Quinta da Regaleira - getting lost in the beauty of Sintra

So my next vacation is probably months away and I thought it would be fun to relive one of the most memorable (and terrifying) experiences from my week-long getaway in Portugal - visiting Sintra's exquisite Quinta da Regaleira, which was our second stop in Sintra after the colourful Palácio da Pena.

If you're like me and love learning more about the places you visit by hanging out at Facebook groups, then you already know Quinta da Regaleira is one of the most mentioned sights to see in any Portugal group. But apart from random strangers telling you "You have to go see the Initiation Well!", you'll barely get any actual information. So, prior to my research, hearing someone mention Quinta da Regaleira to me meant a simple castle with nothing but a beautiful well. However, soon enough I found out this was far from the truth.

Before scaring you, let me start off by telling you a little bit about the history behind this World Heritage Site (as per UNESCO). The beauty of Quinta da Regaleira goes far beyond the Initiation Well, which if I have to be completely honest, was quite underwhelming (guess that's what I get when I let Facebook groups influence me!). This is a broad land which will enchant you not only with magnificent views of the lovely Regaleira Palace (known as Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire) but also various buildings with beautiful gardens surrounding them...And the infamous Initiation Well, of course.

Even though the property initially belonged to Viscountess of Regaleira, it's the Brazilian-Portuguese businessman, naturalist and collector António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro who, along with the architect Luigi Manini, made Quinta da Regaleira the beauty that it is today. Monteiro's idea was to create a place that represented what he stood for, his passions and beliefs. Quite a few architecture styles can be seen around the sundry structures like Gothic, Roman, Manueline (the latter is still my favourite).

Regaleira Palace

Regaleira Palace and gardens

Regaleira Palace and chapel

Gazebo

View from the gazebo

Now, onto the fun part - how we actually got to Quinta. When I was doing my research, I read that Sintra is somewhat walkable - as long as you only set your heart on just a couple of sights. In our case, we wanted to visit mostly Palácio da Pena and Quinta, with the possibility of checking Palácio de Monserrate out as well. The latter didn't happen and you'll shortly understand why. Let me set the scene.

We had just finished our Pena Palace tour and were ready for our next adventure - walking to Quinta da Regaleira. I opened Google maps and started leading the quest. Something to keep in mind: I was so overwhelmed by all the information I had read/ learned prior to the Sintra trip, that in my head Castelo dos Mouros WAS Quinta da Regaleira. As I was following blindly my Google map, Hive account@dontcare89 was starting to feel a bit uneasy...and rightfully so as it looked like the more we were supposed to get closer to our destination - Quinta da Regaleira, the more it seemed we were getting further away from it...Or from what I thought was Quinta - Castelo dos Mouros 😁 We stopped a few tourists on the way to verify if we were in the right direction - every single person confirmed it. Yet, as we stopped for a little break, both of us sweaty and somewhat confused as we have been going down lots of stairs, passing by some rock climbers and overall felt like we were in the jungle, Hive account@dontcare89 asked me "Ok if we're going to Quinta which is up there..." - pointing up at the mountain where Castelo dos Mouros was, oops, "...then why have we been going down for the past hour?" 🤣. My answer: "I don't know, that's what Google says" 🤣 Poor girl, she kept saying we're going in the wrong direction, but I had blind faith in my Google map. In the end, we were both right in our own way - we were definitely on the wrong way for Castelo dos Mouros BUT we ended up at the destination we were supposed to see - Quinta da Regaleira, and most specifically the Initiation Well.

The Initiation Well was also one of Luigi Manini's creations and it features nine flights of stairs. The whole experience for us during the visit of the well was mildly annoying. Firstly, it lasted not even 5 minutes. Apart from the many people lining up to see this sight, there was a lady at the top who kept yelling at people who tried to stop and take photos. On top of that, as we were making our way to the bottom of the well, it became quite dark (to the point we were bumping into people), our feet got wet and water kept dripping on us. So overall, probably a 4 out of 10 experience. I would absolutely recommend visiting it as the view from the top of the well was gorgeous however, keep in mind what awaits on the way down as it is a well after all (something I sort of forgot 😅).

Thank you for coming on this wonderful, but kinda scary/ funny, adventure with me! I also wanted to express my gratitude to the Pinmapple community and curators - thank you for letting all of us travel around the world from the comfort of our homes. You will be missed! ✨