Lisbon · Portugal
Driving from Lisbon to Sintra and Cascais: Roads, Parking and Timing
A one day loop west: the fast road to Sintra, the cliff at Cabo da Roca, the coast road home.
30 km to Sintra
Park low, ride the 434
Cabo da Roca on the way
125 cars in the listing
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The loop, and the order that makes it work
Sintra and Cascais both sit about thirty kilometres west of Lisbon, close enough that people try to do both in an afternoon and end up doing neither properly. They are not on the same road. Sintra is inland and uphill, in a hill range that makes its own weather. Cascais is flat and on the water. Between them stands Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, which is on your way only if you go clockwise. Start early.
Sintra, first and early
The IC19 is the quick way out, which is why it fills. Leave by half past eight and the drive runs around forty minutes. At ten it can take an hour.
Cabo da Roca, and the wind
The N247 crosses the Serra to a lighthouse on a cliff, half an hour on from Sintra. Bring a jacket you can hold on to. The wind is not a detail here.
Cascais, for the afternoon
Twenty five minutes down the coast past the dunes at Guincho. Level, walkable, and with the underground parking Sintra does not have.
The Marginal, going home
The N6 tracks the estuary back into Lisbon with the water on your right. Slower than the motorway, better in every way that is not a clock.
A small car does this route better
Nothing here rewards size. The lanes above the old town are narrow and the car park at the cape is small. Three of the cheapest cars are below. See the full list.
€/day
Fiat Panda
5 doors · 5 seats · Manual
€3/day
Opel Corsa
5 doors · 5 seats · Manual
€10/day
Renault Clio
5 doors · 5 seats · Auto
€43/day
Four roads west, and what each is for
Two of these reach the same town by very different means, and knowing which is which is most of the skill in this drive.
Free, quick, and busy at exactly the wrong hour
The only sensible way out to Sintra, and the commuter artery for Amadora and Queluz. No toll, no alternative worth taking, and between half past eight and ten, a great deal of traffic. Past Rio de Mouro it thins.
The motorway, and the fastest line to Cascais
Twenty five minutes when it is clear, and tolled electronically, so the transponder clipped to your windscreen is what pays it. Take the A5 when you are late, when it rains hard, or when you drive home after dark.
The coast road, and the reason to have a car here
The N6 leaves the city at Alges and follows the estuary through Oeiras, Carcavelos and Estoril into Cascais. No toll, many traffic lights, roughly twice the time of the motorway. Drive it eastbound in the late afternoon.
The park road, from Sintra to the cape and down to the sea
This is the one people remember. It climbs out of Sintra, crosses the Serra to Cabo da Roca, then turns south past Guincho into Cascais. Narrow, constantly bending, and lovely in a way none of the others are.
30 km
from the city to Sintra on the IC19
434
the bus that climbs to Pena so you do not have to
0
tolls on the Marginal back into town
125
cars in the Lisbon listing
That is the whole fleet for these dates. Insurance options and the full rental terms are confirmed on LocalRent before you pay.
How the day actually runs
Times below assume a weekday outside August. In August, add half an hour and park lower.
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1
Leave before half past eight
The IC19 at nine on a weekday is a long thin car park. At eight it is a road. This one decision shapes the day more than anything else here.
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2
Park low in Sintra, never high
The lanes above the historic centre run one way, single file, and both sides are parked already. Leave the car near the railway station and ride the 434 up.
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3
Walk the old town before the coaches
The palaces open early and the tour groups arrive late morning. If there is time for one thing on the hill, make it Pena, and buy the timed entry first.
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4
Cross the Serra to Cabo da Roca
Half an hour on the N247 with the trees arching over the road. One car park at the lighthouse, full by late morning in season, so come in the early afternoon.
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5
Drop into Cascais, come home on the water
South past Guincho into a town built for walking, into an underground car park, out again along the estuary. Be on the N6 as the light goes.
Four things this drive asks of you
A compact car rather than a comfortable one
Thirty four of the 125 cars in the Lisbon listing are compact, and on this route that class is the right answer. The lanes above Sintra were not laid out for a family estate.
The transponder, in one line
The A5 is tolled electronically and hire cars carry a transponder for a daily fee. Driving in Lisbon covers the toll network and how the device is billed.
A licence and a sober lunch
Portugal drives on the right at 120 on motorways, 90 on open road and 50 in town. The alcohol limit is 0.05 percent, and 0.02 under three years of licence. Colares grows wine a few minutes off this route.
Two pedals if you are out of practice
Fifty nine of the 125 cars are automatic against 66 manual, so nearly half the fleet has the second pedal but nobody hands you one by accident. The N247 is no place to rediscover a clutch.
The legs, in numbers
Five legs, four of them free. The last two rows are the same journey by two roads, and that is the only real decision left.
| Leg | Road | Distance | Typical drive | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Out to Sintra | IC19 | 30 km | 35 to 50 min | None |
| Sintra to Cabo da Roca | N247 | about 18 km | about 30 min | None |
| The cape down to Cascais | N247 past Guincho | about 16 km | about 25 min | None |
| Cascais home, coast road | N6, the Marginal | 30 km | 45 to 60 min | None |
| Cascais home, motorway | A5 | 30 km | 25 to 30 min | Electronic |
Questions drivers ask before this day out
A full day, and it goes better treated as one. Leaving before half past eight and returning along the Marginal at dusk gives roughly three hours in Sintra, an hour at Cabo da Roca and a couple in Cascais. Squeezed into an afternoon it becomes a tour of car parks.
Low, near the railway station or at Portela de Sintra, then ride the 434 bus up the hill. The historic centre is a narrow one way loop with almost no parking, and the road above is worse. Ignore this and you will be turning around on a gradient with a coach behind you.
There is a road and a small car park near the top, but the road is single file in places and the spaces go early, so on most days the answer is no. The 434 loops from the station past the Moorish Castle to Pena and back.
The A5 is a tolled motorway and takes about twenty five minutes. The N6, the Marginal, follows the water through Oeiras, Carcavelos and Estoril and takes closer to an hour. Use the motorway when you are late or driving at night, the coast road when the light is good.
The train reaches Sintra and Cascais. It reaches neither Cabo da Roca nor Guincho, and it will not stop where you feel like stopping. For one palace and a coffee the train is easier. For the cape and the coast at sunset, the car is the entire point.
Collect the car the evening before
The loop works best when the day starts at the wheel rather than at a counter. Lisbon Carhire lists 125 cars, with the middle of the market around 46 to 66 euros a day.
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