 65
Pena, park only (terraces, gardens)	EUR 12	EUR 10	EUR 40
Pena, complete visit	EUR 45	Youth EUR 20, senior EUR 35	EUR 115
Pena, guided palace visit	EUR 75	Youth EUR 20, senior EUR 67.50	EUR 170

Regaleira: regaleira.byblueticket.pt. Pena: parquesdesintra.pt. Both together cost an adult EUR 40 on the essential tickets.

Pena's terraces and 90 minutes at Regaleira in one morning, in a van of eight from central Lisbon.

Check dates for the half day from Lisbon

What is Pena Palace like?

Red and yellow towers on a ridge, furnished royal rooms inside, and terraces with views to the Atlantic and Lisbon on a clear day.

The palace interior opens 09:30 to 18:30 and you enter only at the time on your ticket. The park opens 09:00 to 19:00, with last admission at 18:00. From the park gate to the palace is a steep climb, or a shuttle every 15 minutes. Private cars are not allowed up; most people come on bus 434 from the station or the village.

Inside, the rooms are dense with 19th-century furniture and the corridors are one way, so it moves slowly when busy. Outside, the Triton arch and the walkway round the walls are the photos you have seen.

The red clock tower of Pena Palace with yellow walls and a blue sky — Pena's red clock tower. Tickets for the rooms come with a fixed entry time.

What is Quinta da Regaleira like?

A four-hectare hillside of gardens, towers, grottoes and tunnels around a small palace and chapel, with the Initiation Well at its heart.

Regaleira is a place to wander. The palace shows its main floor only and is quickly seen; the chapel is tiny and richly carved. The rest is up the slope: the Regaleira Tower, the Portal of the Guardians, the Terrace of the Celestial Worlds and the well, all linked by paths and passages.

It is steeper and wetter underfoot than Pena's terraces, and in 2026 a few parts are closed (the Waterfall Path and the Aquarium). The Initiation Well guide explains the one-way route.

Looking down into the Initiation Well at Regaleira, a spiral of mossy stone landings — The Initiation Well. Pena has nothing like it.

Which is more crowded, Pena or Regaleira?

Pena, especially inside the palace rooms in late morning. Regaleira's crowd collects at one point: the Initiation Well queue.

At Pena the pinch points are the bus 434 queue, the park gate, the shuttle and the one-way corridors inside. At Regaleira you can usually find a quiet path somewhere, but the well can hold a line of 15 to 30 minutes and more at summer peaks.

For both, the same rule holds: arrive at opening or after mid-afternoon. Tour vans fill the middle of the day.

Can you visit Pena and Regaleira in one day?

Yes. Do Pena in the morning, take bus 434 down to the village, eat, then use an afternoon Regaleira slot. Leave three to four hours between the two entry times.

A timetable that works from Lisbon:

Time	What	Notes
08:30 to 09:15	Train Rossio to Sintra	About 40 minutes, about EUR 2.50
09:30	Bus 434 up to Pena	Leaves from the station; 24-hour pass with line 435
10:00	Pena palace slot	Then the terraces and park
12:30	Bus 434 down to the village	Or walk down through the woods
13:00	Lunch in Sintra village	The Regaleira café is the other option
14:30	Regaleira slot	10 to 15 minutes' walk, or bus 435
17:30	Last entry at Regaleira	Gardens open until 18:30 or 19:30 by season

Bus times and the hop-on pass are on sintra434.com. Walking from Pena to Regaleira is about 2.5 km downhill. Getting here from Lisbon is covered in Lisbon to Regaleira.

Aerial view of Pena Palace on its forested hilltop with the plain stretching away behind — Pena on its ridge. The village and Regaleira are below, out of sight in the trees.

If you only have time for one, which should you choose?

Regaleira, if you want atmosphere and something you won't see anywhere else. Pena, if you want a real palace interior and the big views.

Our take: first-timers with children, and anyone who loves strange places, should pick Regaleira. The well and the tunnels are a better story than another set of royal bedrooms. Architecture fans and people who want the classic Sintra photo should pick Pena, with the full palace ticket, not just the park.

Short on time but want both? A tour handles the two sets of slots for you, which is the hardest part.

The carved Triton arch on the facade of Pena Palace, a sea creature in stone above a doorway — Pena's Triton arch: the one carving everybody photographs.

Which tours visit both Pena and Regaleira?

Most Sintra tours on this site visit both, but only one includes both tickets. Several sell Pena's park, not the palace rooms.

All tickets included: a guided visit inside Pena Palace and an hour at Regaleira, both tickets in the $136 price.
Half day from Lisbon: Pena's terraces and 90 minutes at Regaleira; EUR 10 and EUR 20 in cash. From $90.
Half day from Sintra: the same idea starting by Portela de Sintra station; EUR 12 and EUR 20 in cash. From $74.
Sintra, Regaleira and coast day: Pena exterior ticket included, Regaleira EUR 21.50 in cash, then Cabo da Roca and Cascais. From $91.
Small-group Sintra and coast: choose Pena terraces or interiors; you buy the 11:30 Regaleira slot yourself. From $62.