Day Trip to Sintra from Lisbon

[cynalan]

Hi Folks, I will be taking my first Azamara cruise on the Pursuit. One of our stops is in Lisbon. My wife and I would like to take a private day trip to Sintra. Our ship arrives at 8:00 a.m. and we would need to be at a pickup point about a 15 minute drive from the cruise terminal for 9:00 a.m. In your experience is this doable or would it be cutting things too close? Thanks in advance for your comments.

[Grandma Cruising]

Would be a good idea to also post on the “Other Mediterranean Ports” forum in the Ports of Call section of Cruise Critic to get a bigger selection of people.

 

 

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[edinburgher]

It also depends on where you are docked (there are 4 locations) and where your pick-up point is as you don't say.

 

 

Go to either the Port of Lisbon website or Whatsinport to find your docking location as that will give you a start point.

 

 

When we docked on Quest we were in the most central of the locations, with a metro and a train station in the vicinity and at most, a 5 minute walk from the main square.

 

 

If you decide to go for a DIY trip instead, Sintra is very easy with trains every 30 mins or so and the bus for the circular road leaves from outside Sintra train station.

[Duck Duck Cruise]

For our cruise in October on the Journey it is docking at Santa Apolonia. I would be pretty certain this is where the Pursuit will also dock. Here is a map.

 

https://www.google.pt/maps/place/Passenger+Terminal+of+Santa+Apolonia/@38.7133338,-9.121635,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x2fb74fffaec8a380?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwih0eiFhc7cAhWEhFQKHQ2WDSYQ_BIwCnoECAoQCw

 

I would let the tour company know when the ship docks and they will make sure to wait for you if it is a private tour. Portuguese people are very kind and accommodating. Ask them what you need to tell your taxi driver to get to where you meet them.

[edinburgher]

A thought:

 

 

Private tours are usually door-to-door. It is part of the overall package. For me, it is unusual that you are being asked to go to a pick-up point which is a drive away from the dock.

 

 

 

I would find out where the ship is docking (as above) and ask them to pick you up there, or as close to the dock as they can get in case there are security issues preventing them entering the secure area. If you dock where we did, there are normal streets, roads and pavements/sidewalks right outside.

[cynalan]

Thanks for the feedback. Although I said "private tour", I should have said a private group that is meeting the tour operator in central Lisbon. They do not pick up at the port. I guess my question should have been... the ship is expected to dock at 8:00. Would it be reasonable to assume that we will be able to disembark quickly and take a short 15 minute cab ride to be at our pick up point by 9:00?

[Grandma Cruising]

Ooh, that sounds tight. Firstly there’s always the possibility the ship might be late docking. Secondly it can take a while for all the formalities to be done before they start letting people get off.

At least on Azamara getting off is easy, no queues etc.

 

 

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[Garlicmobile]

We also are looking to go to Sinta on that day. If I find anything good, I will post.