Pena Palace Tickets: Prices, Time Slots and Getting Up

How much are Pena Palace tickets?

Parques de Sintra, the state company that runs Pena, lists five main Pena tickets. These are the prices on its opening times and prices page, checked 19 October 2026:

Children under 6 are free on most Pena tickets, including the Essential, Complete and park tickets. The family price covers two adults and two youths. The same prices page also lists a guided tour of the park (€20 adult) and a guided walk from the town, "From the Town to the Hills: The Pena Trail" (€35 adult).

What you get for the money:

• Essential Visit: self-guided, timed entry to the New Palace wing (the Great Hall, Chapel, Kitchen, Stag Room and King Manuel II's rooms, among others), the terraces, and the entire park, including the Chalet and Garden of the Countess of Edla.
• Complete Visit: everything above plus the Private Apartments of the Royal Family, in a group of up to 20 accompanied by a Parques de Sintra visitor assistant. Start times are fixed: 11:15, 14:15, 15:00, 15:45, 16:15 and 17:00.
• Visit to the Park: the whole park, the Countess of Edla's Chalet and the Palace Terraces, with no palace interior.

Two adults with children aged 8 and 12 pay €65 on the Essential family ticket against €76 bought singly. The same family pays €115 for the Complete Visit, or €40 for the park.

Which ticket to pick

Buy the Essential Visit unless you have a reason not to. It is the only way into the main rooms at a sensible price, and it covers the park you will want afterwards.

The park ticket is the underrated one. At €12 it still puts you on the palace terraces for the views and the painted façades, which is what most photographs of Pena show. If the palace slots for your day are gone, or you have small children who will not enjoy a one-way route through crowded rooms, take it without regret.

The Complete Visit is for people who specifically want the private apartments and can commit to one of six fixed start times. At more than double the Essential price, it is not the default.

How the time slots work

The ticket conditions page is blunt (checked 19 October 2026):

• The time on your ticket is when you enter the palace. Arrive early and you wait; arrive late and you do not get in.
• "There is no delay tolerance." A missed slot is not refunded or changed.
• The slot is for the palace, not the park gate. Allow about 30 minutes from the park's main entrance to the palace door, on foot or by the transfer.
• Tickets bought online in advance can be rescheduled within one year.

Tickets are sold online and at the physical ticket offices, according to the Parques de Sintra FAQ. On a busy day, buying online is the only way to choose your slot rather than take whatever is left.

Opening hours and closed days

From the Pena page and the prices page (checked 19 October 2026):

Parques de Sintra's parks and monuments are open every day except 24 and 25 December and 31 December and 1 January. The FAQ adds that a site can close for state events, fire risk or extreme weather, so check the notices page on stormy or very hot, dry days.

Getting up to Pena from Sintra station

Pena sits high above Sintra town, and the how to get there page says private vehicles are not authorised to reach the monument. Your realistic options:

1. Bus 434. Scotturb's 434 leaves from Sintra train station (and the Lourel car park). Its published itinerary runs Sintra Station, São Pedro de Sintra, Sintra Vila, Moorish Castle, Pena, then back via Sintra Vila to the station, according to Scotturb's route page. The route page sells the 434 as a hop-on hop-off product valid for 24 hours after first validation, but its prices are not clearly labelled, so confirm the fare at Sintra station.
2. Walk a marked trail. The Villa Sassetti trail starts at Largo Ferreira de Castro in the town (1,850 m, about 45 minutes); the Santa Maria trail starts at the Parques de Sintra information point in São Pedro de Sintra (1,770 m, about 1 hour). Both climb.
3. Inside the park. The Palace Transfer is a €4.50 return add-on between the park entrance and the palace, bought with your ticket; cash is not accepted if you try to buy it on the vehicle. A Hop-On Hop-Off circuit in the park is also €4.50.

The train to Sintra itself runs on CP's Sintra line from Rossio, with Oriente and Entrecampos also listed as departure stations by Parques de Sintra. Our guide to the Lisbon to Sintra train from Rossio covers the fares and which ticket to load. If you are still deciding whether Sintra is the right day out at all, compare it with Cascais and Óbidos in choosing a Lisbon day trip.

A couple's day, costed

Two adults on the Essential Visit with the Palace Transfer pay €49 at Pena (2 × €20 + 2 × €4.50). Walking up the Villa Sassetti trail instead saves the transfer and the bus, but adds about 45 minutes of climbing before a timed slot.

If you plan to pay for transport with a card in Lisbon, the Zapping or Navegante guide explains the reloadable card you will need for the train.