Where to stay in Sintra

Neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood guidance for Sintra, Portugal: which areas suit which travellers, what they cost, and the stays we list in each.

Estefânia (2) — Workaday, station-side, real shops The grid around Avenida Dr. Miguel Bombarda, five to ten minutes downhill from the station and fifteen from the old town.
Praia das Maçãs & Azenhas do Mar (2) — Riverine sand, cliffside white houses Avenida Eugene Levy at Praia das Maçãs, and the terraces above the sea at Azenhas do Mar.
Centro Histórico (4) — Cobbled, palatial, permanently thronged The lanes off Praça da República — Rua das Padarias, Rua Consiglieri Pedroso, Rua Gil Vicente — put the National Palace, Piriquita and the 434 stop three minutes away.
Seteais & Monserrate (4) — Palace road, gardens, no pavement Rua Barbosa du Bocage runs west past Quinta da Regaleira and Seteais before becoming the road to Monserrate.
São Pedro de Penaferrim (2) — Uphill village, market square, calmer Praça D. Fernando II is a genuine village square with its own restaurants, fifteen to twenty minutes uphill from the centre.
Colares & Praia Grande (2) — Vineyards, cliffs, surf, wind Inland Colares village and the beach strip at Praia Grande, ten to fifteen kilometres from the historic centre.

Valverde Sintra Palácio de Seteais — Seteais & Monserrate ($$). An eighteenth-century palace with thirty rooms and its own restaurant
Lawrence's Hotel — Centro Histórico ($$). The Iberian Peninsula's oldest hotel, 1764, with sixteen named rooms
NH Sintra Centro — Centro Histórico ($). Four-star with 77 rooms, right on Praça da República
Sintra Boutique Hotel — Centro Histórico ($). A small hotel on the Monserrate road, minutes from the palace
São Pedro village houses — São Pedro de Penaferrim ($). Village houses round Praça D. Fernando II, fifteen minutes downhill to the old town
Colares & Praia das Maçãs houses — Colares & Praia Grande ($). Coastal houses with parking near the Colares wine country — a car is essential here